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.