Pallet Planter, Pallet Bird Nest, Pallet Table

 After the loggers wrapped up, about the same time as we were getting all our stuff here, we were able to catch our breath, in small amounts...
Among the "rest and relaxation" are little "projects" to help one unwind. One such project involved taking a plain pallet....

Turning it on end, attaching boards to hold dirt, painting it and hanging it on the side of our yard barn.....

and letting the lady pick out flowers to go in the pallet planter.

But we weren't the only ones who enjoyed our new pallet planter. The next day after placment of the flowers, a bird was building a nest behind one of the flowers....

And now we have a clutch of 5 bird eggs in our pallet planter bird nest.....

With 4 cement blocks we had available I took another pallet and made a quick work table for our potting area, and it works well for keeping plants up where the bunnies can't get to them.

Forest Closed Canopy

Today I was reading a forestry article that tied in with the reason our trees were rotten and had to come down. (Yes, I'm still grieving over that.)  The article, "Cascading species shift looms in fire-starved Eastern woods", by Paul Voosen, is at http://www.eenews.net/public/Greenwire/2012/05/29/1.  It talks about the tremendous loss of oak trees east of the Mississippi River and the tie-in with not allowing fires to take their natural course (and not allowing controlled fires) to keep the forest floor clear enough for the acorns to sprout.  The trees have grown so densely that there is a "closed canopy" and sunlight cannot get in to keep out disease and to help the seeds and seedlings grow.  Some acorns have sat for years and years without the right conditions for them to sprout and thrive.  Here's one section that I found particularly disturbing:

Beneath aged oak and pine boughs is a dense mix of maple, ash and cedar. Starved of light, grasses no longer sprout. The butterflies have left, and so have the woodpeckers. Most of the forest floor is lifeless, smothered by layers of leafy duff. .... The next oak forest is not under the oak forest of the eastern United States now,

I remember that the forestry guy said that our trees had not gotten enough sunlight down onto the ground level to keep the fungus away, therefore the rotten wood.  Anyway, it's an interesting article and a "good read".  I would really recommend it.
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Grapevines, Grapes, Vineyard!

The Yadkin Yard has grapevines and grapes!  We didn't know that so we brought some vines with us, but they're all over the yard.

This area, the Yadkin Valley, is heavy with vineyards now.  The tobacco farms are turning into vineyards, with quite a lot of success actually.  The soil is perfect.  Several are close nearby:  RagApple Lassie in Boonville, Laurel Gray in Hamptonvile, and Yadkinville has Allison Oaks, Brandon Hills, and Hanover Park.

What we have in our yard are Muscadine and Scuppernong grape vines.  The Scuppernong grape is the official state fruit of North Carolina.  There is one particularly large-trunked vine growing wild over in the side yard and another in one of the landscaped areas.  Lynn set up a new mulched bed with the white wrought iron settee and chairs that we already had.  In the center is a pretty Muscadine vine that we'll let grow there.  I think the setup is very pretty.

I like the idea of sitting out in the yard and following the progress of the grapevine.  This week I got some white spray paint made by Sherwin Williams that's especially meant for outdoor wrought iron furniture.  Lynn sprayed all four pieces with the paint.  Really beautiful results.  We'll try to post another picture soon that has the newly-painted furniture as well as the remarkably-fast-growing grapevine, the budding vineyard in our Yadkin Yard!