The Hounds Approve The Final Phase Of Bank Clearing

After the hounds did some early morning stretching, we took off for the morning walk about an hour earlier than usual. I needed to be at UPS by the time they opened at 10am to drop off the package to return to Exede. The grounds were wetter than normal, hiking boots were soaked by the time we got back.

I did not catch her on camera but Stella did a little running to catch up at the start of the walk. After she did catch up with us, it was nothing but her slow walking after that.

I am assuming it was deer scent that made the bloodhounds so interested this morning. I have seen a lot of deer grouped together in this same spot around sundown in the past. They are usually heading back into the woods by the time I get my camera ready to take a picture.

It was to the point I was beginning to wonder if they were going to leave this one spot. Stella was determined to stay but I kept calling her because I needed her to follow us on the walk since I was a little tight for time this morning.

That long narrow path they are following is used by the deer. Those same type of paths are scattered in different parts of the field always leading to a wooded area.

The last time I checked as I made the final turn home, both hounds were behind me. Once Sadie passed me and Stella wasn't with her I turned to see what she was doing. She was testing me to see if I was paying attention to her. Stella was headed at a 45° angle away from us and pretty far behind us.

That never bothered Sadie.

Stella wasn't stubborn this time. As soon as I yelled "over here", she turned and trotted slowly back to the path I was on. It was a slow walk home from there. I think she was just checking to see if she would get away without me noticing.

Right after we got back from the walk I loaded the Exede box in the small Z4 trunk, lead the hounds to the bedroom where they stay while I am gone, and took off for UPS 25 miles away. I would be taking a great sports car road, two lanes with a lot of curves and hills. Mentally I was prepared for one slow vehicle to back all of us up at 45 mph.

Yet with the top down and 70° it was a great drive.

By the time I made it back from the 50 mile round trip, Heidi was barking wanting her lunch time kibble. Stella was soon to follow with her bloodhound howling. I thought it might be too early but it was close to 4 hours since they had their breakfast.

Once lunch was finished it was time to start the final Phase 3 of the bank clearing project. Under the watchful eye of Stella, I pulled out the needed tools for today's job.

It was a little cloudy but radar showed there wasn't a chance of rain anywhere. The plan today was to cut the few remaining stems or saplings that I missed two days ago. A lot of times the brush is too thick for me to get to all of them so I always go back to cut the stragglers after I burn the first time.

I always rake any loose limbs or thick vines down to the bottom of the bank and burn as much of them as I can. I knew that all would not burn but enough of it would. Sadie was more than happy to supervise from the top of the hill.

As you can see the builders of the house in 1975 spread a pretty good amount of rock along that bank. I added the rip rap last month to an area for added support.

By now I had cut all that was left standing and raked what was remaining to the bottom of the hill. It was was time to see what was going to burn. It's ugly right now but it was have new growth in a month and all of this will be covered up with green ragweed most likely.

I did not get as much burned as I was hoping for so I'll leave it stacked where it is and try later this summer or wait until next fall when there is not such a fire hazard.

It has been suggested to me many times to have someone lay rip rap on the whole bank. I agree with them it would look fantastic and at the same time help in preventing sole erosion.

It would take close to $10,000 to lay rip rap on the bank that is 150' or longer. At the same time all of those people with the suggestion don't seem to be offering any of their cash to pay for the job either ... LOL


After letting the vines set for the winter a lot of them still are not dried out enough to burn. I have carried away most of the green limbs to my burn pile prior to setting any fires.

By the time I took my last step into the driveway after climbing the bank, Sadie was wondering what was next on the 'to do' list for the day.

I had enough energy left to wash one car but not two. The Mini Countryman needed washing more than the Z4. After it was washed and all the car washing equipment had been put away, I walked in the house finished for the day.

I was shocked to see it was only 1:30pm after all the stuff I did today.

It was tempting for a siesta, especially with three sleeping hounds scattered throughout the house but I decided to brew up a fresh 3qt container of ice tea, grill come chicken for my salad and see what the afternoon would bring.

With enough energy expended for the day, I doubt there will be much more to blog about today. So I'll post this in the middle of the afternoon ... with plans of mowing the yard and washing the Z4 tomorrow before the rains come on Sunday.

That's all for today from 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana.

Stella Plans Her Day

With the field across the highway planted, the hounds and I had a full day of activity ahead of us. It was suppose to be hotter today than yesterday and it's almost perfect weather this time of year.


Stella started her day, thinking and trying to get her plan together.

While Sadie did a little early exploring through the wet grass as coffee was brewing inside. It looks like part of the field near the backyard is growing by the hour ... a winter full of great bloodhound fertilizer makes the grass grow faster.

I was tired of getting my feet wet the past few mornings, so this morning I put on my hiking boots and set the New Balance running shoes (yard shoes) off to the side.

