Author Archives: Jonathan

The botany books and Internet searches have helped to identify two more wildflowers in the backyard:  Dame’s Rocket (Hesperis matronalis) and Bittersweet Nightshade (Solanum dulcamara).  Dame’s Rocket is “prohibited” in Massachusetts due to its non-native invasive behavior.  (It that sounds … Continue reading →

It’s Spring and flowers are beginning to bloom in the back yard.  Flowers provide one of the easiest ways to identify a plant.  I now know two of the plants that are filling up the woodlot by name.  One has … Continue reading →

Tonight I finished the framing all the way to the top of the house and added the back porch.  The below two images show the framing alone and then the structure with walls filled in. Next, I’ll finish modelling the … Continue reading →

In the back corner of the front hall closet, I discovered a small square section of the wall that had been cut out and then nailed back together. I pried it out and peered into the space below the staircase … Continue reading →

With the foundation and its framing in the SketchUp model, there’s something to hold up the first floor. So I’ve modelled the floor (including holes for heating vents), the framing of the exterior walls and the interior walls (see below). … Continue reading →

Our property’s value is split unevenly between the land and the house — the land is worth much more than the house. On paper, at least. To the people who live on the property, though, the house gets the lion’s … Continue reading →

Barbara, our neighbor who has lived here for several decades, very kindly invited me to photograph two of her historic maps of this locality, one from 1876 and the other from 1881. The maps show roads, buildings and significant topographic … Continue reading →

Many more jars and bottles have followed the initial discovery, all coming from the same, but now larger, 3′ x 3′ section of the woodlot, shown below. Below are a few examples of unbroken glassware with design patents imprinted on … Continue reading →

The very back of our property is a small woodlot. While most of our land is level or gently sloping, the woodlot’s terrain is uneven and lumpy, as if the trees and vegetation grew on top of piles of trash. … Continue reading →