April 5-6, 2014

This was a boys weekend since Sally was off to Salt Lake City training. We had very pleasant weather: 60s, 40s, and 50s. The rain barrels were already full, but the ground was not too wet in spite of the Thursday rain.

Spray Pond

The first order of business was to spray herbicide on the other half of the pond to kill the algae and grass that has started growing. I had done the south and west ends the previous week. There was some improvement but not a total eradication. I decided to do a mop up second application on Sunday. I hope this takes care of the problem.

Bird Nests

There are blue bird nests in all four of our houses. The first was at the pond, where there were already these three eggs. There was also another type of bird nest under the cap of the propane tank with little tan speckled eggs. They have built nest here before, and I just try to keep from disturbing them too much. (The propane tank was at 30%, what a cold winter.)

Weed and Weed Eat

I did some weed eating around the house and the hill with the John Deere, and spent another hour or so tackling the spring weeds in the garden. It is about an even match so far, but I cannot afford to lose any ground (ha, a pun) to them. The garlic looks great, the onions are hanging on, there are sprouts on the spinach but no real growth, and the kale is still a no show.

Exterior Waterproofing Finish

I bought another gallon of the Flood Exterior Waterproofing Finish cedar tone and did the north side of the house. I think it looks really good. It was so dull and seemed dirty, but came out looking almost new. I will have to decide whether to use the same on the other sides.

Fruit

The nectarine was in its second week of bloom, and almost finished. It does not appear that we will have the fruit load of the previous year, which is okay if they will get bigger. I never made it down to the back of the barn and could not see any pear blooms from above. I hope they bloom and we see more pears than last year.

Turkey

While piddling out back I heard and the saw this big bird come flying down the hill right into the drive behind the house. It really startled me. He was totally unafraid, and I wondered if he was the same bird that had followed me around the farm the previous year. Just as then, he went over and pecked at his reflection in the bumper of the truck. Then, I had figured he was a domestic bird that had escaped. But I do not believe he could have survived, so am guessing it is just a friendly wild bird. Pretty strange.

Walnuts

I cracked some more nuts, bagged them up, and left them in the freezer. I am way behind on the picking.

Mower

I got the mower out Sunday to make sure it would start and to do a little mowing. It was total dead. I couldn't get it to do anything even when jumping the battery. I even switched batteries, but nothing at all. Then I drove into Berryville, bought a new battery, brought it back, put it in, but still nothing. I then resigned myself to bringing it to town to turn over to Bill the Lawnmower Man for repair. I rigged up the come-a-long with chains and ropes and winched it into the truck in stages, chocking the wheels while I took up the slack and played out the come-a-long for another go. It actually went better than I imagined it would

Poulan Chain

I had bought a new chain for the Poulan, an Oregon semi-chisel versus the saftey chain I had always used. I am anxious to try it out -- which will have to wait for another trip.