Stella got so deep into the thorn bushes that the long vines were sticking to her as she tried to back out. She didn't notice them and kept on charging. In the meantime my arms and legs are showing signs of thorn cuts after I climbed up and around the bank yesterday cutting those 1"-2" saplings.

I could tell that Sadie was pretty locked into scents this morning but didn't know just how much until we turned the corner.

While Sadie went in front of us with her nose to the ground, Stella was following her own pace and taking her time.

At first by the way Sadie was acting I thought she was going to run down into the gully through the thick brush. She definitely had a strong scent and no doubt that scent was deer.

Luckily when I called her name, she came running out of the bushes and headed in a different direction.

It was a pretty slow pace back to the house. Stella kept walking in our direction without any desire to head to the woods to her left. Sadie kept her nose to the ground almost all the way home.

After we returned from the morning walk I decided it was time for Phase II in clearing the bank. I needed to move all the small tree saplings I cut yesterday up to my burn pile. They are too green and would not burn today. I'll let them set there until next fall and by the size of it I might have one of my biggest fires yet.

Here is a pretty good sample of the saplings I am talking about. There are some pointing the other way that are larger in diameter, it takes time to cut them no matter what size they are.

I decided I wouldn't wait another few weeks to burn the bank. I decided to start today and anything that did not burn I will cut and stack for another fire tomorrow. There were probably a few that I was unable to get to yesterday when I was in the cutting mode.

This area is after the last part of the fence. I remember years ago that was nothing but green grass that I mowed every time I mowed the yard. After the straight line winds in June 2008 tore out a bank full of tall mature trees, that area went from grass to nothing but saplings..

Stella wasn't up for any kind of supervisory role. I guess I didn't need to put her on the tether to keep her in the field since she slept through most of the fire burning process. She did jump up though when I asked Sadie if it was "time to eat".

Each time I would carry a bundle of saplings up the bank to the burn pile I'd look to see where Sadie was. She decided she needed to check on the new grass seed that I planted on the bank by the old fence post.

It was good to see that almost everything burned in that first section. That was mostly dead leaves. It looks bad now but in a month or two it will be covered with new green growth of ragweed or unidentified weeds.

Yes part of the fence caught fire in the same place as two years ago. My garden hose was ready to kill the flames. It looks like that big stack of thorny vines are not going to burn so they will be the 3rd part of this process.

I mentioned in my last post for every sapling I have cut over the years, three to four new ones will grow back. I have tried everything to kill the tree, from black spray paint on the fresh cut stem, to stump removal chemicals, and slamming a hatchet down the center of the stem.

With all the smoke blowing toward the house, Sadie was making sure I had the fire under control and a call to the local fire department would not be needed. That reminds me of a funny story about the fire department and my neighbor's fire last summer.

The two neighbors north of me have huge banks from their front yard to the highway. For the 20 years I have been here, they have burned the dead brush on those banks right down to the shoulder of the highway every year. I noticed last summer that two fire trucks showed up to the neighbor next to me. I thought that was strange because he and his wife were outside watching it with the garden hose nearby in case it got out of control.

I found out in a conversation the other day that someone in a car passing by on the highway decided THEY needed to call the fire department for the out of control grass fire, thus the two fire trucks showing up unexpected.

Soon after my fires were on their last legs, Sadie decided it was time for lunch. When I walked inside Heidi was already standing by her food bowl and started barking at me when she saw me.

I was about to start washing the cars when I decided instead to run to town to buy a bag of dog food. The hounds have about 3-4 days left I expect but for some reason today I decided to buy early and keep the bag in the car until needed. If I were to bring that new bag inside, Stella would break into it when she had the chance.

It was a good thing I did, I bought the last bag on the pallet and their next delivery is not due until Tuesday. On the way back home I decided it was time for a little more lunch. That salad I had did not last long and for the past week or two I have been craving the best fish sandwich I've see, just 20 miles away.

It's one of those small town, out of the way places that are a concrete block building, a kitchen and 3 tables that could cram in 12 people if needed. They have the best fish sandwich I have ever had, including out in the PNW.

So things were going pretty well with Phase II of the bank clearing finished, a good lunch, beautiful weather ... I could wash the cars or take a siesta. Since I believe it's best to wash cars either early morning or late afternoon the option of a siesta won.

It's a beautiful night for some college football, so I am headed inside to get cleaned up and drive to Bloomington to watch the IU spring football game. That will close out their NCAA allowed spring practice.

Phase III of the bank clearing may be delayed tomorrow. I just received my UPS box to return the Exede modem, power supply and TRIA. I can take that up to UPS tomorrow since there is no longer a UPS drop off in town. Exede included in their package an offer I can't refuse to "come back". All I need to do is call them and mention those two key words for an offer of a lifetime.

Too much work getting done here in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana ... I'm tired.

