April 19-20, 2013

This weekend was consumed by replacing the hot water heater and hunting for Morel mushrooms. It was mild and very pleasant, warmer on Saturday than Friday.

Hot Water Heater

With the old water heater showing dampness underneath, and given the rust and its age I knew it was time to replace it. I asked Jeff if he could recommend and plumber, and he gave me the number for Rex at the Dinner Bell Ranch. Explaining the situation to Rex he agreed to give me a hand late Friday after he finished some other jobs. He said not to buy the inferior products sold by Lowe's or Home Depot (which is exactly what Jeff said he did), but instead directed me to Mavericks in Berryville. He also directed me to get new flex connections.

So we went straight to Mavericks from Eureka and picked these up -- the fellow that
waited on me was very helpful. Jeff had also recommended a 50 gallon vs 40, since there was not much cost difference. So that is what I got.

Back at the house I left the water off and disconnected the in and out water lines, reconnected a drain hose, and sure enough (as Rex had said) I got more water to drain out.

Next, Sally helped me carry the new water heater in and drag the old one out. We immediately recognized a problem, this one was much shorter than the old one and there was no way the flex connections would reach. I immediately called Rex (about 5pm now) and explained the problem. He was done with his other jobs and was about to head to our place. After sizing up the problem and not finding pvc/cpvc connectors to extend our lines, he headed back to the Dinner Bell to get more supplies, including cinder blocks in case we needed to raise the water heater.

When he returned he had some new kind of plastic pipe I had never seen and said it works really well, but that it requires brass fittings at the joints that have to be crimped on. Then he realized he had forgotten his crimpers, and so had to make yet another trip back to the Dinner Bell.

With everything he needed now, he cut and fitted the water line extensions. The only other problem was threading the pipe fittings onto the male pvc threads without cross threading them. It took him a few tries, but got them on. Next we turned on the water and he found a slight link on the output side at the pvc connection. He shut off the water, unhooked that pipe extension and put one more turn on it. When he left he was thinking he would have to come back out Saturday after picking up some new pvc fittings. But in the morning everything was still dry, so I called him to say another trip was not necessary and that we would stop by the Dinner Bell on our way out and write him a check. It turns out he had something come up and no one was at the Dinner Bell when we arrived, so in the end just put a check in the mail to him.

Morels

We had a big rain Thursday morning, and while walking Tender at lunch Sally found some Morel mushrooms right off Cleveland. I found two more in the same spot that evening, and cooked them a little olive oil with garlic. I am not usually a mushroom fan, but these were delicious.

Knowing that this was the right time of year for them, we set out to find some at the farm. Between Rex's trips I scouted up the draw by the road and up the hill behind the house. Nothing.

Saturday morning we decided to go down and hike up Plume Creek. Still no luck. Having heard they can sometimes be found around May Apples, we headed up the hill. Before getting to the know patches of May Apples, Sally spied three mostly under a cedar but where there was plenty of leaf litter.

Later in the day I decided to try the bluffs to the east of the house and circled back around to the north side of the hill. Its really difficult to navigate this steep terrain, but I was rewarded by finding two more Morels in separate locations. I was expecting to find a cluster like Sally had stumbled onto in town, but maybe we were too late?

Water Cress

At the end of our joint search for mushrooms, Sally wanted some water cress from the creek. There was plenty -- this picture is just a little patch. It was difficult for this aging body to get down into the bottom of the creek and pull some out.

Pickup Rocks

Since the road is so rutted and muddy in the soft, seep area by the twin Sycamores, I decided I would pickup rocks to use to fill in. I did this before, many years ago. I filled four buckets out back, trying to the get the out of the area I mow. I'll spread them on the road another weekend.

Apple and Pear Blossoms

The Apple was blooming nicely, though I know it is not healthy and fully expect it to die this summer. There have also been some blooms on both of the pears, but not as many as I was expecting on the Magness. We'll see if we get any pears ourselves (only 1 last year).

April 13-14, 2013

We arrived early afternoon on a very nice 65 degree day. Sunday was hot though, with a high around 80.

Red Buds

This was the weekend for the Red Buds, which were in full bloom. Sally didn't realize we had so many below the bluffs as you drive in. There were lots across the valley and below the North facing bluff (where we walked Sunday afternoon).

