January 6-7, 2012

Oh what a beautiful weekend -- early January and it was clear and 65 Friday and 60 Saturday. Unbelievable! It was 55 in the house, normal for winter, so we needed to open the windows to warm it up.

Cracked Walnuts

I did about half a box, my second cracking of the season. There were a lot more bad nuts this time around, nothing like the ratio last year but many more than the 2 or 3 I found in the first cracking.

Puller Bear

I took this tree puller up to the top of the hill to see what it would do with all the hardwood stumps left after years of brush hogging. Not so good. Most just broke off where it clamped onto them. With just a few I was able to get the roots. And then there were those that I couldn't get up and wouldn't break. It did well with the cedars (but its easier to lop them) and the pines. The pines just keep coming back with wide low spreading limbs, so its nice to get the roots and all. Next I'll try this tool on the buck brush. If it doesn't get those by the roots I've likely wasted my money.

Cedars

I pulled lots of the cedars in front of the spring tank. They are small on top because they have been getting mowed, but under the ground they have been growing deep roots. This one I could only get up by twisting it about 30 times, and then this huge tap root came up.

Rake Tank

I took the rake to the tank to rake out some of the leaves and debris – and algae that is already growing. I haven't given up on the bacteria to eat the muck, but figure I will need to help it out. We will need much warmer weather before I can put out more of the bacteria.

Front Gate

This gate was never hung correctly (2.5 inch screws were used but couldn't be driven all the way in) and one side was hanging by one screw. I had to hack saw off some of the screws, raised both sides, and got it where it opened and latched nicely.

While I had the tools out I fixed the swing, tightened the screws in the adirondacks, and got the two gate closures in the back to nest nicely (they had been bugging me).

Trim Hollies

The holly inside the fence was really out of control, so I removed quit a bit of it. The other 2 had gotten eaten by the deer last winter when we had lots of snow, so they didn't need too much. I also clipped the rest of the obedience (some of it was still green) and the peonies.

Walk to Pond

With Tender's tender feet (recent yeast infection), we weren't comfortable walking him all the way to the pond, so we locked him in the house as we took an afternoon hike. I was really on the look out for antler sheds, but found none (we walked some pasture on the way down and a different section back). We did find a patch of about 20 thistles growing flush to the ground. I kicked them out, but need to watch this area in the summer. The algae is already growing and it looks like it will be another challenging year of pond management. Also found an armadillo shell -- belly up just like along the road.