December 10-11, 2010

Sally stayed in town to do Christmas preparation stuff. Weather was pleasant, about 50 each day, and we received a little rain overnight (not enough though).

Lopped Cedars

I took my loppers down the hill behind the barn. This slope is thick in cedars, most of which need a chain saw. I was just trying to clear some of the smaller ones. In spots I had to lop a path just to get through. I don't expect to ever get it in control.

This picture, which is not very good, is of one I cut maybe 4 or 5 years ago but didn't get below the lowest limb (as Ben had directed me to always do). The result is it grows back from the root and the tiniest limbs left growing. Its harder to cut the second time.

When I got to the bottom of the hill I started back up toward the house working just outside the fences. In spite of hitting this area the last couple of years, there are always more. It was getting dark by the time I got back to the house – I had cut 981.

Insulation

Thursday night I picked up two more bags of the R19 insulation I have been adding to the attic. Friday evening I got these spread, and with the help of one piece of R25 left from what I used to insulate the top of the well house I have now completed this job! Now to sit back and reap the benefits -- how long will it take to recoup energy savings of $750.

Load of Wood

We burned wood for three days the past week, and seeing how it depleted my supply in that short time I decided I should bring a load into town with every trip. So I loaded her up and just plan to add it to the stack at the back of the carport.

Split Wood

I started in on the two loads I had cut several weeks back. I thought it was all shorter stuff that could go to Denver or Chicago, but three of the largest logs were nearly 24 inches and had to go into my pile on the other side of barn. The white oak and even the hickory splits nicely. I got about half of the stack done, as you can see here. The vertical stack are the two logs I picked up along the short cut the weekend before.

Chain Saws

I sharpened the McCulloch, gassed it up, and filled it with oil so it will be ready to take back out. I then got the Poullan out, which I don't think I have used in almost a year due to not being able to get the carburetor tuned. At first it ran pretty good and I got two more cedars cut up above the well house. But then it started bogging down and I could barely keep it running, much less cut anything with it. I tinkered with the high setting but failed to get any improvement.

Fire Wood Box

I brought a small piece of 3/4 inch plywood down from the attic thinking it would be a good bottom for a box I could build for the firewood I bring into the house -- just set it next to the stove and keep the debris off the floor. I found some other scraps and hand cut a few pieces so the box would be 25" x 18" x 12" high. When I got them home Sally informed me we didn't need that and there were other things I needed to do with my time. (I'll get it built, just not sure when.)

Walnuts

I cracked another quarter of a bag, but this time the ratio of bad nuts to good nuts was almost 50%. I'm glad I have so many, but hate thinking about the time spent picking up, hulling, and now cracking them to find out they are bad. Somehow the squirrels can tell immediately and just leave the bad ones.

December 3-5, 2010

Sally was bringing Lou out on Saturday, but I chose to come Friday afternoon and have three days at the farm -- woo-hoo! The weather was clear Friday with a high of 60, clear Saturday with a high of 50, and cloudy Sunday when it never reached 40.

Poachers

I was a little anxious to get out because I had received a call Thursday afternoon from our neighbor, Jeff. He asked if I had given anyone permission to hunt on our property because there was a guy down by the pond cleaning a deer at the time. He said he had already run another hunter off our property, several off his property, and that it was getting to be a real problem. He said the guy's truck was parked at the cattle guard and had New Mexico tags.

Jeff called back later after having a conversation with the hunter, whose story was that Ernie from Kings River Outfitters had given him permission. The only thing is our place isn't any where close to any land Ernie may own. Jeff was going to report him to the sheriff. He and Kathy had also purchased No Hunting signs and put them up on the county road, a tree in front of Kathy's, and on our gate beside the cattle guard (right next to our No Trespassing sign).

Saturday morning I walked down looking for the carcass. Its hard to believe that within two days this is all that would be left (just skin and bones), but this was all I found.

While I was done there I hiked over to look at Jeff's new pond. We'd heard his dozer running over several weeks. He moved a lot of dirt. This is the second one he has put in down the hill. This one is bigger than his first, but smaller than ours although it looks like it will be deeper. Both of his were partially filled, while ours was running out the culvert – the first time I had seen that since spring.

Free Wood

I came out via the short cut and found these two logs along the road. Someone has been cutting some of the downed trees, and I guess they didn't want these 2 for some reason (they had been sitting there awhile, so I didn't feel guilty about taking them). I did suffer a minor muscle pull in my back lifting that big one into the bed – perhaps why they had left it. The other was so knotty I could understand it being left.

I had to use a wedge to split them, but they were good hard wood. The outer inch or two of the light colored one was all rotten, but everything else was great. They seem to be two different types of oak (guessing here). The dark one had a big branch and required two wedges to get it into small enough pieces to burn. (You can see one wedge stuck in this picture, I couldn't free it until I got it to the barn where my other wedge was.) The logs were short, about 18 inches, so the smaller pieces will go into the Denver/Chicago pile. I loaded them into the truck to carry to the barn and they filled the width of the bed -- two logs were 1/4 of a truck load. I liked not having to cut 'em – pieces that big are a chore.

Siding Treatment

Since it was warm Friday afternoon, I got the south side of the house painted with the clear wood finish I apply to the cedar siding. This fall I have now gotten the east, west, and south sides of the house and some of the porch done.

Insulation

I brought two more bags of R19 out, 18 8' bats. Friday evening I finished up the east end of the house, and spread the rest in the west end of the attic Saturday morning. I still need a little over 1 bag to finish. I had two bags of the 16" wide R13 I purchased in the spring, but decided to bring it home and use in town since the R19 (24 inches wide) is so much easier to work between the roof supports (requires little cutting).

Fertilize Trees

I picked up some fertilizer at the Farmer's CO-OP on the way out of town. Saturday morning I spread special fruit tree fertilizer under 9 trees (peach, nectarine, apple and pear), and lightly spread some 13-13-13 under the other trees we are nurturing around the house.

