With great weather, little wind and rain in the forecast tonight, I knew this morning was the perfect time to burn the high stack of tree limbs collected over the past year. I did not burn them last fall like I usually do, so the stack was a little higher than normal but possibly dryer. I also add my one small waste basket of paper files or those padded mailing envelopes that you cannot recycle. First, I had to buy a 50' hose to add to the one I already have.
It looks like the deer traffic last night was pretty close to the house, which is normal. This print was about 5' in the field, as I started my walk.
I like having a water hose nearby when I burn for safety. This pile is surrounded by dead leaves along the bank, the woods behind it and to the side of it is part of the field. My last hose mysteriously had a hole in it, so that was the reason for the delay. I kept forgetting to buy the hose last fall.
Stella and I took off this morning with the air full of the sounds of birds. No jacket was needed, no gloves nor sock hat .... spring has arrived.
I am not sure why but for most of the walk, Stella walked right behind me, out of camera range.
Once I mentioned that I was going grocery shopping right after our walk, she picked up the pace and very little verbal herding was needed. Maybe she has figured out what the word groceries means and thinks there will be some food for her. She is always interested in food.
I was heading down the old path home but she wasn't going to take that way today. She followed the one we normal take and didn't even look over to see if I was coming or not. She was 'marching' for the yard.
When she glanced over to the left and didn't see me, she stopped and glanced along the horizon, then it dawned on her that I might be following her.
I had the hose and the rake out near the burn pile but I was really unprepared for this years burning. I had forgotten to bring the camera with me to take a before and after photo. By the time I walked in and back outside with the camera, the large pile of tree limbs was almost gone.
If I don't keep Stella on the tether while we are outside, she will wander off and end up next door. Yet the past two days that she has been on the tether while I have worked in the yard, she lays down and sleeps near the house. If I unhook her, she wanders off. LOL
Heidi spent most of her time wandering around the yard, even up in the northern part checking out the trees. We were not outside longer than an hour though. In fact that tall pile of limbs was gone in less than 30 minutes.
I glanced over once at Stella and didn't see Heidi. I didn't see Heidi anywhere in the backyard nor the field. She was evidently inspecting the job I did yesterday, picking up every size of stem or limb out of the front yard. You can tell up in the shaded area the grass is growing fast and will need to be mowed by next week.
As the pile gets smaller, I rake everything to the center.
I think you can tell by the pictures of the hounds just how nice the weather was this morning. I am glad that spring and warmer temps are here. The possibility of rain does not bother me.
Almost completely burned down and ready for another year of tree limb collection.
The first time I looked at the time after putting everything away like the hose, the rake, my ladder and after I cleaned up ... I was shocked that it was only 11:30am. It felt like mid-afternoon. Like I do every year at this time, I see that if I don't move into action right after Stella and I get back from our morning walk ... there is a chance things will not get done.
When I leave or start a job outside as soon as we return, I get a lot of 'to do' stuff done and most of the time I am finished with what I need to do for the day by noon. So I'll be posting my first blog post of the day, and mostly likely the only blog post of the day in the afternoon or early evening from now on.
I can tell that I am a little out of shape. With only twisting and bending over many times to pick up sticks in the yard yesterday, I woke up this morning with some sore lower back muscles and sore hamstrings. That's a good sign. By the time I mow the whole yard for the first time I should be in better shape.
After inspecting my roof this morning it looks like it made it through another midwestern winter with no issues. It's old and on its last years, so it's always good to see no wear and tear or any kind of buckling due to the ice or extreme changes in temperature. I am going to get every last dollar out of that roof before I replace it.
I am still trying to decide what to do along the back side of the house. I am pretty sure all of that river rock is coming out of there. I might replace it with the same cyprus mulch I have in front, then add potted plants along area. Before I do anything like that, I have to dig along the edge of the yard and rock, pull out my old drainage system and install a new one.
Too much flooding during heavy rains this winter tells me it's plugged up with mud. So I'll install a brand new drain. That's a lot of manual labor, a lot of shoveling. I can't say I am looking forward to that job.
Still, it's been another great day here in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana.
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