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Uncomplicate.

in pursuit of a simpler, more sustainable creative life.

The Grotto

The Grotto

October 9, 2020 Beth Comments 0 Comment

One of my favorite spots on the property has become this happy little corner of the back yard we created this summer.

Day or night this is an awesome spot to sit and enjoy a lovely beverage or a snack, or just stop and breathe for a moment.

It started as just another sunny spot in this new space, home to a falling-apart old rabbit hutch.

Our first spring we brought home a couple little grape plants from the Spring Fair at our local grange and decided this would be the perfect corner to start a little arbor.

 JD had been clearing overgrown brush and dragging cool-shaped dead branches out of the weeds that we were saving from the burn pile because they were just too cool to waste. He lashed together a natural little arch and I loved it.

We get quite a wind through here so he installed the main “posts” in concrete, like fence posts. We didn’t get any grapes yet, but the plants seemed ok with the setup.

The second spring we came home from the Spring Fair with 2 more little grape plants and a plan to expand and reinforce the arbor with a second set of posts. We had been focused on building the vegetable garden all spring and had been creating support structures with more found branches and JD just kept finding more awesome pieces to work with. Although I thought the original arbor structure was amazing, he had been looking at it all year critiquing it with his perfectionist engineer eye, and was enthusiastic to improve on its design and stability.

2 more posts were installed in concrete, additional arch and support branches were wired together, and the new grapes got planted in their new home. After the structure was in place, we realized what a nice little spot it was.

I trimmed back some of the weeds and set my old garden bench back in there. The ground was lumpy, rocky and full of snowberry roots and weeds but it was kind of nice.

That year, we got tiny baby grapes on 2 of the plants but critters got to them before we did. Still, the plants seemed to be doing pretty well. I used a lot of the leaves when I canned pickles: the tannin in grape leaves helps the pickles stay crisp.

This last spring  JD would disappear outside for hours: when I’d go looking for him, I’d find him dragging more and more cool shaped branches out of the brush, adding to his creation. He was determined to create shade in our little nest and was adding branches thick with usnea for even more protection from the sun. The whole thing started reminding me of Carol’s creations in Where the Wild Things Are (the movie). He’d lay out smaller, more flexible branches from thinned brush for me to “do my magic” with: braiding and wiring them in between the larger branches in swirly shapes.

The structure was solid but now it was time to focus on the inside.

We had some large, super-heavy concrete sample pieces we’d picked up for free from a local contractor that I’d been saving for another project but decided they’d be exactly what we needed for a flat, solid base for any seating or tables we’d want in there. While I spent hours on my hands and knees with a pick and shovel clearing out roots and rocks, JD was out back prying rocks from the back of the property and hauling them closer for me to build up the areas around it (fun fact, the “ridge” behind our house had been built up as railroad ballast so the whole thing is just…rocks. Big rocks, small rocks, crushed rocks. Lots. Of. Rocks).

We laid down landscaping/barrier fabric, crushed rock, and sifted/clean(ish) soil and set the pavers and stones in place. I built up a little terrace at the back and we planted ferns from our woods and laid crushed rock for a path along the back. I couldn’t wait to get my bits of mosses and Corsican mint planted between the pavers so that stuff went in next.

This was when the space named itself: The Grotto! Ferns and rocks always add a bit of magic to a space for me: I’m so grateful to live somewhere with so much of both all around me.

Once that was in place, it seemed like the little hill toward the dog-path behind it needed a couple stairs, so JD headed back out to the ridge for some flat rocks to use as stairs and I worked them into place. Then it seemed like we needed some smaller pavers heading toward those stairs to go with the larger salvaged concrete ones and decided to build them in place: we laid out wood scraps with duct tape at the corners in the shapes we wanted, and poured concrete to the height of the other pavers. I gently pressed pretty little rocks from my collection into the surface while the concrete was still wet.

While we waited for that to dry, I got back on my hands and knees with my pick and carved out paths on the hill behind it: using the trails where the dogs run as my guide, terracing as necessary with rocks JD had been hauling from the ridge. I finally started pulling some of my old rusty treasures out of the barn that I’d saved from my grandparents’ property. They had lived on a steep hillside with terraces and paths carved throughout the woods; I miss that place dearly and I’ve always wanted to create my own version. This is just a start.

I’m so happy with what we created so far.

I can’t say it’s finished because this stuff is always a work in progress.

As I unpack my buckets of rusty goodies from the barn, stuff gets added here and there.

