FARMHOUSE REPAIR COMPLETED

The "old snag" -- finally down

On our last trip to the farm, Mike left the old pick-up there with half a load of gravel. On our trip yesterday (Wednesday, April 28), he unloaded and leveled the gravel at the low place in the lane. Someone had already smoothed out the washed place.

I was busy at the house. I put the condiments in the fridge, put fresh sheets on our bed, and put away laundry. In touring the yard, I was amazed to see that the rhubarb in the compound was developed enough to pull. I got two quarts.

Mike also managed to complete some simpler tasks. He set up the clothesline and replaced his old alarm clock with a weather station on his bedside stand.

A small load of firewood for town

After lunch, Mike backed the old pick-up into the barn and hefted me into the bed. He then loaded firewood while I stacked it. We started with the pine and then moved to the maple. It was about an hour’s work – just a small load.

About 2:00, the plumber and his apprentice (his wife) arrived. The repair didn’t take him ten minutes. We enjoyed a brief visit and then they were on their way.

 A last photo of the standing snag

At 3:00, another vehicle pulled in – the tree service we hired to take down that old snag in the grove. You see, during the fire debacle of 2015, a hard wind also blew the top out of an old pine in the grove, leaving a standing snag. We sought assistance in taking it down to no avail, but this year Mike suggested maybe a tree service would do it, and the one that cut down our maple tree in town agreed to do it. He brought with him a retired logger who did the actual work. 

Discussion ensued among the men as to where the tree should land – not in the field, not across the grove, but downhill toward the cherry tree. “We can do that,” said the logger as he set to work.

TIMBER!

Now, Mike has to fiddle with his saws to get them to run. “What’s wrong with this sorry ____,” he will say in frustration. Ironically, when the logger went to start his saw, it wouldn’t catch. “What could be wrong with this sorry ____?” he screamed in frustration. “Sound familiar,” Mike asked me. Fortunately, they had a second saw, and before long, the snag was on the ground, lying across the north end of the grove, crushing only the little fir we had transplanted. “So be it,” said Mike.

Beautiful, fragrant pinewood

We had thought the wood would be rotten, but no – it will make great firewood. The logger said that the pitch in them preserves the wood. So – guess what! We have another two lifetimes of firewood yet to be cut, split, stacked, loaded, stacked, and stored. And that’s good because it saves Mike and Ken from having to find wood.

It was another 10,000-step day. We weren’t nearly as tired as we’d been with last week's trip, perhaps because we accomplished so much. Back in town, I warmed leftover pizza for supper and made a rhubarb crisp. KW

 

A HARD DAY'S WORK

We left for the farm around 8:00. Mike drove the old pick-up with gravel in the bed to refresh the driveway and trailered the 4-wheeler he borrowed from son Clint. I followed in the Jeep carrying a sewing machine and my dolls. Perhaps I should have taken more. The day will come when I’ll wish I had.

The kitchen repair has been done and looks good, but the plumbing repair has yet to be scheduled. The delay is disappointing but par for the course, and we feel we have little recourse for complaint.

The daffodils did not disappoint! I was so happy to see them in bloom. In fact, the first ones are now passing, but the array was still lovely. The Crown Imperials are also in bloom, and I saw some violets, too. (We won’t mention the dandelions.) 

 

 

The strawberries have new growth. The rhubarb in the compound looks healthy, and the plant on the hillside is still alive.

 

Mike and I were both busy with chores in the morning. I unloaded the Jeep and put things away. In the forenoon, we raked up pine straw that had come to rest against the woodshed, loading it into the 4-wheeler trailer. Mike made at least four trips to the burn pile with pine straw and debris.

It was a fairly nice day – 48 when we arrived and 60 in the afternoon – but I could see passing storms to the south and sometimes dark clouds loomed close to us. As I fixed lunch, there was a sudden roar like a train overhead – a microburst. I struggled to close the kitchen door against it. A chair was blown off the front porch and a box of yard lights and accessories was dumped in the yard. I found the contents but the box was evidently long gone. And that was that – no more wind. Undoubtedly a similar event broke the maple limbs last fall.