Meals

Lou and Sally arrived about lunch while I was walking back up from visiting the ponds and deer carcass. We had turkey sandwiches and pickled beets for lunch. For dinner we had pizza made with ONF dough, pesto I had made (and frozen) back in the summer, spinach, onions, garlic, mushrooms, pepperoni, and mozzarella. Lou provided a bottle of Beaujolais Nouveau French wine to go with it -- yum. Breakfast was a spinach, onion, and feta omelet with a fruit strudel they had picked up at the Botanical Gardens market -- yum, yum. Lou got pictures of all the food, and everything else (available on her Walgreens site).

Walk

Sally was under the weather with a cold, so Lou gave her a Reike session Saturday afternoon. Afterward, while Sally was resting, Lou, Tender and I walked to the pond. I talked her into a side trip up Plume Creek, which I had started clearing last spring. It was pretty. Although the creek was running down in the field, it was dry (running underground) where we walked. We got as far as the big brush pile which I need to tackle this winter.

After the creek, I convinced her to walk the field over to the pond. She didn't want a close up of the deer remains, so she and Tender stayed back while I got my photo. We returned to the house via the road.

Walnuts

Lou was interested in my walnuts, so after showing her my stash I offered to crack some for her. I was anxious to try them myself. I cracked about a fourth of a bag for her late Saturday, and she spent the evening picking them out. Unfortunately I couldn't find a nut pick and she had to do the best she could with a wine opener. She continued the process Sunday morning and got all of them picked – I was impressed.

After she and Sally left Sunday, I cracked another quarter of a bag. I thought a high number of them had been bad the day before, so I counted the first 100. Over 30% were bad. I hope the ratio doesn't run that high in all bags. The Sunday cracking is probably destined for Atlanta where my folks will pick them. My right upper arm was sore Monday due to the force required to break those hard shells, even using my long armed hard nut cracker (pictured last spring).

Frost Flowers

When walking Tender Sunday morning I found lots of frost flowers down by the spring. I picked this one to show Lou. She had never seen or heard of them (and her dad was a naturalist) and was fascinated by them. There turned out to be many more on the hill going down to the barn and also behind the barn. Lou stuck this one on the back fence and it was still intact when I left after 3pm (with the temperature holding at 38).

Annual Rye

I had also picked up 50 pounds of annual rye grass seed at the CO-OP. So right after Sally and Lou left I spread it on the road – the steep part going up the hill. It helps to minimize erosion if we get enough rain to sprout it. So far this fall its been too dry, so I have my fingers crossed. I filled a 5 gallon bucket and walked up the road scattering seed as I went. The bucket was empty about a third of the way up the hill, so I returned to the house and carried the rest of the bag to that point where I refilled the bucket. I then did the left side to the top, returned to fill the bucket, and then did the right side. Hum, I wonder if this is also a reason my arm was sore the next day?

Stihl/Cedars

I took the chain off and used the bench grinder to knock the depth gauges down. I thought I was taking a lot off, so I immediately put the chain back on before checking with my gauge. Darn if they didn't need more off. I went ahead and tested it by cutting a cedar above the well house. It did better but not great, so I took the chain off again and repeated the process. This chain doesn't owe me anything – there is very little left on some of the cutters – and the depth gauges are essentially gone now. I took it back up above the well house and cut another cedar and some lower limbs from two others. As soon as I would start cutting it would start smoking. I'd have to cut a little at a time, giving the oil time to catch up. I wasn't terribly pleased, so I sharpened each tooth with a couple of licks of the file and tried it on some walnut and oak I had by the wood pile. I liked the way it cut that wood.

Now that I had a bunch of cedar limbs, I had to drag them down the hill where I hope to burn them in our fire pit. The process reminded of how I hate dragging these things since they grab at everything and get tangled amongst themselves. We need to have one big hot fire now.

Blow Log

I found this hollow log up where I was cutting the cedars. (I had cut it and left it there, just forgotten about it.) Buddy had an article talking about how to stand a hallow log on some rocks and then build a fire under it/in it. It sets up an air current where the fire and smoke are shooting out the top. I need someone else like me that would be entertained by such an activity.

Nov. 19-20, 2010

Sally had stuff to do in town, so this was a solo trip.

Insulation
I had to get gas on the way out, and since that was taking me by Lowe's I decided to go ahead and get some more insulation for the attic -- a project I had started last spring. (To hot to get up there during the warmer months.)

There was a rebate if I spent $399, so I bought 6 bags of R19 (6.5" thick, 23" wide, by 93" long), with 9 bats in each bag. I could only fit 3 in the truck, so I've got to go back and pickup up the other three later. I plan to use 2 bags or so in town to line the perimeter of the attic before getting more insulation blown in (so the blown insulation doesn't cover my eve vents).

Late Friday I started on the east end of the house. Using our rickety 1975 wooden step ladder, I could push 6 bats up through the roof cutout in the hall. I would then go up and spread them, using a long beaver stick to push them back into the tight corner where the roof rafters and the ceiling joist meet. The joist were on 24" centers, so the bats fit nicely. It turns out the house is 24' wide, and so it took three bats to cross the house and I didn't have to do any cutting. I got two bags (18 bats) done Friday before I was wiped out by the stooping and crawling around up there.

First thing Saturday I spread the remaining bag. Other than a few bare spots in the center, I had reached the area over the kitchen and bath where I had spread the R13 bats last spring. I've still got several rolls of that to spread, but may need to purchase even more to complete the west end of the house. I am hoping to see some improvement in propane use, and maybe even cooler temps in the summer. With the new insulation I have gone from 3.5" to 10", and with the R13 3.5" to 7".

