Things are much, much less active, now that the yard work is done for the year! We’re settling in to an indoor routine, which is pretty domestic.
I am enjoying the relative peace and quiet.
Now… I am NOT a morning person. Never have been.
But we have critters to feed, and I have my morning rounds to do.
Thankfully, there are things that make it worthwhile. :-D Continue reading
Well, I’m certainly glad I finished the outside stuff, yesterday! Especially wrapping up the post pounder. Continue reading
Part of my morning routine, weather willing, is to walk around the yard and check on things, such as looking for fallen branches, or seeing if anything broke or blew over during the night.
Having been able to clear as much of the spruce grove perimeter as I have, I now include that as well.
So I finally got a photo this morning, of the lonely little cedar tree, cleared of the poplars that were starting to crowd it.
.
I will have to do some research to find out the best way to care for this little guy. :-)
Beep Beep has taken to following me, as I walk around. Sometimes, Butterscotch as well.
This morning, I had both of them.
Beep Beep, we’ve noticed, has been getting feistier and more aggressive to the other cats. This morning, she went after Butterscotch!
It’s one thing to be growling at the other cats, and maybe batting at them a bit. Rolando Moon has always been like that.
But this morning, she was ready to start a fight with Butterscotch!
And Butterscotch is definitely the more passive of the two.
I broke them up and ended up carrying Butterscotch for a while.
Poor thing. :-(
The Re-Farmer
Okay.
So, I knew there was a fair bit of junk piled on and around a piece of equipment next to the garage.
I didn’t realize just how bad it was.
Wow.
It was such a beautiful day today – we hit 8C today – I couldn’t resist! I started working on the spruce grove perimeter again. With the manual labour, the cooler temperatures are just perfect.
Rather than start were I left off last time, I started near the outhouse and garage. I want to be able to go into the area with my wheelbarrow and tools from here, rather than having to go all the way around where I’d already cleared. Also, there was a pile of junk at the corner of the garage I wanted to clear out.
It turned out to be a much bigger job than I expected!
In fact, I’ll be splitting this up into three posts to cover it all – including when I had to stop and get one of my daughters to help me get out a trapped kitten!
Some time back, my older brother and his wife generously passed on items to me that used to belong to my brother’s late MIL. Among them were outdoor LED Christmas lights, and a timer. Today… er… (glances at the time)… yesterday, I took them out to add to the stings of white lights we already have at the fence line near the gate.
I had two areas I was considering to put the timer. One was in the garage, where the main power cord is plugged in. I figured, if I were able to get the timer to sit at the window, I could set it to turn on from dusk until dawn.
Turns out, I can’t do that.
The timer’s plug in area is slightly recessed and rectangular in shape. The power cord’s plug is round and rather large. It doesn’t fit into the space.
The other possibility was to put it between the new strings of lights and the set of white lights I was adding them on to. This way, the white lights would be on all the time, while the Christmas ones would only turn on at night. I even had a clear plastic bag to put over the timer to protect it from the elements, while still allowing the sensor to detect light levels.
Nope. I could plug a string of lights into the timer, but the timer’s plug has three prongs, and the light strings can only accept two prong plugs.
So I just added them on, as is.
It turned out to be 4 strings of lights in total, already plugged into each other. Which was just fine by me! I strung them out and affixed them to the barbed wire with zip ties. Though they had power running to them, there was too much sunlight for me to see how they looked. I waited until dark to go back and see them, since there’s too much brush in the way for us to see them from the house.
So… they look just fine…
Except for the gap.
I did test these in the house a few days ago, when I was deciding what to do with them. They were all working fine. I was all set to put them up in the sun room and had even started to unroll the bundle a bit, before I realized I didn’t have a way to affix them the way I had in mind. Finding an entire string of lights out was a bit of a surprise! Checking it out with a flashlight, I could see nothing to tell me why it wasn’t lit.
So I’ll be going back tomorrow with something to cut the zip ties, and remove the string that’s not lit up.
I was rather impressed by how much the white ones light up the area around them. I definitely want to pick up more of those, when I can.
Yeah, I know, it’s not even Halloween yet, so it’s early for Christmas lights. I figure, better to get them up now, before the snow arrives to stay. :-)
The Re-Farmer
I replaced the old Christmas lights on the fence with the new indoor/outdoor LED lights yesterday, and left them on.
