Everyone around here has a name. The first hummingbird at the feeder is Sippy, and sometimes Zippy joins them. The pileated woodpeckers are Peaches and Herb. We welcomed their offspring this summer: Piley Cyrus and Pilley Holiday. The redheaded woodpecker is Carlos. And our local trash panda, she is Bea Arthur.

Bea didn’t have much time to rummage through the dumpster last week, and fortunately, we didn’t have much in the way of organic matter for her to sort through. We managed to get cleared out what we needed to in just a couple of evenings. I have to admit I hate throwing things away. I want to recycle and reuse whenever I can. I had every intention of giving away the perfectly-good carpet that we pulled out of my studio in early 2024. But after two winters in the woods, I’m not sure about the “perfectly good” anymore. Otherwise it was really satisfying to pull all the old weathered insulation sheets from in and around the barn, and various other weirdness left behind here. We’re onto insulation next, and maybe after then, I might actually want to show some photos of the inside.

Meanwhile in The Kitchen, I’m restocking chemistry, and getting some video tests set up for my upcoming online Chemigram Class through Penumbra. As much as I would like to film my live class demos in my outdoor sink, I feel that setup will present more logistical variables than I care to tackle, so the indoor darkroom it will be. Normally the outdoor sink is a really pleasant space to work, and is typically shielded from the elements, other than the more violent thunderstorms that usually come in from the west. But I can’t rule out a surprise visit from Bea, so I’ll leave that possibility for my in-person visitors.