Mary, Mary quite contrary how does your garden grow.

 The garden at an tigin is doing very well. I've had bouquets of flowers from it and harvested herbs too. It is looking healthy. I find a surprise once in a while; like the white bleeding heart that came with one of the perennials from my flower beds. The white bleeding heart disappeared out of my flower garden at home over a year ago. All of a sudden I found it blossoming quite happily at an tigin. Guess it needed a change of scenery.

 We added some plants to the hedgerow between our house and the neighbor to the west.

 I've been looking for heather that is hardy enough to survive our Maine winters. I finally found some. This is winter chocolate heather. Which I planted near the holly, since I have twin nieces Heather and Holly. Thought they would like to be together.

I added elderberry and hawthorn (aka thorn apple) to the hedgerow to the east.

Plus one of my original rhododendrons wasn't doing well where I put it. I have moved it and replaced it with a larger rhododendron. I will keep my eye on it. If needed, I can move this one too.

An tigin is looking like a home, well sort of

 Hanging sheetrock is so much nicer than putting in fiberglass insulation. It is dusty, but I don't leave at the end of the day wondering if I will ever stop itching.

It was also easier, since we had a friend help with hanging the sheetrock on the ceiling. I got to sit back and relax (and do yard work).

 The stairway is done.

 The front bedroom is done.

 The back bedroom is done.

The family room is done.

 The kitchen/dining rooms are done.

 The living room with the window seat is also done. 

A friend stopped by to say, "Hi," and see the progress on an tigin. She very kindly brought a miniature hosta from her flower beds. I had never heard of or seen a miniature hosta before. It was love at first sight. I am looking forward to this little darling spreading so I can share with my mom and sister. 

Mini Hostas

sound proofing

I thought I was done insulating. I was thrilled when I didn't have to sneeze, hack, and itch my way through a day; plus wash my clothes separately in hopes of keeping the insulation dust away from the non contaminated clothes. 

Nope, we decided to insulate between floors as a sound barrier and I was volunteered for the job.

Green room 1 and Green Room 2

 Green Room 1 (aka upstairs bathroom) is completely sheetrocked, including the laundry room (closet?) in the back. Green Room 2 is also completely sheetrocked. Nothing like a bit of sheetrock to make it feel like we are making progress and an tigin to feel more like a real house.

Rocket stove

 After some on line researching, Martin built a rocket stove out of left over cinder blocks. We have spent our first night at an tigin, which means I cooked dinner (pork chops with onions, garlic, and sage, mashed sweet potatoes, and sliced raw vegetables) and breakfast (toast and scrambled eggs) on the rocket stove.

I'm planning the next few nights and rocket stove meals today.

 Staying there allows us to get going earlier, work later, and saves gas on the commute.