Flood CWF
I had bought two more gallons of this Clear Wood Finish, and since the temperature was still warm enough I finished up the west end of the house first thing Friday afternoon. (This was a project I had started 3 or 4 weeks earlier.) Last thing Saturday, I finished the west end and began on the porch. The T111 siding under the porch had never been treated but was showing the weather at the bottom (and was really dry). I only got about 25% of that area done before it was time to head back.

Fire Wood
During the middle of the day Saturday I cut up more of the big White Oak that has been down for over 2 years now. It turns out there are two big white oaks down, plus lots of hickory trees and limbs inter-mixed. The area is still a big mess, but I'm getting it cleaned up. One of the hickories was still green and growing even though it had been laid over and laid on by the bigger trees. I got two loads which I stacked in the back of the barn where I will split it this winter so that it will be cured and ready for next season. These are 18" logs, so they are destined for Chicago or Denver.

This was all cut with the McCulloch. It was difficult to get it started, but it sure cut good once it was going. Although, by the end of the second tank of gas I could tell the chain needed sharpening. I also took the Stihl down, but even though I had just sharpened the chain it would not cut. This chain has practically no teeth left and I think I just need to lower (file down) the depth gauges -- next trip.

Walnuts
The two bags I had stashed in the rabbit hutch were still secure, so I added one more full bag and the partial bag I had hand hulled. I had a little trouble getting a stick jammed in the door to lock it, but I think it will work fine. The remaining two bags I've decided to store in the basement at home. I am anxious to get cracking and to sample the harvest.

Friday night I made some date nut bread with black walnuts, adding coconut and bran. Very tasty toasted with cream cheese. I've still got over 2 quarts of nuts from years past.

First
I didn't see them, but I heard the first geese of the season flying south. Their honking is sure loud.

Short Cut
I went out and came back via the short cut. I saw no one on the way out, but passed two parked trucks coming back. I returned that way since it was about dusk and I figured there was less chance of hitting a deer going 15-20mph. I'm sure the trucks were deer hunters. I read that 1 out of every 99 registered vehicles in Arkansas will hit a deer each year!

Nov. 5-6, 2010

I was first in line when the Bloodmobile opened at 1:00, but it still meant we got to the farm later than I would like -- almost 4pm. Day time temperatures were nice, near 70, and the trees were showing their fall color. We had a light freeze overnight, but not as hard as had been received the night before (Friday morning). It finished off the basil.

Walnuts
The huller had left lots of nuts un-hulled. So I went through the bags picking those out. The dust off the nuts was really bad and had me sneezing and my nose running. There were more un-hulled nuts in some bags than in others, which made me wonder if he had made some adjustment to the huller during the process. Perhaps to better handle these smaller nuts.

I used a hammer and/or pliers to get the hulls off the ones the huller had missed. Pounding them with the hammer was definitely faster. I ended up with 5 full bags, plus about a quarter of a bag that I had manually hulled. It will be interesting to see if they have any different taste or ratio of bad to good nuts.

I left two bags in the rabbit hutch, and have the rest in the back of the truck. I suspect I will store them downstairs in town, but if the rabbit hutch proves secure enough (I locked the door by jamming it with a stick) I may leave more at the farm. I'm still considering the attic as well.

Garden
With freezing weather, I had taken the rain gauge in so I wasn't sure if we had gotten any rain. There was a chance only one day early in the week. Either way the garden was very dry. Sally picked lettuce, bok chow, and spinach. She left 1 or two lettuce and bok chow plants since we had more than enough to eat. We'll see if they make it to our next trip. We've really enjoyed this fall crop.

Cut Trees
I carried the Stihl up the hill to cut more of the pines that had been laid over by the ice storm. This picture is of the largest, up by the pasture. Most were very small trees that had no chance of ever straightening up. I then started seeing many cedars and so started tackling them -- finishing off the tank of gas. I left the biggest cedar standing because the top was hung up in some oak branches. I hope a big wind will bring it down for me.

Oct. 30-31, 2010

Sally was in Chicago, so it was just me and Tender. The weather was great with temperatures in the 70s and mild nights.

Black Walnuts
I hit Asbell school again to complete my haul of nuts for the year -- I pretty much had a truck load with the bed full of bags of nuts. (I forgot to get a picture with the truck full, and snapped this one half way through the unloading/hulling operation.)

The huller I had used in 2007 and 2009 in Clifty wasn't operating anymore. There was a huller setup at the old Anderson's site on Hwy 45, but it wasn't listed on Hammons' web site and I couldn't find a phone number when I stopped by there on the way home the weekend before (and I had never seen anyone there). Hammons listed a Huller north of Berryville, one in Gentry, and one in Westville, OK. No listing for the one in Elm Springs which I had used in 2008. Since I didn't get an answer for the guy in Berryville, and I had time Friday afternoon, I decided to take them to Westville.

You can see the operation behind this feed store. They would buy the nuts from me for 11 cents a pound, or they would hull them for me and charge me 6 center a pound. I chose to keep all of mine and ended up with 6 bags and 280 pounds. In one of the recent years I had 150 pounds, so I will have my work cut out getting through these. But Mimi and Papa will pick out their own as Jackie will, and John has offered to help Amanda pick out theirs -- Yes!

Do you see all those bags stacked in the background behind the huller? Some day I would like to tour the Hammons operation to see how they do it. For now the nuts need to dry out. I've just got them in the back of the truck, but that will have to change. I've also noticed several that didn't get hulled, so I may dump them out and go through them. Some of mine were on the small size, so maybe that is why.

Garden
We had gotten .6 inches of rain, which must have come the Saturday before. The big event was the first killing freeze which we received Friday morning. It got the peppers, the tomatoes, and the one green bean plant. I was able to harvest a dozen or more bell peppers (though they had not yet turned yellow/orange) and a few of the hot peppers (I found the identifier for them, Santa Fe Grande's). The lettuce, bok chow, and tender spinach survived just fine so I brought more of that home. The summer spinach was slightly tan on the highest leaves, but I was able to pick as much as I wanted (got a quart). The ground was bone dry, so I watered the surviving plants both Saturday and Sunday.

