Trees And Birds

No, the birds are not in the trees.  The trees are on the fence again.  Maybe you remember this tree from last year (HERE)

Well, another part of the tree fell over the same spot in the fence.  

This is on rented land but we have to keep up the fence.  A neighbor drove by and said he would take the wood but he didn't offer to help get it off the fence.  There was a lot of cutting and eventually a tractor was involved. 

But Joe got it done as usual.  

Now there are just 2 trunks left to fall.  

On the bird front, my bird box that had the camera has birds but  no camera.  Ants had gotten into it and I gave the replacement bird house away at Christmas.  But I can open the side and hold my phone over the nest for a picture.  Not sure how many are there.  They are tree swallows.  

And a surprise find inside one of my grapevine balls.  

A mockingbird nest with 3 eggs!  So, if a bird in the hand beats 2 in the bush, what does 3 in a ball get?

4 Random Things

Monday was Mimi day with Allie.  She chose to go to the playground while we waited for Sadie's dance class to conclude.  

It was a beautiful day and she had lots of fun.  There was another girl there that her father was talking on the phone the entire time.  She kept asking me to take her picture and video her.  She wanted me to push her on the swing and watch when she was doing something difficult.  I felt sorry that her father didn't pay more attention to her.  

Allie didn't want to leave when it was time.  I said Sadie would be scared and worried if we weren't there.  She said, no she wouldn't.  We left on time anyway. 

I went with Joe yesterday to check the fence at our rented property before we turn cattle out there.  Of course there was a tree down on top of it.  

But I did find some nice wild flowers, this is wild ginger. 

Cancer root, 

and stonecrop.  

And my first peony is blooming! It is over a week earlier than the earliest I have recorded on the blog so far.  

 

New Year, Same Problem

Sadie had a meltdown yesterday when Allie wanted bells in Clyde’s mane and she did not.  I saw no harm in it and put the bells in. Sadie immediately started pouting, not talking and only grunting.  I told her if she wasn’t talking to me she couldn’t ride. After Allie finished Sadie was still pouting. So I put Clyde up and we went back to the house.  I would not let her go inside and finally got her to sit with me and tell me what was wrong. It all boiled down to not wanting Allie around.   I told her it was up to her to chose to be happy, I could not make her happy. After an hour of pouting she finally came out of it and we had a good rest of the visit. I talked with Virginia about splitting them up sometimes and she agreed it would be good. 

Today, Virginia and Mike brought Allie for a visit while they took Sadie. Sadie was in a better mood today.   Allie is always in a good mood.  

Meanwhile, another tree fell.  New Year, same problem.   This time it was in the yard of the owner of the farm we rent. It landed on the fence and took out about 50 feet of fence. 

Joe told the 83 year old widowed owner that he would cut up the wood for her. She was very thankful. Allie went with me to help. 

She was very enthusiastic. 

And a very hard worker. 

 Fence fixed and wood put on the yard side.  The owner said her son would stack it when he came through on his way back home from Alabama.  When Virginia came to pick up Allie she said Sadie didn’t want her to bring Allie back. We still have work to do on that fence. 

This and That

Nothing major happening, just lots of little regular things. Some are more interesting than others. 

We have has some beautiful foggy mornings.  Then it has been in the 30’s for the last two mornings. I don’t think the weather knows that it is still officially summer. 

The goats are climbing trees. 

For some reason I get posts on Facebook from the Dull Men’s Club.  I thought this one was particularly funny.  Plus, it is a double collectable, both a face and a fence. 

I have been working on my rock garden some more. When I turned over a rock to bring it down the hill yesterday I found this black widow spider. I did had on gloves. But I did not let her live. 

 Then there is Kit Kat just because he is so handsome. 

Another Two Hour Chore

Last year flooding from hurricane Helene washed out several water gaps.  Most were critical and Joe worked on the right away.  There was one at our other farm that was not as critical until now. Joe has separated the first calf heifers so he could keep a closer watch on them. 

This set of two gaps allows them access to water. But with both of them washed out, the heifers were not staying put. 

We had to undo all of the previous repairs so we could start on the new ones. 

I even borrowed Emily’s waders that she had left here. Joe said with my help we turned what would have taken him 3 hours into just a 2 hour chore. 

I managed to take a few pictures while awaiting the next task. 

It is all fixed now until the next tree falls or flood occurs. 

Two More Fences

If you are tired of reading about fixing fences, just imagine how tired we are of fixing them.  

This one is around a developed spring head.  It is suppose to keep the livestock from damaging the spring.  But the ground stays wetter there and the post seem to rot off faster.  Plus, Pep uses it as her personal scratching post.  She backs up to the fence, sits back with all her weight and rubs.  Joe is blaming her for the collapse.   Before lunch we were able to get the posts in but didn't get the boards up.   When we went in to eat there was a message on the answering machine from a neighbor that said a big tree had fallen across the fence on the farm we rent across the road.  Because this fence was at the road, it took precedence over the spring fence.  

First trip to take a look and start cutting the tree off the fence.  But before Joe could finish the first cut it started pouring down rain.  

We went back to the house to wait it out.  After the rain stopped we headed back.  

Joe went to finish the cut and the saw got stuck when the tree dropped.  So back to the house to get the tractor.  With the bucket on the tractor Joe was able to push on the tree and I grabbed the saw.  Now we had the big stump still laying on the fence but couldn't cut it more because the saw might hit the wire fence.  

Another trip back to the house for a longer chain and clevis.  Joe was able to pull the stump off the fence but it uprooted and broke off a fence post.  

Fifth trip was the charm, back to the house one last time to get a steel post and post driver.  Did I mention it was also all covered in poison ivy.    It took all afternoon.  And we still had to go back to the house to finish putting the boards up on the first fence.  
 

No Power Again

A couple of days ago we woke up to yet another power outage. When Joe called it in he was told it was only us. So he went looking for the problem. 

Another tree had fallen across the power line and hit the fence. After the power company fixed the line it was our turn to clear the road and fix the fence. 

Joe did the sawing and I did the stacking. 

The fence was stretched pretty badly.  After tightening it to the post as much as he could, Joe took the rest of the slack out by bending the wire. 

The technique made an interesting pattern. 

Any anyone looking and the staples in the post might wonder what was going on there. 

It’s a never ending battle. 

 

Who’s Tired Of Trees On Fences

Joe is, that’s who. 

He is getting ready to move some cattle to the rented land across the road.  Part of the process is walking the fence line.  Way in the back on a steep, steep hill, an oak tree uprooted and took another oak and a poplar tree with it. 

And they all landed squarely on the 100 year old line fence taking out about 100 feet of it. 

I went in for the first trip to watch the chainsawing. But Joe was on his own for the second trip to fix the fence. Now we just have to work the group of cattle and get them over there. 

Wattle Fence

Normally, when I cut the forsythias back in the spring, I just throw the trimmings over the bank.

This year, I decided to try something a little different. 

I have been growing salvia in this spot next to the house for a few years now.  By mid summer they are usually tall and spreading out over the path.  So then I take a section of a cattle panel to hold them back.  As a replacement for the metal cattle panel, I am trying a wattle fence.  

They are very popular on the British gardening shows that I watch.  I started with pressing the vertical supports into the ground.  

Then just weaved more switches back and forth through the supports.  

I then cut off the verticals shorter and bent them over to make the arches.  I think Kit Kat approves.  

We will see how well it holds up the salvia this summer.