TIME TO GET WOOD

At 14, our old dog Nellie has good days and bad. Last Sunday (May 20), was one of her good days. As we prepared for our day trip to the farm, Nellie was out the door and ready to be loaded into the pick-up well in advance of departure time. She instinctively knew what was happening, and she wanted to go. Mike’s self-assigned chore that day was to fell a dead fir tree in the draw north of the farmhouse, right there at the bottom of the lane, so when we arrived at that point, he unloaded his saws and tree-felling equipment, and Nellie insisted on getting out to explore, ambling up to the house later.

Fir tree, slash pile

As soon as we were settled at the house, Mike took the 4-wheeler and went back to the draw to fell the tree. I walked down a bit later and was amazed to discover that Nellie was accompanying me. She stayed with us in the draw as we piled slash and sectioned the log. Bess, on the other hand, napped in the back of the Dakota. She doesn’t like saws and falling trees.

Mike tries to add to our store of firewood each spring. Once the tree was on the ground, I helped move limbs to the slash pile and section off the log. Next, he cut the tree into sections and pulled them out to the road where it would be easier to cut and load directly onto the pick-up.

Yarrow rock garden

In the afternoon, we did our yard work. Mike mowed, and I planted seven more yarrow plants, simply expanding the area that Hallie and I had previous cleared. Then I cleaned the weeds and old vegetation out of the tire bed and planted zucchini. Why not? – it’s what we like. By that time I had a yard cart full of vegetation which I dumped at the designated spot in the grove.

Lilacs and old homesteads go together

Yesterday (Tuesday, May 22), Mike returned to the farm to load the wood on the old Silverado. I couldn’t go due to a commitment, but Bess was pleased to ride along in my place. Nellie declined the invitation which meant she had to spend the afternoon in the kennel. I don’t think dogs realize consequences like that. KW