Oil Barn Doors
I'd brought my extension ladder from home for the siding project, but I first used it to try and oil the barn doors. They sit on rollers at the top and slide back and forth. I couldn't get to them to actually use oil, so I just sprayed them with WD 40. It seemed to help -- not that I was having a problem with them.

Insulate Well House
With freezing temperatures arriving, I went ahead and spread the insulation over the top of the well house. There are 4 2x6s in there that create a ceiling for the insulation just below the roof. The system seems to work well with the submerged house.

Treat Cedar Siding
The big job for the weekend was to treat the cedar siding by painting it with a clear UV sealer. I brought the ladder out so I could do the high areas on the east and west ends of the house. I worked on the east end Saturday and the west end Sunday. I didn't finish both ends, but got most of it. What's left is low, so the ladder went back to town where it is needed regularly this time of the year to clear the gutters.

Oct. 22-23, 2010

Sally had an appointment with Ted in Harrison, so we met at the farm. We had .3" in the rain gauge, and got another quarter inch Saturday afternoon before leaving. But it continued to rain on us all the way home so the garden should have gotten a good soaking.

Mow
I wanted to get the loud business taken care of before Sally and Tender arrived, so I jumped on the mower and did the front and back yards. I figure the rest can wait for a killing frost -- we'll see.

Black Walnuts
I drove across the creek and up into the back pasture to see what nuts I could find. There were only three trees out of more than a dozen I checked that had produced. This small tree was probably the best. I gathered 6 buckets which translated into two bag fulls. (I use the old 50 lb sunflower seed bags.) That was what I was doing when Sally arrived -- she saw me and yelled across the valley.

Saturday I picked up another two bag fulls from the tree below the pond (my best and most consistent producer) and another couple of trees. I'll pick up more in town, and then hope to get them hulled on the way back out next weekend.

Garden
We picked lots of lettuce, bok chow, several yellow and orange bell peppers (oh so sweet), a pint worth of hot peppers I canned, some spinach and tomatoes, and lots of summer spinach that Sally steamed and froze. We even got a few onions. For dinner we had a big salad, adding some cucumber and feta we brought plus green olives.

We wanted to make a big double batch of pesto, but the basil was bitter. We presumed that this was due to the dry spell we have had, and hope it will be better next week.

Lit Pilots
I picked up some canned air on the way out. Friday night I used that along with carburetor cleaner and WD40 to clean and blow out the pilots on the two problematic propane heaters. One lit right up and burned good -- the flame right next to the pilot. The other not so good, leaving the smell of gas in the air. I shut it down, blew it out some more, and then it burned better though there was still a touch of yellow to the flame. At least there was no more smell.

Wood
Sally and I loaded the truck with more wood to bring back to the house. Its sure nice having a large supply of cut, cured, and dry wood for winter.

Oct. 15-16, 2010

This was my first trip out in three weeks due to taking my annual Colorado pilgrimage. It had been two weeks since Sally was out, and we had received zero rain during all that time. We were concerned about the garden.

Garden
We were surprised to find that the bok chow, lettuce, bell peppers, and hot peppers had done just fine and looked great -- as you can tell from the pictures. The basil was struggling so we deferred picking any of it. There were still some cherry tomatoes, but they weren't great. A few more onions have shown up, so it will be interesting to see if they mature. We left lots of produce for the next weekend. Interestingly, the hot peppers seem to be getting hotter -- Sally couldn't even eat the one she put in our stir fry.

We pulled up all the black eyed peas. A bit of a job because they get inter-twined in the chicken wire fence. I also weeded and Sally watered both Friday and Saturday.

We found this tomato horn worm trying to burrow into the ground. I'd heard they go through a large moth stage, and bet that the cocoon I dug up last spring was one of these fellows.

Culverts
The pond has been below the culverts for months. Where it is leaking, I am not sure. I dug up the high grass that had grown up in front of and around the culverts, but still couldn't tell where it is going through. On the outlet side of the dam I could find a small trickle of water way down low. I'm just not sure what I need to do. I also checked the creek feeding the pond, and there was practically no flow their either. This is about the driest I have every seen gum spring.

Mow
The grass wasn't bad except for the low part of the road on the way to the pond. I cranked up the riding mower and took it down, partly to just try and keep the battery charged.

Wood
I loaded the truck with wood to bring back to the house -- beginning to think about and prepare for winter.

Autumn Blaze
This little maple we transplanted twice is doing well and had brilliant red leaves. All the trees seem to be a bit late turning this year. Off course the sassafras has been turning for two months -- it begins when the dry weather sets in.

Poulan
Last outing I had determined that this weed eater was not getting fuel. Sure enough, the weighted gas filter on the end of the flexible line within the tank had broken off. Its a bit shorter now, but I re-attached it. Still couldn't get it started, so I took it apart and found the feed line from the priming bulb was also disconnected. I can only presume that occurred due to my vigorous pumping of the primer during my failed attempts to get it started. Once it was back together it ran fine -- though I still don't like the head I have on it.

Snake Skin
Most years in the late summer and fall we have found one or two large snake skins in this same area -- out front by the road just above from the spring. One year it was in good enough shape I tacked it to the wall under the porch. This guy (or gal) has to be at least 5 feet long. I have no idea what kind it is, and hope I never find out.

Bathed Tender
It was time, and plenty warm, so he got a bath under the hose. We got in a little hammock time while he dried and before heading back home.

Sept. 25-26, 2010

With Sally in NM this was just a boys trip (Tender and I). We received rain on Thursday morning so I decided to come the short cut. Didn't see one vehicle, but did meet a horse party of about 20 of all ages. The road was in pretty good shape -- I was able to drive the entire length in second gear and never had to use 4WD.

