I was able to get about an hour of clean up in the old wood pile area. I made sure to check the temperature before I headed out, and it was only 22C. Thank God it wasn’t any hotter, because even that felt way too hot.

Y’know, I’ve always wanted to travel, and go vacation on some tropical island. I still want to do that, but I am realizing that I’d just die in the heat! 😀

So this is where I left off, yesterday.

The first thing I did was take out those pieces leaning against the fence.

You see the one with metal hinge halves on it?

It turned out to be a fairly long piece, and the one under it matched – including with hinge halves. So it looks like they are the two sides of an old gate.

While taking those out, I was able to look at some sort of cable I’d noticed before.

???

I am getting used to finding strange things around the yard, but I still find myself wondering, time and again, why is this here?

More so, when I uncovered the other end, which you will see later!

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Then I found this thing.

It kinda looks like a cat comb we have, except without the teeth. I think it’s for weeding. I have a vague memory of seeing something like this in a Lee Valley catalog.

Again… why is this here?

A lot of what you see lying on the ground where the pallet fence was are actually pieces of wood that fell off as I dragged the rest out.

At about this point, as I was dragging another pallet out, I felt myself step on… something. A nail? A piece of bush I’d pruned away for access? (There’s a reason I go back to cut those to ground level!!)

So I grabbed the rake and cleared the area were I think I’d stepped on it, then went over it with the magnet, just in case.

If it was a nail, I think I raked it away, because I found nothing with the magnet. Though I plan to go back over the area with some insanely strong rare earth magnets we have; I figure if I stick them to the end of the magnetic reacher I am currently using, they’ll hold themselves in place just fine.

So this is about where I stopped for the day.

You’ll notice that the table is still there, in the back. And I’m using it for my water bottle.

My daughter suggested we find a way to keep the table. Maybe along with that chair frame I dug out. LOL It can be part of the “art installation” I plan to make with our found objects! After all, I’ve also got a teapot, cup and soup bowl, too!

Raking up where the pallet fence, and a row of pallets on the ground, had been, I uncovered more pieces of wood. The pallets that had been lying on the ground were falling apart, but it looks like the nails came with the parts I could pull up. Which means I could probably leave the mostly buried wood where it is.

I’ll still go over it with a magnet, just in case.

The pallet the doghouse is on it on top of another pallet.

Which is probably the only reason the doghouse pallet isn’t rotted away, like the others lying directly on the ground.

I have another pile of debris to go behind the outhouse, once the wheel barrow is free again. The pallets that were standing up to make the fence, I was able to take out of the yard, but the ones lying on the ground were just too rotten to carry far.

The loaded wheel barrow and tree pieces are what I’ve accumulated in the last couple of days.

Today’s found objects: more pieces of metal from that… weather vane? … I found yesterday. That cable? It was only about 3 feet long, and ended in an outlet, which is thoroughly rusted out. Two lengths of chain; one draped on top of the dog house, the other draped around a fence post, with the power cable. Wire that was used to fasten a couple of pallets to a fence post. Brick pieces, found under one of the pallets lying on the ground that wasn’t completely rotted out. Four fence posts.

These posts can actually be salvaged. We just need to cut off the rotted part that was underground. The other fence posts I pulled out previously, which can be seen at the top of the picture, are not salvageable.

This is the last section to work on. The dog house needs to be moved (and I think I have found a good place for it), then the last of those pallets.

This is going to be the most difficult area to clean up. The pallets are so incredibly rotted. I expect to be taking them out, piece by piece, and hopefully be able to find all the nails in the process.

We’re already thinking about what we can do to take advantage of this loose, well composted soil. I’m thinking it would be a great area to plant more haskap bushes! Or some other food producing bush. Not trees, though; something low, and easier to harvest from.

Aside from hauling stuff away, I don’t expect to be working in this area again until Monday, at the earliest.

For now, it’s time to get ready for a dump run, then head out early to pick up my daughter from work, so we can swing by the dump, then run some errands in town.

Including stopping at the hardware store and checking out their work gloves. I’m on my last pair right now!

The Re-Farmer