November 8-9, 2013

Sally and Tender staid in town, so I was solo. I decided to come out the shortcut, and in spite of receiving some rain early in the week the Warm Fork was dry. I was right about the fall colors, they had peaked the previous week. It was still beautiful, just not as brilliant overall. I thought this snowball bush looked great with the dying sun coming through it. Temperatures were 70, 50, and 65 -- very pleasant.

Rye Grass Seed

I stopped at the Clifty General Store on the way out and picked up 50 pounds of sunflower seed and 50 pounds of annual rye grass seed. My first project was to spread the seed on the road. I just stopped at the bottom of the hill and unloaded the bag on the way to the house. I came back with a bucket, filled it twice and made two trips up the hill covering each side of the road. The rest went on the road leading down the hill from the house, some behind the house, and the rest of the trail down to the barn. It is always interesting to see when the seeds actually sprouts. I am certain some I spread last fall just sprouted within the last couple of months.

Lop Cedars

With it getting dark so early now, I wanted something to do outside that would give me some exercise. So I grabbed my loppers and worked my way around the bluff in the back, up to the ridge top, and back down the slope above the house. It was getting pretty dim by the time I got back to the house, but I had managed to find and cut 400 cedars and a few elms.

Burn

Not being completely dark, and not needing light to burn, I started a fire to get rid of the scrub tree limbs I had cut over the past two weeks. It went pretty fast since I had already lopped them into smaller pieces. They sure generated a lot of ashes, and the pit was still warm when I left the following afternoon.

For Sale Sign

Would you believe it, someone had stolen our sign and brochure box that was out by highway. They even took the fence post I had driven into the ground to secure it. So Saturday morning I decided to go into the Berryville Wal-Mart store and see what I could put together. The signs were all small, but at least this one was metal. No official brochure box, but I figured this plastic file case would do. I wonder how long this setup will last? No one had stolen the other For Sale by Owner sign that is up along Rockhouse Road. I also got a second sign and tacked it to the gate by the cattle guard, something Sally had been wanting.

Insulate Well House

With freezing temperatures approaching, I went ahead and pulled out the ragged insulation I've been using for 10 years and spread it in the top of the well house. I need to plan to get some fresh for next year.

Re-seat Roof Screws

I went up on the roof with my cordless drill and some silicone caulk. Any loose screws I found (they back out for some reason, but only on the south side) I backed out, applied a little caulk to the threads, and drilled them back in. It did not take long, but I felt a bit of a groin pull brought on by all the sitting down and getting up again.

Garden

I re-worked the back corner with a shovel and planted 11 garlic cloves. I did some weeding and picked what kale and chard there was. I also picked a little of the summer spinach and some mint (for Sally to make tea). These roses have been great this fall. I cut the flowers and many buds and took them back for Sally.

Truck Ramps

I had ordered some ramp kits and finally got around to mounting them to two 2x8s I had previously cut. This will make any future mower loading/unloading go better -- and is probably cheaper than replacing the mud flap I tore off getting the Craftsman unloaded.

Walnuts

I thought I was going to have to go down into the valley to find enough nuts, but the tree right out back had dropped all of its remaining fruit and it was thick below the bluff. I decided to get a count, and ended up hulling and picking up 600. A bucket holds about 500.

Rain Barrels

I drained one into the garden and just let the other drain out on the ground. I then removed the screens, dumped them, and put them upside down in the back of the garage.

Load of Wood

I split the last of the big hollow white oak and loaded it, and all the rest of the 24" logs I had, into the truck to take back to town. I now probably have 7 or 8 truck loads stacked at the house. If that doesn't get us through the winter we will be burning the 18" logs I cut for the kids. There has been little demand for those, so I have a surplus. I want to get down into the SE corner and cut up the tornado downed oaks – a great job for a nice cold winter day.

November 1-2, 2013

I believe this was the peak for the fall colors. It was a gorgeous weekend with temperatures of 70, 40, and a breezy 60 Saturday. We also had rain during the week, so the rain barrels were full. This is a picture of one of the bare root dogwoods we planted when we first bought the place. All in all a very relaxing weekend.