Then I waited until full dark before checking on them. :-)
At first, I didn’t think I’d be able to get any photos, then remembered that I have a “pro” setting on my phone that allows me to adjust ISO and aperture settings. Well. The virtual ones, anyhow. These are the two extremes of what I got, after playing around with the settings.
The strings of lights are slightly longer than the old ones, and they have at least double the number of bulbs.
My brother tells me the lights used to have a timer in the garage. I know I saw one, but couldn’t find it. We do have at least one in the house, and I even know where it is, so I will set that up later. :-)
I’m rather happy with them. According to the box, up to 20 strings can be added together, without causing problems. I certainly have no plans to do that, but they are inexpensive enough that I might pick up a couple more to extend away from the gate. As I eventually clean up the fence line in the other direction, it would be nice to have them strung all the way to the corner. :-)
The Re-Farmer
I had sent photos of the clean up I had done yesterday, to my family. When my brother was out here, working on the tractor, he went into the barn to look around, and found something to use to replace the plastic jug I’d put over the outlet on the fence post.
It worked.
I’ll just have to find something to affix it in a way that will keep it from falling off in inclement weather, but will also allow me to move it easily, to access the plugs.
It never occurred to me to look in the barn; with our focus being on the inner yard, we just don’t go into the barn or out buildings very often.
The Re-Farmer
Though we had a trip into town for another medical appointment and some errands (since we were there, anyhow!) in the late morning, I decided I needed to finish clearing the fence line in the spruce grove today. My siblings and I are working things out in regards to checking on our mother over the next few days, and tomorrow is my turn. The long range forecasts say it’s going to get colder again, so today was the day, ready or not!
I am happy to say, it is now DONE! I have cleared the fence line along the spruce grove, up to the driveway gate. Anything else I am able to do before winter is bonus. Woohoo!
I took a whole bunch of before and after photos, so I’ll just set up a slide show and let them speak for themselves!
The following photos were taken from the gate side of the fence, facing north. I started inside the grove, where I left off, but realized I needed to start a new pile for cuttings. The place to do that was on the south side. Which required clearing a section of fence so I could toss things over, then working my way north to where I left off last time.
Here is what it looks like from inside the spruce grove, where I left off last time.
I managed to save one tiny little spruce tree. :-D It was in the way, to be honest, but after cutting away so many spruces that were in the fence line itself, I wanted to keep at least this one! It’s small enough that I could potentially transplant it, in the future.
As you can see in the after photos, I did break out the weed trimmer. I did the edges of the driveway, first, and even cut away some of the smaller trees on the south side of the driveway, for a bit of visibility. Next, I followed along the fence line where I worked, as this area had actual tall grass, rather than just undergrowth.
To be honest, though, one of the main reasons I did that was because I got tired of tripping over stumps I’d just cut, but couldn’t see due to the grass! I will have to see if we have some really bright spray paint, and mark some of them, for safety.
I also tidied up the two strings of Christmas lights, as well as re-attaching the top wire of the fence onto one of the fence posts, where the original U nail was simply, gone. I used the third string of lights I’d removed previously to replace burnt out and broken bulbs, and switch them all to clear bulbs. I still intend to replace them with LEDs, but just in case I can’t get to it this year, it is all fixed up for now.
I also discovered that the light strings had plastic clips on them. While on one of them, the clips were mostly broken off, I don’t know why they weren’t used to clip them to the wire, rather than wrapping them around tree branches. I also brought out the zip ties for those areas where the clips were broken, and to secure the main power cable, including all along the fence to the garage.
I discovered that more of the fence posts on the south side need replacing than I originally thought. I leaned on one while reaching to clear a tree at its base, and it broke at ground level!
There were some interesting finds.
Earlier in the year, I discovered there was asparagus growing at the fence line! I highly doubt this was planted deliberately, and yet, how else did it get there?
There isn’t a lot, but they have their berries now!
I didn’t know they got berries. Turns out the female plants do. Interesting!
Also, do you see that rock?
Once I started clearing around it, I realized it’s two rocks.
I’m. At a loss. It seems to random, and strange, to find two rocks cemented together like this.
There has got to be a story behind this! :-D
When all was done, I had a large new pile we’ll need to haul away.
At least this time, the pile is in an area that’s easier to get to!
After cleaning up and putting everything away, I came back to address a concern.
It’s a temporary fix. I cut out a section of one of my husband’s empty distilled water jugs (he uses distilled water for his CPAP humidifier, so we have lots!) and popped it on the post.
