Posts Tagged ‘burning brush’
Busy Day
Under a sky that alternated between peeks of sunshine and downright threatening yesterday, Cyndie and I started early and worked most of the day to establish a temporary fence around an area we want the horses to graze before the serious winter weather arrives. When we weren’t bathed in sunlight, which happened only rarely, we were being showered by occasional cloud bursts of light to moderate rain, and one blast of ice pellets that don’t deserve to be referred to as snow.
It was our first try at setting up a temporary fence, and now that it is done, we are feeling good about the accomplishment. It was a challenge of trying to figure out the best location, the distance of the run, how many posts that would be, and how to get the tape strung and connected to our existing electric fence. This kind of task is one of those that involves walking back and forth to get one more thing. I bet we made over a dozen “one-more-thing” hikes yesterday.
In addition to getting the fence up, we took advantage of the weather and our proximity, and lit fire to the brush pile located over toward the labyrinth garden. It burned so much easier than the two piles we had from last fall, because this one didn’t have any stumps or root bundles packed with dirt. It was all dead, dry branches that accumulated from projects like making room for the road behind the barn, or cleaning up sticks and branches that continue to pop up in the areas we cleared of brush last year. There was hardly anything left but a small smoldering pile by the time I took the photo below.
It felt like a day of non-stop effort, except for a couple notable breaks. One, to accept a gift from our neighbor. He brought honeydew melons from his bumper crop. He said he liked one he bought from the store, so he kept the seeds and put them in the ground. His wife told him that would never work, but now he as more melons than he can eat. He gave us 8 or 9 and still had plenty in the trunk of his car. Sounds like the story of magic beans!
The other break was when Cyndie made lunch over the brush pile fire. She roasted a couple of brats and we had a little picnic during one of the rain showers. Just 10 minutes earlier, and we could have had a much more enjoyable meal. As it was, it turned into a rather utilitarian affair of eating for the sake of eating, while trying to put things under cover to keep them at least partially dry.
Then it was back to work, toiling away on tasks in the vicinity of our temporary fence so we could watch how the horses would adjust to the new area opened up to them. We were so occupied with our tasks, we barely got in a wave goodbye to Elysa and friends, as they departed up the driveway after an afternoon visit with the horses.
As for the horses, they hardly took notice of the fence, putting their attention almost exclusively toward the ample grass finally made available to them.
Too Much
When there is no snow on the ground, a whole lot of work becomes available, all at the same time. It is a mental challenge to figure out where to start, and what to do next. It is a physical challenge to do it all. There is too much to do, but that doesn’t stop us, and we are loving it.
We ran into one hitch, though, yesterday. The snow may be gone, but the water isn’t. The ground here is like a saturated sponge. Our plans for the day changed early, when our fence contractor arrived to see the area we had hoped to work, was still too wet. However, it turned out really sweet for us. Since they couldn’t do any work on our property, they were headed to buy maple syrup from a local farm, and they offered to pick up some for us.
On their way back, they stopped in the road at the end of our driveway, and I walked down to collect our prize: Two quarts of pure maple syrup in unmarked Ball Jars. What a treat.
Then, it was back to work. We did some burning at both of our brush piles, then Cyndie worked on cleaning the barn, while I mixed up some concrete and put in a base for a removable umbrella style clothesline. I greased the tractor, and put in another shift on the burning brush pile.
At every turn, there is something additional that deserves attention. We have definitely neglected some organizational tasks, as we haven’t yet figured out where our preferred places are to store some of the common use tools. We want some things near the house, in the garage, and others belong in the shop garage, or the barn. We know full-well that wherever we leave a rake or shovel, we’ll inevitably need it next, in one of the other locations.
Ultimately, I’m hoping we don’t just end up getting three of everything. That just seems excessive, like a bit too much, to me.
Looks like a great conflagration
…but it’s just a drop in the bucket.
Disappearing Day
Maybe this can be attributed to the old saying, “time flies when you’re having fun,” but it seemed like yesterday did more than fly. It just plain disappeared.
In all fairness, we did get a bit of a late start. We enjoyed a leisurely beginning to our day, and then dove into chores to prepare for a late brunch with our children and their significant others. As the noon hour came and went, Cyndie and I stepped out to putter on some outdoor chores while we waited for the kids.
We made our way down to the barn, where we started the process of clearing the eagle statue and the rocks used for landscaping, from the area to the right of the door. We will be creating space to drive the tractor around the back side of the barn, and that is going to involve removing some dirt. Before we can move the dirt, we have to get the rocks out of the way.
We barely got started on the project, when kids arrived. After a brief tour to show off the fence progress, we headed inside to prepare the feast for serving. It was a classic “Cyndie brunch,” with her homemade waffles, and oodles of fruit. When the meal was done, we didn’t even clear the table, but retired directly to the comfortable seating by the fireplace, to visit.
With the afternoon sun showing dominance over the thin clouds, we were lured back outdoors, where we explored for something to do. I decided to see if we could get any of the branches in one of our brush piles to ignite, with the hope of picking up where we left off last fall, burning them.
The process of burning brush can be real mesmerizing. We made it a challenge to start the fires without any paper or accelerant, which I’m sure occupied much more time than any of us realized. Once we achieved a spot with some good coals, it became a process of finding the driest stumps and root balls to pile on top of the flames.
It seemed like just a short time, but when we finally dragged ourselves away from the fun, and back up to the house, it was almost 7 p.m.! Holy cow! Where did that day go?
The tough thing about this experience is, we can now see so many outdoor springtime tasks already deserving attention, the phenomenon of amazing disappearing days is going to become an all too common reality for us.
It’s like magic! Luckily, we like magical things.
Wanna watch us make a day disappear?
Relative Something 