June 13-14, 2014

Sally, just getting back from Chicago Friday morning, did not come out. We had a showing scheduled for Saturday afternoon though, so I made the solo trip to get the grass cut and do the showing. I was glad to find an inch and half in the rain gauge. Any rain we get now will help us through the summer, and is especially appreciated considering the unusually dry April and May. Temperatures were low 80s each day, but got down into the 50s overnight -- nice.

Shortcut/Scarlet Tanager

I came out the shortcut, which seemed a bit rough. I also started my return home the same way and was surprised the road had been graded since the previous afternoon. I got to the Warm Fork on the return when I realized I had failed to shut off the power to well pump. Staying calm, I just turned around and drove back. I was rewarded by seeing this brilliant red bird with black wings and tail feathers. I didn't know what it was and had never seen one before. I couldn't find it in our bird book, but later did an internet search and I believe it was a Scarlet Tanager. (I also saw a blue bird along the same road through the Madison County Wildlife Management Area.) After all that dirt road, I just made my final return through Eureka.

Wild Raspberries

The black raspberries were ripe. I ate a bunch from the plant on the road in part way down the hill near the culvert -- very easy access. I wish I had had time to clean the bushes down by the Sycamores. They were tasty.

Mowing/Thistle

I got the upper level mowed Friday and did some weed eating around the house. Saturday morning I mowed everything else. After that I went on thistle patrol and found another 100. Many I found on the south side of gum creek, not where I have usually found them. For these I cut off the flowering heads and bagged them. I found one plant from the previous weekend (which I had left in the field) which had gone to seed. I hope there weren't others

Showing

This was a young couple with a three month old who have plans to move to Berryville. They were joined by his parents and their dog. He seemed very excited, but it did not seem to go well to me. We all walked out back, the couple walked through the house, I drove him to the pond and up along the ridge, and then they left. (We did see lots of fish in the pond including a large grass carp.)

Turkey Nest

I had been curious about the turkey nest I had stumbled upon about a month earlier. I figured I would no longer be disturbing the hen or the checks, so I went to investigate. I really could not tell whether this looked like they hatched, grew, and left the nest; or whether something had gotten them. I hope they made it. Something up the hill was making some strange sounds (at me) when I was checking it out.

Walnut Tree

This walnut was downed during the January 2009 ice storm, but was left with enough roots in the ground to continue to grow -- and it is up off the ground. I have always wanted to have it milled and dreamed about building a table with the lumber. I have developed a serious interest in pursuing this due to Chris and Lindsey moving into a new place, us giving them the dining room table we had used in our breakfast area for years, and Chris commissioning Skip to build him some custom shelves for his new living room.

Knowing I do not have the skill or tools to build the table, I had been thinking 'why not hire out the job?' So Sally and I dropped by and discussed the project with Skip. He remembers doing some project for us about 30 years ago when we first moved into our home, but none of us can recall what it was. He was willing, but very humorous when he said "if I'm still alive". He was pointing out the length of such a project: getting the tree cut into logs and hauled out (or milled in place), drying the boards for six months, having them kiln dried, and then actually building the table.

I am excited about the idea though, so I went and cleared some of the brush that has grown up around the tree and measured it. I think there will be plenty of wood, possible enough to also build a bench. I am not yet sure if I would be able to get the logs to the truck and loaded into the bed. (The tree lies just below the spring.) I have found a miller outside Huntsville that takes small jobs like this. We'll now see if I can follow through.

Garden

I did not have much time to spend in the garden. I pulled up the radishes for Sally, and then tackled a big portion of the mint -- it is just taking over (along with the Bermuda). The basil is looking very good, the bean's are beginning to flower, and the onions are still coming along. The garlic will need picking next trip out. The summer spinach is full and thick as usual, and the sole kale plant is holey due to the little worms on the back side of the leaves. (Didn't keep me from having some with eggs for breakfast.) I wonder how others manage to grow it organically.

Snakes

This was the weekend for snakes, I saw three. This black snake was the longest, and was right out back where I had walked our prospects a few hours earlier. I saw another smaller black snake by the road at the bottom of the hill when I had come back to turn off the power to the pump. The big hair raiser though was a timber rattlesnake I found, and disposed of shortly after arriving. This was the first and only poisonous snake I have ever seen out on our property. Hopefully the last.

June 6-8, 2014

Sally was still in Chicago, so it was another lonely, but rewarding, work weekend for me. We finally got a good rain Friday morning, with the gauge showing an inch and the garden well watered. You could tell the grass was liking it also, because it sure seemed to have grown a lot in a week. It remained mild (low 80s Friday/Saturday, and cooler Sunday), cloudy, and we received another tenth of an inch of rain Saturday and Sunday.