Making this property into our own space is a lot of work but it makes me smile. This spot has been fun to share with our few-and-far-between socially-distanced outdoor visitors this summer…I kind of wish you could just join me there right now.  🙂

As for the grapes: well, that can be the focus for this space next year! The plants seem healthy enough, I’m just going to have to do a little research on how to keep them happy. I’ll keep you posted!


DIY, Gardening
garden decor, garden paths, garden structures, hardscaping, landscaping, pandemic life, pavers and pathways, salvaged materials

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Just eating real food, that’s all. 😍 simply g Just eating real food, that’s all. 😍 simply grilled pasture-raised local lamb from @coffeecreekcommunityandgardens with what’s in the garden now: lightly dressed mizspoona, basil, mint, strawberries & peas…
🌱🍓
Gah. Food is good. It’s a celebration, and a blessing. And it should be. So grateful for amazing local farmers and stuff that actually grows in my own yard 😍 this is how it should be, right?
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#eatlocal #growwhatyoueat #eatwhatyougrow #eatrealfood #sogood #whatsgrowingnow #localfarmersrock #pastureraisedlamb #mizspoona #gardensalad #simplefood #slowliving #uncomplicate
And now, your Moment of Zen. 🌿🐝🦋 Happy F And now, your Moment of Zen. 
🌿🐝🦋
Happy Friday, friends!
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#yourmomentofzen #stopandlisten #lookup #butterfly #bumblebee #sageblossoms #mybackyard #justbreathe #quietlife #summer #slowliving #justgooutside #uncomplicate #pollinators
Hi local friends! It’s that time again: when I p Hi local friends! It’s that time again: when I post super last-minute about the pop-up this weekend 😉
Whether you’re riding the new-improved trail or just visiting the area on a gorgeous day, swing by the brewery for a lovely beverage & cool local vendors + the one and only Miss Fer from the Pe Ell pub will be grilling burgers (and vegan ones too!). 
@joedaddydesigns & I will be there with our artsy stuff and the weather’s going to be amazing. 
Yay!
Check out @jonescreekbrewing and @ridethewillapa for more details 🌲🚴🍺🚴‍♀️🌲 see you Saturday!
Summer said to tell you hi. 🍓 🌞 🍓 This i Summer said to tell you hi. 
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🌞
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This is about an every-other-day haul right now 😍 not enough to get all crazy making jam or anything, but plenty for us to eat and there was a yummy berry crisp the other day with the last of the rhubarb. So, the new bed is kind of a success so far: more than I’ve ever been able to grow in a season. Now, next year……
😉
The girls got a special Solstice treat yesterday ( The girls got a special Solstice treat yesterday (swipe for the whole thing, this documents about 5 hours of snacking in under 4 minutes) sound up for the happy eating sounds
💜
Funny TMI extra for you: I totally expected to be scooping purple poops after this, but wow…electric teal…if I were to draw them with a Prismacolor pencil I’d use Parrot Green 😆
Happy Solstice, friends! How are you celebrating t Happy Solstice, friends! How are you celebrating the longest day of the year today? ✨🌿🌞🌿✨
Good morning, teeny tiny messy webs and the teenie Good morning, teeny tiny messy webs and the teenier tinier spiders that inhabit them ☺️💕
Good morning from my happy place: just a quiet wal Good morning from my happy place: just a quiet walk through my little gardens, checking on all the things in-between watering (swipe for the mini-tour). So many works in progress…so many weeds, stuff that still needs planting, big projects to finish, stuff to clean up and put away. It will never all be done at once and that’s ok. And I need to remind myself that 5 years ago these garden beds were dense messy globs of snowberrry, thistle, bracken fern and 6’ grasses woven together with inch-thick blackberry vines all growing out of piles of scrap wood and random garbage on a ridge of railroad ballast. And every year, all that stuff tries to take it hack 🤣 it’s a never ending project but it makes me happy. 🌱
How’s your spring/summer shaping up?
#truestory I never knew I loved June or cottonwoo #truestory 
I never knew I loved June or cottonwoods so much until I lived here in June. 
It’s quiet now. The sound of the river has been replaced by the white noise of wind in the leaves and a gazillion bees, and the fluff floating about makes everything feel fakey and dreamlike and every so often I kind of lose track of time and space in the midst of it all…
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Friends, stop for just a moment and breathe in this magic time of year…what is it that’s making you smile right now?
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#springandsummer #cottonwoodsnow #fieldsofdaisies #smellsummer #justbreathe #livequietly #justgooutside #thismoment #uncomplicate #natureismagic #livetheseasons #cottonwood #pnwonderland
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