Farmers Plant The Field Across The Highway

It was close to lunch for the hounds and I when I heard farm equipment slowing down on the highway. They have worked this field pretty fast and with great weather it's been perfect timing for them. So while the hounds were gobbling their lunch kibble in one minute or less, I grabbed my camera and decided to take some pictures in sequence to give some of you an idea about the process.


I need to tell you right up front, that I am not a farmer, never have been a farmer and if it is not a tractor or a combine I have no clue what the different equipment is called. I know they are planting but I have no clue what the liquid is in the tanks nor what it's purpose is.

The first step was spreading out the planters. Based on what the ground looked like I am making a wild guess that they are not planting corn this year but soybeans.

Some of the readers might be able to make comments to clear up some of the small mysteries like that piece on the left side that is being expanded out pretty far. I assume that it is some sort of marker to tell the driver where to line up his return pass ... but again, just a guess.

While I am typing this I am asking myself why did Blogger decide to upload all of my pictures in a huge 'original size' ?? Those are bags of seed on those pallets and all the bags were loaded into the planter.

Their business must be good because it was just a year or two ago where their equipment was not this large nor this new. They have really beefed up their equipment. Also a couple of brand new Ford F-150's have stopped different afternoons to pick up the driver when he was finished.

I was tempted to walk over and get a closer view plus explain why they see me taking pictures whenever they are working in the spring or fall. I had all of the hounds outside and didn't want to do the routine with them for me to leave the house. They were enjoying their time outside.

These different steps of preparation were not quick. I had time to eat my salad with tuna, the hounds had time to eat, go outside and wait for me to come back outside prepared to clear my driveway bank.

Below is the piece of equipment that I think is some sort of marker but I'm not really sure about it. It has a single disc and nothing between it and the planter.

Once all of the planters were started to transport the seed, plus the tanks were turned on in some way, he was ready to go.

Looks like he is off to the races. Clear blue skies, not too hot and a gentle breeze to get our work done. Again today the wind was blowing a different direction than it normally does so all of that dust did not head our way.

I was planning on cutting all of those samplings along the bank of the driveway, I just didn't know I would start today. It's probably best that I am single and live alone because it's common for me to think I am going to do something like mow the lawn, give Stella a bath or even wash a car ... but in an instant my focus changes and then I am spending the afternoon with my lopper and tree pruning saw cutting anything and everything taller than ground level along the bank on the other side of the fence.

That might not look like much but the majority of these pains in the ass 2" saplings are further down the driveway. I'll take pictures tomorrow after I drag them into the driveway and then carry them to my burn pile to burn next fall. My burn pile is going to be huge next fall based on the number of these trees I cut today.

Like a couple of years ago, after I carry those small trees to the burn pile just past the top of my driveway I will let things dry out on that bank for a week or so and then light the bank on fire burning all of the dead leaves, old dried wild ragweed stems and hopefully those thorn bushes that cut me up today. I think this year I am going to spread some clover (Mary's suggestion) for ground cover and see how that works.

While the farmer planted his field and I cut small trees ... Heidi took a nap in the sunshine. Even when I walked past her she did not wake up. When I walked back outside with my camera she still did not move. Doesn't it look like she has gained a lot of her weight back?

Since the hounds were outside and I was down over the bank out of sight, I put Stella on the tether and hoped that Sadie would stay somewhere in the 7 acre field in back without going to the neighbors. They were out mowing grass so I thought there might be a chance that Sadie would pay them a visit.

They both wanted to let me know that everything was cool and they were in their best behavior. Sadie did walk over to the fence a couple of times and looked over the bank to make sure I had not killed myself with those NON power, NON electric hand tools. They knew the job was dangerous but I had to do it while the weather was nice.

It is suppose to be warmer Thursday and Friday so I should be able to clear the bank, move the trees and finally make it up on the roof to check things out. I have a few more limps to pickup and I need to blow my gutters clean with a leaf blower ... I find that to be the easiest and fastest way to clean the gutters, as long as I don't fall off the roof while walking along the edge.

I had to take a break for some water, and an apple. It was interesting to watch him put all of that equipment back in place so he could drive all of that down the highway. It is just a little wider than one lane.

Here you can see the difference after he raised all the wheels of the planter when everything was moved back into place.

This next picture shows some of the trees I cut that were further down the driveway. There is a larger group of those trees between the end of the fence and the highway. Based on internet searches and IF the small trees have been identified correctly, they would not grow taller than 20'. If they would grow taller than that, it would be harder job to cut them later when they were taller, also I have a clear sky to the SW for my two satellite dishes.

I have tried about everything possible to keep them from growing back but for every stem I cut, three to four grow back. I cut them back to the ground about every two or three years.

There is one thing good about working outside ... I get a good workout and I am tired enough to get to sleep before midnight, or even earlier.

The weather is great here in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana.