Issues

I knew there would be consequences to not finishing the damn thing before living in it. My house not only has a mold problem but also has a mouse problem. Since the walls and floors are totally solid, I'm guessing they somehow climbed up the whole 15 feet into my ceiling (I thought I heard something up there), and were just waiting for me to go on vacation to come down and destroy everything. We turned on a dehumidifier in there before we left, but it must have shorted out and got turned off, because there was MORE mold when we got back. I'm emptying the whole house of all my stuff and disinfecting everything with vinegar. I clearly need to finish the exterior!! The interior ceiling has fabric, but that's not mouse proof, so I will have to buy plywood to finish it off. But it will have to wait until I am done teaching summer camp (next week). My poor house!

Bounty

We have had many many pounds of blackberries off of only two small plants! They have wicked thorns though; it's quite a challenge to get to them. Which is why the deer have missed out on them, I think...




 The bees are being lazy. We hope it's just because it's been so rainy, but we have put out some simple syrup for them just in case they need a little boost.



 We have seen dozens and dozens of swallowtails (Tiger and Spicebush) on our Joe Pye Weed!




They are beautiful and more fun to watch than television. They are also all over the butterfly bush. In the future, I will plant those two things right outside my living room window or my front porch!



 Makin' music on the front "lawn":


And here are some ants getting creative with a cracker, turning it into an ant hill! Aren't they tempted to eat their home? Or maybe I'm being silly, and they're just dismantling the thing so they can eat it later.