January 28-29, 2011

Eagles

We saw two eagles on the way out, one near Clifty and another along Hwy 23. When we got to the cattle guard there was one soaring directly over the farm. I saw a fourth flying over our valley Saturday morning when I had driven down to lop cedars. And then we spotted a fifth over head while laying out on the warm ground Saturday afternoon.

Very Pleasant Weather

It was 60 Friday afternoon and hit 70 Saturday -- amazing for January. After working Saturday I joined Sally and Tender just laying on the ground soaking up some rays.

Fayetteville set a record high of 74 Saturday. 5 days later we would set a record low high temperature of 16 and a record low of -3 Thursday morning!

Fence Repair

My first project Friday was to repair the section of fence that had blown down a few weeks earlier. I ended up having to rip a 2x2 at an angle using my rusty hand saw (held in place by my vice) in order to build an anchor at the post. It sits higher than we wanted since the post stopped at the porch concrete, but with rocks underneath it doesn't look to bad.

Walnuts

After the fence repair I cracked another box of walnuts -- starting in on my 3rd bag. These were smaller than the previous ones and had about a 80% ratio of good nuts to bad. Sally was asking why I bother with all the work when I can just go buy them. It did get me wondering the same question. I figured it takes me over an hour to pick out a cup of nut meat, and I get about a quart of meat per box, and it takes about a hour and half to crack that many. How does Hammons do it for a profit?

Lop Cedars

Saturday morning I went back down into the valley worked the area across Plume creek -- going all the way up to the woods and back down. After that I did a few more on the north slope. I cut 985 and was glad to clean that area up.

Clear Creek

After lunch I went back down to Plume creek with my Stihl to see if I could finish clearing the ice storm damage -- a project started last spring and continued a few weeks back. These are some before and after pictures.

I cut everything all the way to where the fence crosses the creek (approximately where our property line is). I drug most of the limbs out of the creek and piled them to the side. There is one section needing more dragging, but it is close to being able to walk up un-impeded.