After lunch, I thought sure we were getting ready to leave for town, but instead Mike commenced to pick up the bark in the grove – great thick slabs from the broken snag. The smaller pieces he hauled to the burn pile while the bigger pieces were stored at the woodshed to be burned this coming winter.

“We’ll quit when we’re tired,” Mike said.

“I’m tired now,” I said.

“So am I,” he agreed.

So we agreed to finish this work another time.

As we were finishing up, Bess invited me to go for a walk, so we went halfway down the lane and back. As I climbed into the Jeep, my Fitbit buzzed to congratulate me on reaching my 10,000-step goal for the day. It’s a doable goal, but I seldom reach it. KW

CATCHING UP

Mike and I are preparing to go to the farm tomorrow. I say “preparing” because I’m packing some things from my sewing room here in the town house to store at the farmhouse during "The Grand Re-do." I’m also baking cookies and packing snacks. Maybe I’ll even make some sandwiches while I fix supper because I really don’t like to make sandwiches first thing in the morning. 

On Monday, we finished cutting and stacking the maple wood. We got quite a lot of wood out of that maple tree, and it’s comforting to know that Mike won’t need to scout around for wood this year. We have some maple wood at the farm which he intends to add to this pile.

It's that awkward time of year when we still need sweatshirts in the morning but by mid-afternoon we just have to exchange it for a t-shirt. Once dressed, I don’t like to change my clothes, but sometimes it can’t be helped.

I had occasion to meet with Niece Becky and provide a few outfits for Hazel, her granddaughter’s doll. I made Hazel a new pair of jeans and also a pair of cut-offs. Liberty Jane designed this pattern, which I consider an engineering feat, given the shape of the American Girl’s derriere. Note the machine embroidered back pockets, designs by “Artistic Amy.” Such fun!

The sweater and the swimsuit cover-up are crochet designs from Little Abbee. You know, when I was a girl, most doll clothes patterns were for knitting, not crochet. I did try my hand at knitting, but I really just wanted to crochet, and I was disappointed for the lack of patterns. (A designer I am not.) But today, wonderful crochet patterns for doll clothes are available, and I am enjoying them.

And that’s it for today. I hope when I get to the farm tomorrow I will see the daffodils in bloom. KW

WORKING AWAY

Our imitation cherry tree leafs out as blossoms disappear.

After the surprise freeze on Monday, we had two days of gusting wind while temps became warmer. Today is quite warm and breezy. The forecast is for continued warmth. 

I observed to myself today that a windy spring is not especially pretty. The blossoms are blown from the flowering trees before we can see them in their glory.

We seem to be in a holding pattern right now while we wait for the farmhouse repairs to be completed and the scheduled work to take place on the modular home. But that doesn’t mean things aren’t happening. 

Behind the shed

Mike works hard every day, though I’m not sure it’s interesting. He cleaned behind the shed, made a trip to the landfill with trash and debris from that spot, and then got a load of gravel which he spread preparatory to stacking wood there again.

As we commenced work on wood yesterday

Now we have commenced to cut and stack  the wood from the maple tree we cut down in our town yard during the winter. Mike is now in the process of splitting the larger pieces with his splitter. At noon he announced that he had completed his half day of work for today.

The woodpile as it appears now

I bought a 29-gallon “Miracle Gro” compost bin, a tumbler, which came in a flat box. I guess I missed the fact that it would have to be totally assembled, but I’m not sure that would have been a deterrent. Mike assembled it for me, and it wasn’t easy. It took both of us to snap the drum parts together, but we got it done and you can see it in the photos behind the wood.

Mike assembling the compost bin

Mike handles our business from his iPhone, meaning his phone gets a lot of use. Our iPhones 6S were 4 ½ years old, and Mike’s needed to be replaced, so – just to keep things equal, you know – we both got new iPhone SEs. The new phones work pretty much like the old phones except perhaps faster, maybe more memory, etc. The research and the purchase took time.

And, since we have this pending project to refresh the modular home, we have shopped for carpeting, paint, and furniture. We bought a dual recliner loveseat, and we’ve yet to decide on other furnishings. The old sofa and loveseat have to go. KW