As Everyone Celebrated

I had a walk and a talk with Dad as I traveled over the farm.  I know he's with me.  He would have reveled at the growth in the valley.  He would have been delighted with this Bull frog peeking out.

Dad would have seen the face in this old coffee pot

and admired the garden.

Dad would have bragged on my progress 

although he could always work circles around me.

He would have stopped to admire the conglomerate rock I found

and discussed why it was conglomerate and not metamorphic.

You are not here with the living, Dad, but we carry you inside our heart. Thank you for serving our country, fathering us, and loving us. Happy Father's Day!  I feel you in the land around me.

Let 'Er Burn!

Hubby couldn't stand it.

He had to strike the match.

I cleared some more

and more.

Hubby had a great idea.

Far easier than carrying it to the pile.

Stoking the fire was easier too.

I just couldn't cut fast enough.

The next project waits.

Work Continues...

Oh, no, not more brush piles!!!  I am on a roll!  The weather has been perfect for trimming.  I think I have pulled some twenty foot briers out of trees.  I have seen ground I have not seen in years.  Life is good.  I am seeing progress.

And one more pile almost gone.

Hubby had a great idea.

Far better than me carrying arm loads at a time.

Two piles gone.

Many more to go.

An Afternoon's Work

Honey suckle, black berries and poop plants*...

what the birds leave us to grow.

See that small bare spot?

And the work continues as the pile grows.

*Poop plants are what the birds plant when they poop.

Whatever seeds they have eaten seem to grow well.

Hunting Rats With Tractors...

I'm sorry I missed the event, I hear it was quite dramatic and fun.  Any thing involving hunting vermin with large farm equipment has to be interesting to watch.

Hubby says, Ya know that brush pile...

I think, uh, which one?  We have a few.

Hubby says, You know the one I pushed up last summer to burn when it's wet...

Yes, I remember them all.

Any way with a detailed description, I finally pin point the right brush pile in my mind...and then I think, oh, no, not another tractor in the pond story!

Hubby continues, I was pushing the brush pile, tightening it up, and the dogs get after a rat.  The dogs are having no luck with the capture. Okay, now I envision him grading the whole hill side, scraping a hundred years of top soil up, trying to get a rat...on a tractor.  There is a reason I think this drastically...strange things happen a lot around here with my man and the tractor.

Hubbs tells me the rat runs out and climbs a tree.  Ki is on its tail all the way until it hits the tree.  Ki is many things but she is not a flying dog nor a tree climbing dog.  She trees it and won't stop barking.  Hubbs helps out by "tapping" the tree with the tractor bucket...the rat falls out.  My first concern is which tree did he "tap"?  Tap is a small word, but not when you're talking about a tractor.

I am assured, he did not harm the tree and it was JUST a small pine tree anyway...all trees are precious in my book.  So, I listen patiently, trying not to visibly cringe, trying not to picture the damage that pursuing a rat from a tractor could possibly cause.

At this point, the capture of the rat is not my main concern.  This the same man that drove a tractor into the pond, knocked the edge off the boat shed because he forgot he had the bucket up AND the man who ran over a lawn mower while chasing my horses on his Mule.  Oh, me of little faith!

The rat drops, the dogs pounce, the deed is done quickly.  The brush pile is still intact although about thirty feet from it's original position and the precious top soil is only slightly rutted.

The happy dogs proudly take turns carrying the rat around and admiring it.

I had to put my foot down when Ki-Anne wanted to add it to the pile of my slippers in her babies' bed.

...and God, please watch over my tractor man.  He needs all the help he can get.

Define Vacation For Me!

 The sad rose at the end of the bed I worked on yesterday is now trimmed, weeded, and mulched.  I use old dog food bags under rocks and roses love them.  I trimmed a large enough hole to feed and water the rose if it needs it, otherwise, this will help it take care of itself.  I think I could've taken a straighter picture

So it's taken me two mornings,or more, before the heat rolled in to get one half of one side of the house weed free.

This is the relationship of my water garden to the rock patio I did last week.  You can see why the water stays ragged...the pets think it's their personal playground and I don't have the heart to stop them.  I can watch the dogs chase frogs from the porch or from right beside the water garden on the bench a friend made.

My other project this morning was cleaning this off the old house.  Many saplings and a huge grape less vine had taken over, along with vinca.  I saved the vinca for another day.

Same spot, finished!  I did three sides of the old house where Dad grew up and where I lived at a very young age.  Have to trim this all back because there are many repairs to be done.  I finished three sides before I had to come in and cool.

The temperature has reached 80 degrees, feels like a cold front.

If you think I didn't do much, here's my pile of proof.

No snakes, no wasps (bothering me), no injuries (a few cuts and scratches that don't count) and I did it all in my handy dandy little rubber shoes...almost as much fun as flip flops.  Gosh, I'm tired!