Weedeat the Hill

The grass was really high on the hill out back, so that was the first order of business. I had forgotten what a job this is, even with my brush whacker. Late Friday afternoon I did that hill, the one nearer the house (except for that directly below the house), and down around the barn. I was splattered with clippings from the thick wet grass. Sunday I did the hill below the house and cleaned up around front with the little John Deere.

Fawn/Bluebirds

While weedeating in front of the barn, I saw something scamper across the field directly below. At first I thought rabbit. But no, its too big. Then I realized it was a fawn. I am certain it was the same one I had gotten a picture of the weekend before. I hope it has not been abandoned by its mother.

There were bluebird eggs in the house by the pond and in the house on the hill, although that nest seemed a bit disheveled. The house out back remains empty. When I went to check on the eggs in the house out front, the mother flew out. With just a quick peak I could tell why, one of her eggs had just hatched. The baby was so so tiny. What a miracle. I do hope I did not disturb them so much as to cause any harm. I certainly was not going to come back with my camera.

Waterproofing Finish

This was the big project for the weekend. I finished the wall outside our bedroom Saturday morning, and then the first rain blew in. Pretty light, so I did the portion under the porch north of the living room. Early in the afternoon it had cleared up, and the east side of the house was dry (it had never really gotten wet). So I finished that end (I had done the high parts the weekend before, and in this picture was working from the bottom up), and then moved back to the west side finishing it up by dark. Sunday I did the south side of the house. The cedar tone finish is darker, but it does help cover up of the blackish stains and the lower dirty/graying boards. I will be interested in hearing what Sally thinks, if she notices -- she didn't notice after I had done the north side several months back.

Garden

I've finally gotten the upper hand on the weeds in the garden, excluding the bermuda grass and mint. Actually the mint had swallowed Sally's rose in the corner, so I started pulling it up. The ground there was not wet like in the rest of the garden. I think the mint was stealing the moisture, and the rose seemed to be a bit puny. I cleared it all out around the rose and then watered. I hope to see some improvement.

I pulled up half of the radishes, the garlic that had survived from the year before (I only found it because I was pulling up the mint that surrounded it), and the two remaining spinach plants. The summer spinach has really taken off, I had some with eggs one morning. The other morning I had a few leaves from the kale plant that over wintered. From the kale seeds put out this year, there are just two tiny tiny plants. The green beans are coming along and the onions and basil look good. Hopefully there will be improvement next weekend as a result of the rain.

Thistle

Late Sunday morning I loaded a shovel and the high wheel trimmer into the truck and headed down the hill. I stopped at the confluence of the creeks, grabbed the shovel, and started walking the field looking for thistle. I was glad I decided to do this. I dug up 178 thistle plants, stretching almost all the way to the pond. About half of them were just beginning to bloom. Its the purple flower that helps you find them, so I will need to come back next weekend when I am sure to find more. I just left them in the field assuming they were not far enough along to form seeds. I hope I am right. That is something else I will check on the following weekend. Surprisingly, I did not see any across the fence in the Clark's pasture where they have been heavy in years past.

Trimming around the Pond

While digging the thistle, a light rain had started falling. I went on to the pond and was able to use the high wheel string trimmer to clear out the high grass around the culverts and along the south shore -- all in a light rain. It began to pick up while heading to the house, and it eventually chased me indoors.

House Cleaning

Trapped inside, I did a bit of house cleaning -- in the bathroom, kitchen and entry area, and the living room floor.

May 30 - June 1, 2014

Afta the Contender
b. Oct 22, 2000
d. May 23, 2013

Sally's dreams of 2000 are slowly falling away. I hit a deer in her 4Runner in November 2012, and now we have lost our dear sweet boy. This era of our lives is coming to an end. Serenity Farm is the last piece of this trilogy, and we know its end is also coming – at least for us.

This picture was taken October 20, 2013, two days before Tender turned 13. I almost deleted it because he is just a blur, running into a shot I was trying to get for advertising the farm. I am so glad I didn't. Now, I have trouble just imagining him running that recently. But what I see is a spirit running free, as I hope he is doing today – as in that dream Amanda had the day after his passing, as I remember him doing so often through the fields below. We dearly miss this best friend and constant companion.

Weather

It had been cloudy, cool, rainy, and very humid all week in town. I was surprised to find only a quarter inch of rain in the gauge. Daytime temperatures were in the low 80s and there were quite a few clouds. In fact, a shower kicked up Saturday afternoon. It kept me in for a couple of hours, but we only received about .2 of an inch of rain. The newspaper reported we are 5 inches below normal for the year.