Garden
The rain gauge had almost an inch in it, so I didn't have to water. There was lots of bok choy, but some little white fuzzy worm was helping itself to it. Tender also likes it. I also picked some beautiful orange bell peppers, a bit of lettuce, and small container of cherry tomatoes. Plus I did some weeding in there.

Mowing
The grass had really grown, with the recent rains. I mowed the upper level Saturday. Sunday morning it was raining lightly and I was regretting not doing it all the day before, but it cleared by late morning. The grass was still wet, but I got the rest of it knocked out in the afternoon.

Cursed Weed Eaters
I determined the Poulan is not getting fuel, but didn't have an allen wrench to get it apart. The brush whacker had a badly fouled plug. I finally got it to run briefly, but then couldn't get it re-started. Did what I could with the little John Deere.

Kitchen
I made black berry muffins Saturday night, and a double batch of pesto Sunday morning while it was raining. I froze the pesto in muffin tins, and then popped them out, wrapped 'em in plastic, and left them in the freezer for a winter treat.

Wood
Loaded the truck with wood, and that was the weekend.

Sept. 14-15, 2010

This was a fun trip since we were hosting Amanda, John, and John's niece Ann. The weather was still a bit warm and muggy for mid September, but still pleasant. We'd received 4.75" of rain (probably more) over several days the week before -- so everything was growing again.

Garden
The basil looked great and we picked enough for a double batch of pesto. Amanda said she had never seen a plant this large. We had enough large bell peppers to make buffalo stuffed peppers for dinner, to go along with the leak and gruyere quiche Sally had made and frozen our last trip out. There continued to be plenty of cherry tomatoes. That was about it -- a little spinach for eggs in the morning, a couple of bok choy leaves, and a few peas. There were green shoots from what looked like onions that maybe had been laying dormant?

Dinner/Night hike
We ate about dusk out back and enjoyed a nice Spanish white wine Amanda had recommended. Afterward, since there was a crescent moon out, we decided to hike to the pond. I refused to turn on the flashlight, in spite of Sally's protests.

Apples
We picked the dozen or so Gold Rush that were still on the tree. Everyone agreed they were very tasty. I don't know if we will have any next year since the other apple seems to have died and you need to varieties to pollinate. I doubt the small pixie delight is mature enough to bloom. We also picked the one pair we had this year. Sally was afraid it wasn't going to be good because it looked a little rough on the outside, but it was firm and juicy.

Brush Hogging
Larry couldn't brush hog two weeks earlier because it had been too dry and there was danger of a spark starting a fire. He did get it done the previous week -- some of it in the rain. I wanted to inspect his work, so I drove John and Ann down to the pond so I could check out my trees. It looked like he did a good job of going around the flagged trees and staying out of the back area I have planted (this is a first!).

Log Splitting
I just had a few logs, but wanted the visitors to experience log splitting. They were all successful, though Ann and Amanda got to tackle short small pieces. I think John could have a second career -- or at least qualify as a farm hand. It took a while, but I finally got them to understand that this activity was not chopping wood.

Sept. 3-4, 2010

We finally got rain both Wednesday and Thursday -- 3.1 inches in the gauge. How nice. We got to open the windows again overnight. Saturday morning the temperature was 55 with fog hanging in the valley. The afternoon high was 84 -- very nice indeed.

Pine Straw
Pine needles have started falling. Since we use them in the garden to combat erosion and to keep the weeds down, I decided to go ahead and rake up what I could before mowing. I think I got 8 bags and Sally immediately started spreading it. I spread a couple of bags around the trees as mulch to help with moisture retention.

Garden
More cherry tomatoes, no hot peppers, a few bell peppers and one that actually turned 75% orange, and just a few black eyed peas. The bok choy, lettuce, and spinach was sprouting. Sally had started more in town and brought it out and planted it as well. The garden looks nice, just hasn't produced much.

Mow
Friday I took the mower down the road to the pond. The grass was so thick on the south side of the pond where the seep is that I barely could get through it on the highest setting. I was stopped when I hit yet another big rock bending the deck into the blade (again). This happened over by the swing. I took it back to the garage and used a pipe wrench to bend the deck lip back out. This Murray has really taken a beating.

Saturday I mowed all around the house and out back. It looked nice, though I probably could have gotten by without mowing at all -- but it may be a couple of weeks before I get another opportunity.

House Cleaning
I swept and mopped the entire house, some Friday night and the rest Saturday morning. Boy did it need it. I also went after all the spiders and spider webs hiding in the corners and around the ceiling.

Bat
I noticed this little guy on the north side of the house. I guess it was cool enough for him there during the day. He didn't seem to be bothered by me (he was awake and moving).

Weed-eater Frustration
I couldn't get the Poulan or the Brushwhacker started. Very frustrated. I finally just used the little John Deere to clean-up around the house.

Top Coat the Water Bars
The dirt I had mined and used to build up the water bars had turned to mud with the rain, and stuck to my tires as I drove in. So I took a shovel up the road and got loose rocks and dirt to spread over the top of it. This is something I usually do when laying it down, but it just didn't seem necessary when it was a dry powder.

Thistle
I noticed thistle at the bottom of the hill coming in, so with shovel already in hand started digging it up. I'd look around and find mover. I don't know why I hadn't noticed it sooner. I ended up with a hug arm full to carry back to the house, with seeds being scattered with each jolt. I bag it and leave it by the pit to burn.
Cut Blackberries

Sassafras
More of the sassafras had started turning its pretty yellow/orange. Maybe this rain will save our fall colors.

August 27-28, '10

We finally got a little relief from the heat with near record lows for Thursday and Friday, and dry air – we were able to open the windows Friday night. By Saturday though, the temperature was back up to 94. Unfortunately still no rain, so it was another watering weekend. (On the way out we stopped and bought a couple of watermelons from a fellow in Springdale who said he had not had any measurable rain in 5 weeks.)

