CHECKING ON THE FARM

 On this lovely springlike day (Sunday, March 14), Mike and I headed to the farm as soon as we had breakfasted. It felt good to get out just for the fun of it, and we weren’t the only ones. It was great to see people recreating once again.

As we gained elevation on the Gilbert Grade, we saw more snow. The roads were clear except for the last mile, but even there, the snow is disappearing. Our lane is still snowy, but the Jeep had no trouble until we left, and then on the steep pitch below Plank’s driveway we had to use 4-wheel drive. The main Pitch gets a lot of sun, so it was clear.

We arrived at the farm about 10:00 and set to work checking on the house and grounds. We found no mice in traps – not a one – and no mouse activity in the under-stairs closet. However, the outside rodent situation is out of hand. There are rodent trails all over the yard, and the worst of it appears to be on the bank behind the house. I spent most of my time finding and feeding the holes. I was most upset to discover a large hole under the pear tree. I hope it’s not a death knell for the tree because I’m pretty sure it’s living on borrowed time now. I’m also not sure that the rhubarb plant on the bank can overcome the underground city. We’ll see. (It wasn’t too happy on that bank anyway.)

Mike wanted to shoot targets, and that’s one of Bess’ all-time favorite activities. Once he got the thrower out of the shed, she was impatient for the action to begin.

We left a few things in the house, and we picked up a few things to bring back to town. This year Mike discovered that pinecones make excellent fire starters, and I picked up a crateful for use in the town stove. I selected a few books and pulled a couple of fabrics from my stash.

We will have a lot of work to do to make the house livable again, but we didn’t worry about it today. We were back in town around 1:30, and after a brief rest, Mike washed the Jeep. KW