Craftsman Mower

Having been three weeks since mowing to the pond and two weeks for everything else, I was anxious to jump onto this job. First I headed to the pond. It was along the road going down the hill I saw this snake in the road. I meant to look him up, but never got around to it.

Once I got on the other side of the pond I began to see parts of the drive belt being left behind, and then it started slipping and began to smoke. Drats. I drove it back to the house, figured how to get the belt off, tried to measure the length of the belt, looked up the mower model, and did a little internet searching trying to find specs for the belt. No luck. I then checked the yellow pages and saw there was Sears retail store in Berryville and decided to go to town Saturday morning.

After a bit of trouble at Sears (I had copied the mower model down wrong, but luckily had a picture of the tag from last summer), I purchased a new belt. I was so relieved. I really get stressed when I have mower problems since I am so dependent on it this time of year, especially when I haven't been out in two weeks. I just have such a short window of time available, and don't want to skip another week or haul it into town. Of course some of that frustration may go back to my history with this mower. (From the belt replaced I learned that this is a pre-2000 model. I can't believe I paid $500 for this piece.)

I got the rest of the grass cut without incident. Poking around under the deck I also found a way to raise it slightly, even though Bill the Lawnmower Man said it couldn't be adjusted. (I have to cut most everything on the highest setting it has and would like more lee-way in order to miss rocks.)

Spray Pond

The pond is looking good, but there were still some areas of grass. I don't want to let it get the upper hand, so after the mower problems I decided to spray the pond Friday afternoon – another application of Cutrine Plus. I saw two turtles (bad) and several fish (good).

Clean the Living Room Tile

The ceramic tile looked good except for a few spots on the grout, so I decided to see if I could get them out. Sure enough the stains came out pretty well, but during that process I noticed I was also getting more than a little dirt off the tile (I guess it hides it well). So I began tackling the whole floor. I worked on it both evenings, covering about 60%. There will be some follow up work for the next weekend.

Bluebird Nest

This nest and eggs was in the fancy bluebird house out front, the one with the plexiglass side for viewing. Still no second nest at the pond or out back. There is another nest in the house on the hill, but I never peeked in to see what kind or whether there were eggs.

Paint Closet

When the rain chased me indoors Saturday afternoon, I decided to paint Sally's closet. It has really been needing it. I don't know what had been thrown in there, but the sides and the back were really stained. It looks great now.

Garden

There are lots of radishes, but I want to save them for Sally so I left them in the ground. Some green beans are coming up, the onions that have survived looked good, the garlic and the one kale plant from last year are doing well, the basil is coming along nicely, the summer spinach is filling in, and one Italian pepper seed has sprouted. But it was dry and there are lots of weeds. I did some weeding Saturday and Sunday, planted a tomato I picked up in Berryville, put more green bean and Italian pepper seeds in the ground since we had room, fertilized, and watered.

Walnuts

I finished cracking the last of the black walnuts I had picked up and hulled last fall! Now to get them picked, along with the other four bags I have stockpiled.

Waterproof the Siding

I brought my extension ladder out and was able to cover the high areas on the ends of the house with the Flood waterproofing finish. I continued to use the cedar tone on the areas that were turning dark. On the east end I mixed some of the cedar tone with the clear, which worked well. This project will stretch into a few more weekends. I must say I really like having the extra day out here.

Fawn

Before dusk Saturday I thought I would walk up the road and see if I could get a view of the turkey nest. While walking above the spring I noticed some movement in the grass on the hill below the spring. I stood and watched and waited hoping that it would move and I could determine what it was. At first I thought rabbit, but then realized it was too large. Then guessed it might be some kind of wild cat. I started throwing rocks at it trying to get it to budge, but it only flinched when one almost hit it. So I decided to walk around and get a close look. I actually thought it would be gone by the time I got there. I felt bad about throwing rocks when I found this scared little fawn. I just took a few pictures, and it never stirred.

I never found the turkey nest, just looking from the road. I thought I would come back with the field glasses, to help my aging eyes, but never made it back up there. I did not want to wonder down by the nest and flush the hen again, just wanted to check on her and her eggs/babies(?). I hope nothing got them.

Weed Eat

I took the brush whacker up the road, around the cattle guard, back down the other side, and cleaned up around the spring before I ran out of gas. I took the little John Deere and cleaned things up around the house. The hills and barn will need it next weekend.

Creeping Thistle

The field just below the spring is full of some kind of creeping thistle that was blooming (purple blooms, low and spreading, and fine thorns). So I filled my backpack sprayer with some herbicide and diesel and sprayed most of it. I will be interested in checking next weekend to see if it had any affect.