2009 Rain
Sally found the record I kept of rainfall last year: May 9.5", June 4.5", July 6", August 2.5", September 1.6", and October 12 inches. What a difference this year.

Septic Tank
I brought some roofing cement out and got the lid sealed. Then I scrounged for rocks to build a box directly over the lid so whoever has to do this next want have to hunt (as I did) for the lid. Once I got the box built and filled in, it was just a matter of shoveling and raking all the fill back into the hole. It was so dry the dust flew everywhere. I ended up with a quite a mound, I suppose because of the space displaced by the boxed area full of rocks.

Garden
We had seen and picked off a few of these tomato horn worms (AKA tobacco worms) in weeks past, but this week there were 15 to 20 of these creepy things. They are so hard to spot because they blend in with the leaves. You can certainly tell where they have been though, because the leaves have been stripped and you just have bare stems.

We just got a few peppers, some black eyed peas that weren't quite ready, and fewer cherry tomatoes than in past weeks. Sally had me pull up most of the summer spinach, and she pulled up the zenias that were growing or falling into the lanes. A few of the bok choy seeds she had planted the weekend before were coming up (which surprised me), and she planted more of those and more lettuce. She really wants the garden to look nice for when Amanda is here. Of course we ran the sprinkler for hours.

Water
Once again I was constantly moving the sprinkler around. I actually forgot and left it on the newest maple out front overnight. There's a huge green patch leading off from these trees that have received water.

Apples
There were none on the ground, but some rotten spots were on a few on the tree. We picked maybe 5, including the ones with bad spots. They are still too green. Keeping our fingers crossed that we will actually get some ripe ones.

Water Bars/Cattle Guard
Saturday I repeated the process from the week-end before – harvested a load of dirt, hauled it up the hill, built up a couple of water bars, and attempted to clean out from under the cattle guard.

One difference this week was that I was able make use of the front D-Ring kit I had ordered and installed in the bed of the Tacoma. Toyota put them in while I had it in for the floor mat recall. They are frame mounted tie-downs, like in the back of the bed. I don't know why they aren't standard. Without them you just have the plastic clips on the rail, which I don't trust with any weight. This time I was able to rope the buckets, and keep them from sliding back and pinching against the tailgate. That means I can open the tail gate and take the buckets out one at a time without having to lift them over the side of the truck. Anything to make this process a little easier.

At the cattle guard I dug out and poked around each end trying to find an opening I could use to rake out the loose dirt and rock that has filled it up (it really needs to drain water underneath). But I had no luck as it seems to be sitting on large rocks the full length. I could dig out a rock, but I don't think I could ever get it replaced so that it would be helping to support the weight of big trucks (like the propane or septic tank trucks that drove over it the week before). So I did as the weekend before and loosened some dirt with the pick, used the blade of the adz to lift small portions out at a time, and got exactly 4 buckets worth. Its going to take a long time to get the job done this way, but I am patient.

Weed Eat
I had trouble getting the Poulan running without the choke on, but finally succeeded. I then began to tackle the weeds between the barn and the bluff. Half way through the fixed line got too short and I had to stop. I wish I could find another decent head for it, but I also need to figure out how to get it running good.

Tender's Bath
It was time, so I put on the spray nozzle and bathed the boy right there in the back. Once done, he likes to run around. But then his wet paws mix with that bone dry dust to create dirty, muddy paws. He got watermelon for his reward, which I think is an all time favorite treat for him.

August 20-21, '10

Sally went to see Ted, so she and Tender met me at the farm. The miserable hot dry weather continued. There was actually one drop of water in the rain gauge. I wouldn't have noticed it except there was a drip from the bent gutter over the garage. Apparently a thunder cloud had passed over earlier in the day.

Timer Switch
This week it was 82 in the center of the house and 84 in the living room when I arrived. I thought I had tested it, but apparently the timer switch is not going to work on the AC since it did not kick on when I bypassed the switch and plugged it straight into the wall. Even after pushing the button to turn it on, the compressor didn't kick in. I was considering where I could run buy another air conditioner, but after several minutes the compressor finally engaged.

Propane
I had the tank filled and Anderson's left the ticket on the back gate this time. 251 gallons at $1.59 each plus tax ran the tab to over $425. This is an expensive season for the farm: propane, brush hogging coming up, quarterly insurance payment, property taxes (Carroll and Madison county), and this year septic tank pumping.

Steve's Septic Service
Steve was right on time. I got changed, set the sprinkler on the garden, and had started on refilling the bird feeders when he showed up. He used a long breaker bar to hit the lid several times to loosen it and then just pulled it up. The tank didn't look bad at all -- several inches of water were on top. It didn't take him 45 minutes to get it pumped. He pumps it out, pumps it back in to loosen everything up, and pumps it out again. He actually did this twice. I need to get some roofing tar now to seal the lid so that roots don't find there way into the tank. He also recommended building some kind of box right over the lid so it doesn't have to be dug up again. I told him I figured I'd never have to do it again, since it had made it 15 years to this first pumping.

Weed Eat
There was green grass around the trees I had watered the weekend before, but that was about the only place it had grown. I re-strung the John Deere and cleaned up around the house and did the hill south of the house. I was sweeping the porch when Sally drove up.

Garden
It survived the blistering heat, but the baby green beans I had seen the weekend before didn't look like they had grown at all. And we found very few black-eyed peas. But there were lots and lots of cherry tomatoes -- again. We picked a few bell peppers and had stuffed peppers for dinner. I also surprised Sally by finding enough summer spinach for our eggs in the morning.

There was a 50% chance of rain overnight, but we didn't get any. Very disappointing. Sally began lamenting that she may not have a garden next year (as she had done last year). But she had already gotten seeds for a fall garden and actually planted some of them. I think its too early (and too dry).

Water
As the weekend before, I moved the little sprinkler around most all the trees and filled the soaker bucket 4 times for the little oak out back (it did put on new leaves, lets hope they survive a few weeks at least). We also heavily watered Sally's soul tree -- the Colorado Blue Spruce.