Fence Building

We arrived a bit later than desired, and Jeff had already made significant progress on the fence repair. He had dug and concreted in two braced wood posts where Ben had had the same (taken down by the tornado). He had also already pounded in new T-posts. He said he had to use the holes where the old posts had been, just to get them in the ground. When I got down there he was separating the stands of barbed wire, which were pretty tangled. We just loosely clipped them to the post to keep then un-tangled until we stretched the wire the next day.

Sunday Jeff also beat me down to begin the work. This time he brought a kid he hires to help him out with farm chores. With all three of us working, the stretching of the wire and clipping of each strand to a T-post went very quickly. We were done by early afternoon. Yippee, no more cows over on our place and no more cow pies around the house. (The log barricade did keep them from venturing to the back of the barn.)

Blue Birds

There were now 3 eggs in the house by the pond, and I never checked the one on the hill although we saw a blue bird leave it when driving down the hill.

We kept hearing something bang the window in the living room. It was this blue bird. He would sit on the holly, look at his reflection in the window, and try to attack what he thought was another male moving in on his territory. (Got this photo through the screen by hiding behind the wall and extending my arm in front of the window.) In spite of his presence, there are still no blue bird nests in the house out front or out back. Instead, a chick-a-dee has taken over the house in the front and we decided to just leave it.

Later, the male blue bird flew over to the yard hydrant by the bird bath. I got this shot through the window (no screen) with two gold finches at the bird bath.

Garden

Lots of the seeds we had been planting over the past two months have finally begun to sprout: spinach, kale, radishes, and more that I don't remember. I did some weeding and watered everything from the full rain barrel.

Bluffs

Sunday afternoon we drove over to the north facing bluffs where all the Red Buds were. We parked and then walked the steep field there. Then we went to the barn and filled the truck with another load of fire wood to bring back to town.

Hot Water Heater

As I was shutting off the water I noticed it was just slightly wet under the hot water heater. Given its age, I am sure it is going out and needs to be replaced. I got a water hose and drained it, though I am not sure the drain valve did not clog up with rust since it didn't seem to take as long as I would have expected. A replacement will have to be installed the next weekend.

March 29-30, 2013

Another nice weekend with highs of 70 degrees and a light rain overnight and into Sunday morning.

Garden

We picked up a set of Georgia Sweet onions on the way out and immediately planted them. We should have inspected them closer, because many of them were shriveled up and had to be discarded. There was also a lot of yellow. Hopefully they will bounce back.None of the kale, spinach, radishes we had planted had come up. The soil was pretty dry, so I can only presume there has not been enough consistent moisture. The mint, to my dismay, is already growing.

Rain Barrels

The one by the house was full, but the other only about a quarter full. Sally noticed the faucet was dripping, which would explain it being low. After the overnight rain it was at about 80% full.

Cows

Jeff's fence is still down and there are cow pies everywhere. Luckily only a few by the house, but many in front and behind the barn. Sally had me role three big hollow logs and wedge them between the barn and the bluff to keep the cows from getting behind the barn. I got terribly muddy doing this. The cows are also pulling up the few pecan trees that have survived as well as the volunteer walnuts I had protected from the brush hog.

The logger still has not come for Jeff's downed timber (equipment problems). I think Jeff was holding off on the fence until after the timber is pulled out of the way.

Nectarine

The only fruit blooming so far is the nectarine and the wild peach on the trail to the barn. I am now certain my Alberta is a gonner.

Blue Birds

There were no nests in the bird houses out front and back of the house. (Inspite of seeing some blue birds checking out one of them two weeks earlier.) But there were nests in the house part way down the hill and the one at the pond, with this egg was in the one on the hill.

Burn Cedars

Satureday morning, in a light rain, I went down and burned a bunch of the cedar limbs behind the pond. It looks like it will take me two or three more burns to get rid of all of them. It also wore me out, as I was dragging the rest of the day. It was almost too hot for burning. At one point I thought I smelled burning hair (my hat has a big hole in the front, I ditched it.)

Firewood

Friday I split five logs, and another three while Sally was loading the truck. We hauled them back to town where we will store them until next winter. I think we have burned more wood in March than the rest of the winter (most all that was in town has is gone).