just a few more. actually a lot more

Dogwoods in bloom

Water very calm, pretty

Geese

Blackberry blooms

Mopsy got a haircut. I fell behind on brushing her and her hair matted beyond hope. The groomer said shave was the only way.

Rats in bloom

This is still happening

I built a wood duck nesting box. Not this.

This is a wood duck

This is a wood duck nesting box

Buckets of chainsaw shavings for nesting material

mounted by the little pond.

I needed sheet metal to wrap the pole for a predator guard. I found this aluminum sheet. Was used to print a page of the local paper April 17, 1970.

Back on wood splitting

Ben helped a little. Blocks were really too heavy for him. I made him stop.

This chunk is 2 feet across. I have to split these into quarters with the maul and wedge in order to be able to lift.

4 racks 15' deep, 5.5' tall, 18"~ thick. I think I'm approaching 3 cords now.

Special wood. Deadfall Pecan, already seasoned. Now all I need is a pig and a smoker.

Afternoon project; a strawberry barrel.

Layout guidelines

Drill and saw

Heat plastic. (Use #17 for the flamethrower!)

whoops!

I used cylindrical heat resistant spacers to hold to plant pockets open.

scrap pipe for watering tubes

inverted small barrel to save dirt/weight

graduated watering holes

I took advantage of Home Depot sale on dirt

Filled the barrel. Watered and dirt settled. Will probably need to do that again.

This brush pile burned properly

So did this one

Grass is getting deep in this field

Brush pile 3 hours later

Weather

Crazy storm. Freaked the dogs out. Nick asked if we have a bunker.

Tremendous downpours all Sunday. I spent about 6 hours in building #11 cleaning, stacking, and arranging. We've just been dumping stuff in there for months, time to get it straight. I found many strange things. Here are two. A 37mm shell from a Model of 1916 gun. Google it.

Japanese Government 100 Peso bill

just a few

Thursday night, typical Oklahoma spring weather.

Pretty cool. I took the boys out just before bedtime to look at the lightning. They had never seen a storm like this. I opened the curtains before going to bed; it looked like the house was surrounded by dozens of arc welders. Thunder was constant.

Redbuds blooming.

Something Cristina planted is looking good. I can't remember what it is.

More unknown stuff shooting up.

340+ onions in the ground. No more.

I have the answer on black vs. clear plastic. Black is best. If I had a few more weeks this area would be done. Grass here is thin, pale, and weak looking. The clear side looks like I have created a nice greenhouse for the grass; thick, tall and lush. The 3' pile of leaves for 6 months works best of course. Grass is dead, soil dark and crumbly under the leaves.

Road trip snack. Pickled hot-link sausage! What road trip? Drove to the far side of Texarkana to buy...

This Troy-Bilt roto-tiller. Same model we had when I was a teenager. New engine installed and spare parts, owners manuals, and plow attachments included.

So I did this. 150 linear feet tilled. It took 4 passes each row to get a good bed. Will add manure, maybe some leaves, and do it again. This should be enough room for our tomatoes, plus a little.

Tried the brush-pile again today. Really cheated this time.

Just for fun:

CA State Senator Leland Yee

The letter of the day is "S"

Wow, where to begin...
Sunup to Sundown...
Spring
Shed
Scary
South
Sheet
Sore
Seedlings
Sub-Standard
Beer (I couldn't make this work) Six-pack!

As soon as to boys got on the School bus I lit the (garden) brushfire. This is the year of the experiment; we don't know what we are doing, so we are going to try all kinds of crazy Shit and see what works.  You remember the big brush pile I was going to burn to clear the bermuda grass? I cheated and used my flamethrower to start. I was afraid that I wasn't going to get critical mass on the fire as while I was building the pile it seemed "fluffy"; skinny branches with lots of spring in them, holding the pile high. I was correct; couldn't get a good start. I had envisioned burning off a 10' x 75' chunk of the garden. After phase 1 I have maybe an 8' circle burned off, 30% brush gone. Oh well, now I know.

This is the brush pile near the old big barn (building 2, see below for naming scheme).

It burned good. (Building 8 in the near background, 11 and 13 in the distance, see below)

Garden brush pile started.

Fizzling out. I don't have an end picture, pathetic.

As the pile was burning, I decided to move a pile of glass that has been laying beside the lane for... a long time. How long? I'm guessing 15-20 years. Why? Why is it here? Why that long? What? What is it from? What is it for? What will I do with it? Maybe today's letter is "W".

It looked like there were 5 panels. They have been here so long that the earth has risen around them. By the time I peeled them all out of the ground I found there were 10 panels of double pane 30" x 56". Tempered and high heat. Seals are broken, so they are full of water; I'm guessing 60 lbs. each, covered in mud, spiders, centipedes, skinks, etc. I kept thinking, "Lynell wouldn't like this". I moved them to building "8-S". Counting from the north and moving south, this is building 8 on the property.  The "S" designates the South Shed attached to the building. "S" is also for "Sheet", "Spools", and "Scary". This is the shed that I had to rip the door off of to see what was inside. I found Sheets of plywood and aluminum. I moved Spools of rope and wire into the Shed. There is an animal living in the back of the shed that makes a loud "chuffing" sound when I enter the shed. I can see where it has burrowed under the piles of junk. It is not a small animal. I don't like it. It doesn't like me. Scary. One day maybe I'll learn what it is, maybe not. I'm OK either way. Anyway, I'm thinking these would make a lifetime greenhouse, but that is a project for fall at the earliest. No pictures inside the shed. Too Scary.

Spring has Sprung. Look-

You may not be able to see, but there is a turtle on top of many of those stumps. Catching some sun.

Fighting wasps

Planted by my grandmother well over 50 years ago.

As were these.

Out in the woods. I don't know what they are.

Bluebird eggs

Stupid, Stupid ladybugs. They got in the house back in the fall through secret hidden cracks and crevices like Secret Squirrel ninjas. Now, with windows wide open, screens off, they can't find their way out. They are everywhere. Crawl all over us in the bed at night. In the sink, the tub, the clothes, my ear, the dogs mouths.

Wow.

Drinking and driving. I was well over the BAC. I also did not wear my seatbelt. Private property, so OK.

Grandpa got a ride on the mule. He hasn't been able to see the property since the weather was bad.

Dog walker.

Mophead, Mopsy, Moppy, Mople, Killer, Shitty, Bugsy, Stinkface, FLEAbo BAGgins enjoys a ride in the mule.

Nick would rather ride in the back.

Not pictured:

I was running my weed-whacker with the brush blades and one of them Sheared off. Sub-Standard.

I am Sore, my back and arms basically hurt all the time now. Everything here seems to be heavy and awkward, and in the wrong place, so I have to lift/load/carry/unload it.

Seedlings- somehow I don't have a picture of my seed starts today. I have started giving them a couple of hours of sun a day to "harden off". I also bought some peppers (red bell, yellow bell, mild jalapeno, and ? something else, good for chili relleno) at Home Depot in Texarkana. I took Nick to "Muppets most wanted" (in Texarkana) yesterday. There was no school Monday because the teachers all drove to OKC to demand a pay raise. Maybe I'll rant about this later.

This seemed like a good idea earlier, but now I'm getting tired, too much beer Six-pack.

The end.

PS- I just had Ben proofread this post, and he says it doesn't look like a drunk person wrote it, so there.