Apples
There were about 4 on the ground. They are still very green. I counted 30 on the tree. I will be surprised if we get any ripe ones. The 1 pair is still on the tree, but felt rock hard.

Water Bars
I decided to work on the water bars Saturday. I mine the dirt (usually mud, but just loose dirt and rock now) for the water bars from behind the barn up next to the bluff. I loosen it up with the pick and then shovel it into all the buckets and containers I have. Then I drive it up the road and add it to which ever water bar needs it the most. The buckets all slide to the back of the truck when going up the hill, which makes getting them out tough. It is much harder in the Tacoma than it was in little blue, since it is so much higher and I have to lift up and over the side. (If I opened the tail gate everything would dump out.)

Cattle Guard
While at the top of the hill with pick and adz, I started trying to remove some of the silt from under the cattle guard. I had done some of this years ago, but it has gotten very bad. I would loosen it with the pick and then scoop it out with the blade of the adz. This was very slow and very difficult -- squatting, lifting, raising, and dumping. And each load was so small. I managed to get only 4 buckets filled during a period where I took two breaks. When I got back to the house and saw the temperature was 99 degrees, I didn't feel quite so bad.

I need to find some way to get underneath from the end and rake it out. But the only clear spot has a huge rock which the guard is sitting on. This will be a job for a cooler day.

Flagged Walnuts
Thinking I may go ahead and get the pastures brush hogged, I wanted to get some tape on more of the trees I wanted to keep. I flagged along the road, the area back and above the pond (the line of pines that didn't get cut in '06), and the few in the back pasture above Plume Creek.

Along the creek I found a bunch of giant thistle, so I went back to the house to get a shovel and bag. While there I observed the temperature had crept up to 102. It didn't take 20 minutes to get the thistle. Then it was shower, pack-up, and head out. I followed Sally all the way back -- boy does she drive slow.

August 13-14, '10

More hot and dry weather. So hot, Sally (and Tender) decided not to come out. This picture of the thermometer was at 4pm. The highest I saw Saturday was just 98. And nothing in the rain gauge. Everything was parched. I really do not like August.

Timer Switch
It was 84 in the center of the house and 86 in the living room when I arrived. I immediately turn on the AC. At 8pm when I came inside, the outside temp was still 94. When I bedded down in the living room where the AC is it was still 82.

I had stopped at Acords and bought a timer that would work with a grounded outlet. Its made to be used outside, but was the only one they had. I hooked it to the AC so that it would come on for 1.5 hours each afternoon. I am hoping it will help keep the inside humidity down and the mold that we sometimes find around (and under) furniture. I don't expect it to do anything about the temperature, other than temporarily.

Garden
I brought a sprinkler out and immediately put it on the garden, hitting both sides before dark. I didn't pick until Saturday morning. Another load of cherry tomtoes (though I thought some had tough skin), a few bell peppers, a couple of hot peppers, and some black-eyed peas. I also weeded, and even watered a little more. There were baby green beans on the plants that hadn't died. I squashed one cut worm. The stink bugs are doing a lot of damage to the black eyed peas. The basil is just struggling to survive.

Water
I moved the little sprinkler around most all the trees. I filled the soaker bucket three times for the little oak we planted behind the house last fall. It had lost almost all its leaves, but now has new ones growing. We'll see if it makes it. I forgot to water Sally's soul tree -- Colorado Blue Spruce she moved twice before its home out here.

Jeff Gay
When mowing down to the pond Jeff drove up (saw me out I guess) and we chatted. Ben had moved in with his family and died July 2009. I found out Jeff bought the dozer he used to build his pond (said it was about half full), and also has a back hoe! I gave him (really his kids) permission to catch and release in the pond. He also told me he had seen hunters on our place the last day of deer season. He said when he headed down they went up and hid in the woods. I gave him my phone number. I hope we get to see more of him.

Apples
I didn't find any on the ground! I picked a couple that looked like they were beginning to turn, but they are still very hard.

Sprayed
I made a last trip of the season up to the top of the hill. I think I have eradicated all the large patches of sumac, though I think it will be a constant battle to keep it knocked down -- but much easier than this initial control effort has been. What's it been, a 4 or 5 year process with my limited time?

Mow
Sally didn't understand why I needed to mow, but there was still some high grass in areas. I outlined the walnuts by the road to the pond, did in front of the barn, and the front of the house. Very dusty.

Septic Tank
I decided to get the septic tank pumped, so I had to dig down to it and clear an area around the door. I had dug it up several years back when I was suppose to open the lid and check it -- at Jerry's recommendation. But I couldn't figure out how to get it open since it was tarred shut. By my calculations it has been 15 years and never pumped, so I'm just going to do it.


Friday evening I dug down until I reached the top of the tank. I felt that was a good accomplishment and called it a day. Saturday I widened the area looking for the danged door. As you can see, I had not recalled where it was and therefore dug up much more than I needed. I finally switched from the adz (which would stop when you hit a rock) to the pick for loosening the dirt before shoveling it out. Did I mention that it was hot. I don't believe I will ever do this again. Steve's Septic is going to meet me to do the pumping for an estimated $210.

Flagged Pecans
I had a little over an hour before I needed to scoot, so I went down to find and flag the pecans along the creeks. I planted these in 2007, and I hope flagging them keeps them from getting brush hogged (coming up). I walked up Plume creek first and found 10, which I thought was pretty good considering they aren't any larger than they were in 2007. Along Gum creek I only found 5. I ended up flagging more volunteer walnuts that pecans. These, plus maybe another dozen pecans along the fence line are all that have survived of the 100 I originally planted. Promoting growth of the volunteer walnuts is definitely the way to go -- nature's choice of what trees should be growing out here.

