July 19-20, 2014

Sally staid in town on stand by for the delivery of grand-child number 6. I needed to mow and thought I had a showing for Sunday, but that didn't materialize. Saturday was nice, cloudy with a high of only 80. The overnight low was 68 and then it was back to high humidity and the upper 80s. Unfortunately the rain gauge was dry.

Garden

I missed Sally being out to tend the garden. The typical weeds weren't too bad, but then there is the bermuda and mint. The Dahlia's were getting showy and there were Italian peppers, though I thought they were supposed to turn red (I left the biggest one to see if it would). I picked some beans, but left most to see if we would could harvest just the seeds of this new mottled variety we ended up with (I prefer the green beans myself). I also clipped more than enough basil for a double batch of pesto. And then there was watering done both days.

Mow

I mowed everything Saturday. This is the first time the grass has begun to look brown from the lack of rain. Being dry, I also wore a mask while mowing. Expecting a showing, I also made sure things were cleaned up around the house, barn and spring using the weedeaters.

Blue Birds

There is a new blue bird nest in the house out back, and it has 4 eggs! I cleaned out the abandoned nest with eggs in the house on the hill – I'm just not sure what happened there. I needed to clean out the nest in the house at the pond, but forgot. (I'm sure the babies have left by now.)

Spray Sumac

While driving up on the ridge top during a showing many weeks back I had noticed two large patches of sumac right at the fence line. I had also noted another large patch in the back pasture when up there looking for thistle. So I got out the back pack sprayer, herbicide, and some diesel and hit all three. I hope the mix was strong enough for the patch in the back pasture. Of course both will need a followup to make sure I got everything.

Pull Brush

I went back to the hill where I had cut a bunch of briars, elm, and persimmon a couple of weeks back. I pulled the brush and stuffed it into the ditches to rot (and slow the erosion). That's some pretty tiring work. But I wasn't done.

Cut Sassafras and Oaks

When it seemed likely our prospects were not going to show, I tackled these two growing up on the hill just south of the house – since they obstruct the view and Ben had given me a hard time once for letting the oaks grow amongst the pines. I like the little bunch of sassafras, but some were getting mighty large and the patch is spreading. I cut out three of the big ones and will see how I like it. I also cut a few of the larger oaks, and went around the hill with my loppers cutting dozens of the little ones. I never got to the west end of the hill, and suspect I will want to take out more of the larger oaks. Some I want to leave for erosion control, and I did leave all the hickories though I did trim some of them up. I have this vision of letting the hickories grow tall and straight up amongst the pines. Hey, they can always be cut.