Lop/Cut Scrubs

Sally got a bit upset with me for cutting the persimmon, elm, and another unknown variety of tree growing along the edge of the bluff out back. I think it looks better without them, but she says it just means you see more of the roof of the barn. Anyway, I did some Friday and more Saturday. I now have a big pile of limbs to burn.

Pond Walk

We hiked to the pond Saturday morning (leaving Tender at the house) and got this picture with a nice reflection in the pond. I presume that is a maple up on the hill standing out from the crowd.

Garden

Sally picked some kale and chard, but not much. She did empty one rain barrel on the garden, in spite of it being fairly moist to start with. I weeded the back corner -- tackling the bermudah and mint. We then doused the outer edge (where both start) with vinegar. This late in the year and both are still growing.

Walnuts

Stomped, rolled and picked up another bucket of walnuts. I do wish there were still hullers close by. The paper said this is a bumper year, and that last year was one of the worst in decades.

Sudoku

We just had one challenge, and Sally beat me handily.

Return via Shortcut

Sally wanted to return via the dirt road through the Madison County Wildlife Management area. The hunters are already out, bow season I guess. The Warm Fork was running, so we got this shot where the road crosses the creek.

October 26-27, 2013

Sally was in Chicago, so it was just Tender and I. It was a beautiful weekend with the trees beginning to turn, moderate temperatures (70, 42, 72), and dry. The house was confortable at about 65 -- I never turned either heater up. There were 4 drops in the rain gauge. Since we had had our first frost, I decided to go ahead and retire the glass rain gauge for the season.

For Sale

I checked the brochure box on the way in, and there were still plenty of flyers. The dampness however made many of them limp and curl. I think I will get some more printed on heavier paper. I had one showing on Saturday and another on Sunday. Interesting that the two parties that looked first were interested in it as a full time residence, while it would be of occasional use by both parties looking this weekend. The first fellow lives just a few miles down the road, but is looking for someplace for out of town family to stay when visiting. The other couple are from Bentonville and are looking for a weekend place similar to the way we use it. The first fellow looked around the house and the barn and was gone in 30 minutes. The couple walked to the spring and barn after checking out the view out back and the house, and then we drove down to the pond. We even hiked up to the cave. They stopped on the way out to get some pictures and walked over by the swing.

Boards for Chris

Chris' ramp up into his shed has rotted out, so I offered to cut him some boards from the many scraps I have in the barn. He wanted it 4' x 4', but with one long board being 1/4 inch short, I cut them 3'11 7/8" inches. There is a variety of 2 bys from 10 inches down to 4 inches. I hauled them back with a load of fire wood for the house.

Burn

I burned the limbs and wood scraps piled up at the fire pit. Sunday I shoveled out and spread all the ashes that had built up.

Stain Door to Attic

When we bought the place we found a hole into the attic from the living room. Eddie and Virginia had had an elk hide strung across it. Surprise! I framed it in and put a door on it, which has looked fine, except it was never stained. (Sally did not want me to bother.) After using the Flood CWF cedar tone on the replacement window (and it working out so well), I decided to use it on this door as well. I like the way it came out, and it didn't take 30 minutes.

Bake Cookies

I made some yummy oatmeal black walnut cookies Saturday night. The first batch was extremely crumbly, so I added a second egg and then they were easier to form. They still turned out crumbly, but very good.

Garden

I pulled up the rest of the dead squash plants and pulled off about 6 more butternuts. I do not think Sally will want them though because they still seem a bit green. There was not enough chard or kale to bother picking. I did have some summer spinach with my eggs, garlic and onion Sunday morning. I did a little weeding, emptied the one rain barrel still with water on it, and then watered with the hose before leaving.

Lop Scrubs

Looking up the hill at the little trees growing out back, I decided to lop them off and open up the view up into the woods. It did not take long. I then drug them up to the fire pit and lopped off all the limbs and cut up the bigger pieces. They will just need to dry out a bit before burning.

Pickup Black Walnuts

The tree out back where we set up the hammock is just loaded this year. Most of them fall down the bluff and behind the barn. I stomped, rolled, and picked up about half a bucket of nuts from around the house -- most of which came from behind the barn. That was Saturday. Sunday I drove down and got a whole bucket from the tree at the confluence of the creeks, and left a ton more. What a year for black walnuts.