August 5-6, '10

Since we were going to be out of town for the weekend, I came out Thursday night. The week had been very hot, several days hitting 100, and dry in town. I was glad to see puddles on the road, and found .8 inches in the gauge -- apparently falling earlier Thursday. I woke to this thick fog in the valley.

Garden
I picked the garden before breakfast to avoid some of the heat. Lots of cherry tomatoes and some others, a few bell peppers (none orange), a few hot peppers, and some black-eyed peas. Later I weeded, and even though the ground seemed pretty wet I went ahead and hand watered before I left.

Apples
There were still apples on the Gold Rush, with just a few on the ground and chewed on. I picked a couple and took the mostly whole ones that were on the ground. The pie I had made with the green ones from the previous week was okay, but not as good as I had hoped.

Sprayed
I had gotten some diesel to mix in with the Clear Pasture. The first tank I took down to the buck-brush in the little pen at the bottom. The spray had been somewhat effective in July, but it was obvious it will take repeat applications to knock this stuff out. The remainder of the tank I took to the field above the pond where there is still some sumac and lots of viney thistle.

The next tank I hiked up the hill and continued mopping up the sumac in the upper pasture. Its looking pretty good, though I keep stumbling on patches of sumac. We're letting the center part grow up (not brush hogged the past two years) and trees are 8-10 feet. I waded through these searching out sumac as well.

Lop
While down by the pond, I took my loppers into the back area where I first planted pines that got brush hogged, then walnuts, and finally red oaks three years ago. I wanted to lop the persimmon while the leaves were still on and I could recognize them. Lots of pines have survived, and probably half or less of the others. I even found a few cedars to whack. I didn't cover it all, but did ware myself out.

Mow
Once it dried out, I mowed the back area behind the house, around the spring, and the upper area on the other side of the spring and over by the swing.

Brush Whacking
The road was really grown up, especially round the cattle guard. So I took the brush whacker up one side, around the cattle guard, and back down the other. Its not running great, so I need to figure that out. Plus the bar used to hold it had cracked and the wire I duct tapped to it isn't working that great. Oh well.

Swallows
These baby barn swallows were peering out at us the previous weekend as well. They were so cute -- several nests and 15 or so birds all watching as I would walk through the barn. I wish I had gotten a better picture.

July 31-Aug 1, '10

I didn't come out the weekend before because of my MOHS surgery and the honking can't get it wet compression bandage I had on my nose. Sally did come out that Friday to water and pick and sweat. She said there was a big rat sitting in the rafters of the garage watching her the whole day. She only got 8 peaches off the Alberta, squirrels or coons had gotten the rest. She picked a few off the huge volunteer down the hill, but they were still very green.

Hot applied to this weekend as well. Sally saw the thermometer hit 99. I even came in for a break Saturday afternoon. And no rain at all in the gauge.

Watering
Boy was it dry. I brought a sprinkler out and bungied it to the garden fence. I planted the rain gauge in the dirt and then let it run a couple of hours, which amounted to almost 2 inches. The next day I tied it to the opposite fence and let it run about an hour. I also ran a little sprinkler I have on the Gold Rush apple and 3-in-1 pear, and let a hose drip on the baby Pixie Delight apple, the other apple which is probably gone (tiny apples hanging on but all the leaves were dead and dried), the baby buckeye, the 3 dogwoods, the new baby maple, and the barely surviving Japanese maple. I filled the drip bucket twice on the baby oak in the back, but I am afraid it may be a goner since it has lost most all of its leaves. And then there was hand watering of peonies, disobedience, rose, northern red oak, and the six year old maple. I really don't like summer in the Ozarks.

Peaches
The big volunteer had been cleaned out during the week. The little volunteer still had some nice size peaches that were still green, so I picked about a dozen. Many on this tree were just drying up and dying. Not sure if these will be edible or not.

Blackberries
I didn't see any, though Sally did find a couple. The bushes are stressed from the heat and lack of water, and the raspberries are really burned up (they may be goners). Sunday I pulled grass around more plants and laid out newspapers, holding it in place with cedar sticks from the fire pile. Sally says I am wasting my time and the blackberries in the wild don't get that kind of attention. But this is my yard, and that bermuda will just take over.

Apples
The apples on the Gold Rush are looking good. But apparently that is also the opinion of the wild life, as there were about 8 on the ground, some partially chewed on. Of course they are still real green, but I can eat them. I picked up the ones off the ground and picked a few more to make a pie. We'll see if there are any left the next weekend. I'm thinking I should get a trap next year – and start using it in the spring to thin out the competition for my fruit.

Garden
We picked buckets of cherry tomatoes, and quite a few regular ones. But, the bottom of many of the stripies were rotting. Many of the bell peppers are burning on the side facing the sun and are left with a thin brown skin on that side. Only one has actually turned orange this summer. No more green beans, they were all too large and tough (though we did cook some up for Tender), 1 more onion, a few hot peppers, and some black eyed peas – though many were just a few days from being ready. Unfortunately the basil was struggling with the dry weather, but liked the watering. We had some summer spinach with our eggs, but its not looking very good either. I also weeded the garden Sunday morning.

High Wheel
I took this beast down the road and then around the barn. I kept pulling the spark plug wire off when getting under the fence. It can sure take down the weeds, but it is really tough to wrestle on un-even ground – and that's mostly what I have. I almost tipped it over several times. I'm wondering if I should have just gotten another big brush whacker.

Mow and Weedeat
Before mowing, I sharpened the extra set of mower blades and put them on. That's a slow process with my 6" bench grinder, and I probably could have done more, but I was anxious to get started. I mowed everything except the very back behind the house, the spring, and the section across the road from the house above the spring. It was so dusty I wore mask. As dry as it was, I still had to use the highest setting on the low section of the road down by the creeks where the big sycamore is. Sunday I went ahead and sharpened the blades I had taken off the day before – since the grinder was already out.

I finished weed eating the back hill, which had only partially been gotten two weeks before.