2018 Projects

Happy New Year!!

I hope this finds everyone rested and ready to head into the New Year, clean slate, refreshed and optimistic.

I made most of my resolutions and goal setting lists on the winter solstice, but have already added, subtracted, and tweaked them to fit into my overall plan:  Keep It Simple!

I have two little businesses and too many hobbies for one person so I have to stay organized and on track!  I support myself and need to make every dollar count, as well as my precious time.

My main business is Hood Canal Services which keeps me busy 5 mornings a week. I currently have three commercial cleaning accounts, basically I'm the janitor, plus one wonderful job where I am an off-sight caretaker for a vacation estate.

This is my favorite account because I get to do all the landscape maintenance and oversee other services and repairs.  I'd love to just do this kind of work, but alas times have changed and one must be diverse to stay self employed - so.....

What I'm adding to this business for 2018 is Landscape Design.  I am still in the program, but hope to graduate with a certificate in a few weeks.  

I want to focus on small spaces, natural landscaping and enhancing wildlife habit.  I have no idea how to advertise this or where the new clients will come from, but like everything else I have done, I'll just put it out there and see what happens.

In my Jewelry business I will continue to create large wearable art from metal and other natural materials.  I have been offering these on my website at www.jgray-design.com and they are available at the Fusions Art Gallery in Ocean Shores, WA. 

In 2018 more of the large pieces will only be available at galleries and I am planning to create some smaller more affordable pieces for the website.

I will continue to make handmade jewelry supplies for my other shop:  www.jgdsupplies.com .  This is where I hand dye 100% cotton fabrics and make them into scarves and ribbon.  I also make Mala tassels and offer other jewelry supplies there.

My hobbies are going to get really fun this year as I revisit Photography!  I have some new equipment that I want to experiment with, a film camera and a longer zoom lens.  I will still shoot with the digital as well.

I've been thinking about some black and white landscapes of our area and I might even delve back into people candids.

I've expanded my photography website so that I can offer all of the best images as prints and products.  You can visit there at http://j-gray.pixels.com .

Currently I have a few images there such as this one  from a photo shoot I did for a local gardener two years ago.

 I almost forgot to add that I am working on a new photo book and a new poetry book!  Due out later this year.  I still have the other books, listed on the Publications page here on the blog.

 The hobbies list got expanded, so I'm not sure if I can cover it all, but it includes learning how to make beeswax candles, learn how to do fermenting, and add more gardening space in the yard for vegetables.  

I bet you were wondering if I was going to work on the house this year.  Well yes, I need to install a window in the back bedroom and I'd like to install those insulation panels inside the skirting.  I can probably just afford to do the back end of the mobile first, later this summer, and then do more as funds allow.

I think that's plenty to cover in one year!

Hope you all are making plans that will keep you happy.

New Garden First Year

It's been two years since I took out the make-shift fencing I had up around the place.  I just hadn't planned on gardening again to the degree I had before.  But, I missed my vegetables, and there is no keeping the deer away from young tender greens.

I planned a small space to start with, about 15 by 8 feet, fenced.  I had to dig up part of my yard to get rid of weeds and grass, as well as leveling it out and terracing it up on one end.

But it didn't take long before I had a sturdy enough fence enclosure with a gate.

The sun exposure is good here too, gets almost all day sun at this time of year.

Looking in the front section I have mostly pots this first year, for easy veggies like spinach and herbs and cherry tomatoes.

At the back I have utilized the base of my pear tree for squash and broccoli.  There are also other plants in here protected against the deer, like iris, lupine and columbine.

This is a small, easy care garden space for the first year.  I can keep up with the watering and weeding.

Perhaps I'll expand it next year, meanwhile it is the perfect space for one.

The Great Wall

My house addition is built right up against an embankment - in a hillside.  When they first brought in the old mobile they cut out the hillside for a level spot.  The next owner then dug it out some more and added the 25 x 9 foot addition.  So basically I look out my living room window at the ground, which isn't such a bad thing as there is a lot of wildlife activity out there!  It's kind of like having your own terrarium.

A couple years after I bought the place I decided to figure out a way to utilize the small space between the mobile and hill - which is probably about 12 feet wide.  

That went very well, creating a lovely private space with a small deck.  This was of course after I cleaned out the area, leveled the ground, painted the house and built the deck.

 Later I installed a bamboo fence along that embankment just to the addition.

I've had such good luck with plants back there with the afternoon sun exposure, or shade at the base of the hill - not to mention that the deer can't get in here.  So I decided to remove the bamboo and see how much I could utilize that wall of dirt.  

I started by moving out three of the landscape timbers about two feet away from the wall, and filled it in with dirt.  I'll need to add some nice topsoil by Fall as I plan to transplant my hosta's there next to the fern.

I broke up the bamboo screen and it now lines the wall behind the planter, and further down it hides another unsightly area where stump roots are sticking out.

Now looking the other direction.  You can see a small rock planter on the left, that's where the purple star flower will go (currently in the small pot).  It's very sun sensitive and does well in the shade.

The pot of hosta's will spread well in the planter next year.  I am also considering planting the clematis in there if I can figure out a clever trellis for it.

So the projects continue!  Next week it's the new fenced garden.