Another One Bites the Dust

 Bradford pear trees, although beautiful, may be my least favorite tree.  Why?  The smell horrible in the spring and drive our allergies bonkers.  They also fall apart in a stiff breeze.  Our last loss was in August, so to lose another so soon is nothing short of frustrating.

 Because the winds were due to change direction the evening this happened, with the wind due to knock down the next third quite possibly onto the deck, we decided to act quickly.  James mowed down the remaining sections with only a near miss or two (tree felling is not for the faint of heart!).

It took us two days to clean up, with James cutting into fireplace lengths and splitting as necessary, as well as loading limbs onto the trailer to take to the green waste dump (no fires this time; we simply don't have time.  JoJo has been out of sorts, so his neediness slowed us down significantly.

The second day, (Sunday... not our favorite day for labor), we geared up in the afternoon with overalls for the kids.  They were so cute it required a photo.  Overalls were great because the kids wanted to climb in the limbs and were getting scratched up.

 One trailer and one truck bed load later, we realize the trailer hitch for the truck is missing.  This is the way it often goes.

Approaching the end.  Throughout the experience, we were reminded of the phrase "two is one, one is none."  Two trailer hitches would be nice (or not losing the first one... it's a long story as to why it's not on the truck), and two chainsaws were necessary, as well as two axes.

 As the last wagon loads of firewood were loaded and stacked, it was necessary to check out the age of our failed tree.  33 years, which would make it as old as the house.

 We only have another... 10 or so... Bradford pears to eventually split.  James thinks we may be able to save them in the future.  Depending on the requirements to save one, I'm game, especially since all our pines have pine wilt and will be requiring removal in the next few years.  And there's two dead trees waiting for us.

Ugh.

Until next time, remember, this is not paradise.  It's Purgatory Ranch.

Winter Heating

Uncle Bruce needs some help with wood this winter, so James suggested we visit the garden waste dump and fill our truck and trailer with wood to split.  We also need a supply of wood, as the house being on the market and moving prevented us from stocking up last spring/this summer!  Everyone got in on the act, although I stuck mostly to photo shooting.  Lifting wood usually ends in a pulled round ligament around my growing belly!

Little Miss Independent

Look at that strong boy!

I can do it!

Deer on the way home

I thought I snapped a picture of the awesome teamwork I witnessed between the girls, but I guess it didn't turn out, as I don't have one on the camera.

Now it's time for James to do some splitting!

Until next time, remember, this is not paradise.   It's Purgatory Ranch.

Seedlings: Update

In an effort to prolong the time we have until being forced to plant 150 seedlings, James and I spent the afternoon heeling in the saplings in our garden beds at our house. This should buy us at least a week, if not two or three, before they MUST be planted on the land. That should give me time to have a baby without worrying about all these other babies dying.

We have American Plum, Native Pecan, Bur Oak, Mulberry, Lilac, and Hackberry, 25 of each. The pecans look like twigs, and the hackberries have well developed roots. It will be fascinating to see what grows best (and what the rabbits eat).

Seedlings!

Today, 150 seedlings arrived on our porch. These are destined for the land, but we weren't quite prepared for them today.

They are to be kept from freezing, but we are still 5 weeks away from our last frost date. They should be planted soon, but I am due to have my own baby any day.

This could get interesting.

Dan will upload some pictures from the land on the first day of "Spring".