Wednesday, May 25, 2022

A HIKE WITH BESS

Friday, May 20 – After the disposer work, Mike and Murray cleared the grove of limbs and tree debris. Mike cut the larger limbs into small firewood and hauled the rest to the burn pile. And while they worked, I toured the “meadow” behind the house. Now that Mike isn’t mowing that area, I notice the native sunflowers are enjoying the chance to spread, and that’s good. I also fed the rhubarb plants and the strawberries with Miracle Gro.

Murray left at 2:00, and Mike decided to take a “leisurely” neighborhood bike ride. While he was gone, I grabbed the camera and invited Bess to walk down the lane with me, but as usual, she steered us to the pond instead. A pair of mallard ducks paddled on the far bank of the pond, unperturbed by our presence. The male is obvious in the photo while the female is camouflaged.

Bess then headed out into the field, so I followed her. She led us south, and when I got to the top of the rise, I saw a herd of whitetail deer at the south rim of the canyon. I count at least 17 in my photo. 

Then we headed on to the west rim and walked the perimeter of the field back to the house. Bess was delighted to find a bone, so she sashayed quickly to the house, leaving me to find my way alone.

A rivulet runs to Stove Creek

Mike was surprised that I hiked in my everyday shoes, but I was able to avoid the muddy spots. Ordinarily, I wouldn’t hike the fields at this time of year because of the ticks, but we haven’t noticed any. I think it’s too cold for them.

Saturday, the farmer came in with a huge sprayer and sprayed the north field, probably weed control. Not long after he left, the impending thunderstorm and heavy rain hit, so I suspect whatever he applied was diluted. 

The days are warmer here in town, and I’m finally wearing lighter clothes. However, according to the forecast, the temp will drop by 20 degrees day after tomorrow. KW

3 comments:

Chuck said...

I would like to hear more about the disposer project. I am glad you have lots of deer on your land. I also hope they don't become a nuisance.

M/W said...

Well, Chuck, I couldn't seem to keep the drain ring from leaking. Admittedly, the plumbers putty I had was old and a bit crumbly. After 2 tries with that I had Murray bring some silicone up and that took two tries. On the last try I sealed under the sink as well as under the drain ring and that finally fixed it. Then I prematurely hit the "Easy" button. About the third or fourth use of the disposal it began sparking and smoking. A few more tries and I didn't notice any sparks but it kept smoking. We really don't need that monster 3/4 hp unit anyway. We rarely use it because Bess pre-cleans our dishes before the dishwasher and we compost most everything else. So I returned the unit to Home Depot and got a smaller 1/3 hp. I'm sure Kathy will report on how that installation goes after we return to the farm.

Kathy said...

One disposal reviewer said that when the unit began to leak, they just applied silicone until the leak stopped. We wished we had tried that with the old unit.