Done Gone Green

I've started staining the front porch rafters a deep chocolate brown (above, the same color we stained the pergola porch rafter in Edina), and though we're only halfway done, we can already tell it's going to make a big difference. The brown sets nicely against the green of the forest, which has come alive in the past week or so.  If only we could get the front lawn to look more green than brown. ... Next spring ...

The deer dinner bell you see above was here when we moved in; it's one of the few kitschy items that we kept. (I'm certain Ms. Fantastic Photographer Plesser could have framed that shot a whole lot better.) The muggy 80-degree day that we hung four ferns from the porch, I promptly took a nap in the afternoon heat and declared myself a Southerner. But former Savannah boy Chris Clonts said the picture would only be complete once I planted some azaleas. So within the next day or so, I planted four azaleas.

We're supposed to get started on that next big project -- the shed and pole barn -- but so far we've stalled by doing some smaller stuff. Mason's running a gas line to our new stainless-steel propane fridge (made by the Amish!), which will quadruple our fridge space and significantly cut down on our electricity needs. I'm working on the porch stain and gardening, of course. Today I put into the ground a boxwood shrub, some japanese ferns, a siberian iris and some creeping Jenny (yeah , I know it's invasive, but I really like it).

Mason's also been busy at our burgeoning Flat Top Brewery. Last night, a lawnmower Saison went into the hopper. Should be ready to drink just as the summer heat descends on us. Check him out here, hard at work, with the Saison boiling and a Boundary Waters wheat in the "ale pail" hanging from the ceiling, getting ready for bottling. Meth labs got nothin on our operation, I tell ya whut! (Pardon the topless shot -- that beer boiling can seriously heat up the place.)