Why, you may ask?
This is why.
Once the trees were cleared, what little shelter there was for the outlet was gone. I don’t know how many years it’s been outside, facing down to make sure no moisture got in. It seemed so very exposed!
So this should keep the precipitation off, until I can come up with something better. Which will likely not happen until I can work on repairing the fences, so it might be a while!
While I was working on all of this, the girls were working in the West yard.
They had already done part of the yard and put the leaves on the little garden by the Old Kitchen. This is just some of the piles they rakes up today – there’s more by the fire pit!
I had commandeered the wheel barrows, so they will move the piles onto the garden tomorrow, while I am out.
They also made supper. The smell of which is making me very hungry right now!
It’s been a very productive day today! I’m so glad to finally get that fence line done.
Another thing off the list! :-D
The Re-Farmer
After working my way through the first section, I realized the stuff I’d cleared away had hidden quite a bit. So here are some before photos of the next section. (click on them to see them better)
The little spruces were far enough from the fence that I found myself wondering, should I take them out, or should I just prune them clear of the fence? When I’m in that situation, I try to think ahead 10, 20 or more years. What will they be like if I leave them?
This was made easy today, by looking at the large spruce that’s already there, even closer to the fence.
What tree, you might be asking?
This one. In the during and after photos.
Yup, those little spruces were completely hiding a huge spruce, right at the fence.
Also, another little spruce that grew under the fence line and even wound its way back and forth around them.
Reaching that big spruce was my goal for the day. If all goes well, the next time I work here, I should reach the gate.
In that after photo, note the red Christmas light bulb. Look for it in these next photos.
The first of these three photos was taken from outside the fence line, where I went to clear some of the trees growing there. There are many more, closer to the ditch, that need to be cleared, but those will wait for now.
If you look closely, you can see that red Christmas light bulb in the first and third photos.
Did you notice something else in the after photos? Take another look at the top fence wire. What you can see of it, anyhow.
I found a temporary fix for the broken wire.
Once I cleared this area of the fence line, I found that when I pulled on the end with the loop in it (on the left of the above photo), it could almost touch the broken end (on the right in the photo, now with its own loop). I don’t know when I’ll be able to fix it properly, but I didn’t want to leave it broken and hanging, either. So I went to the garage and grabbed some zip ties, created a new loop on the broken wire end, and joined them by linking 4 zip ties loosely together. Once they were all linked, I tightened all the zip ties as much as I could, then trimmed the ends with the pruning shears. Now, the top line that was broken is tighter than the middle line, which got stretched when the tree fell on it, but didn’t break. :-)
While making my way to the garage, I found this.
Another bench, made out of logs with a board across the top. I’ve gone through here a few times, but had to practically step on it before I saw it! I tried to pick it up, to see if it was usable, but it is so rotten, it started to fall apart, so I left it for now. It will be cleared out when we get to taking out all the deadwood and continuing to clean up the spruce grove, next year. Though on this end, it’s not really a spruce grove any more. Closer to the garage, and the south fence line, it’s more poplar, elms and oak. The elms and oak are in rows, so those were planted deliberately. The poplar looks to have sown itself. There are even what might be some apple trees in here.
Once I’ve cleared the East fence line to the gate, I will work my way down the south fence line, along the driveway, just enough to clear it. There are poplars growing right at the wires, and while the south fence line has good posts, just like the East line does, many of them are falling over. Especially right next to the garage. It is along this fence line that the power cord from the garage runs. We might not get to straightening them out this year, but if there’s going to be electrical cord supported by this fence, I want it to be able to stay upright!
We shall see how far along there we will be able to get, before the weather turns.
Looking ahead to the future, I hope to have a number of seating areas scattered about – with seats made of materials that won’t rot or degrade as quickly as the wooden benches I’ve been finding. The goal is to clear this area enough to give it a park-like feel, plus I want to be able to see through the trees from the house to the driveway. At the same time, I do want to leave some of the undergrowth, too. Dogwood. Wild roses. False spirea. Junipers. I look forward to planting shade loving plants and flowers in areas where they can naturalize, and ground cover that can be walked on. Over time, I want this yard, including the spruce and maple groves, to be a sanctuary, not only for us humans, but to shelter some of the native wildlife, and to provide food and shelter for native pollinators as well.
The Re-Farmer
The Re-Farmer 