A very busy month, lots to do

I can't believe it's been weeks since I blogged here at The Hideaway. To say we've been busy would be a bit of an understatement. Spring is a time of preparation in the country.

My little garden is planted and thriving. The tomatoes are ready to bloom! The inner leaves of the cabbages are starting to curl. The sugar snap peas are vining and climbing their guide ropes. After a tentative start, the cucumbers are gaining traction. The butternut squash seeds have sprouted as have the cantaloupe and watermelon. The Contender green beans are looking good and I wish I'd planted more of them. Five of the six green pepper plants are thriving. 

If there is anything I can call a disappointment, it's the Greenstalk. Hopefully, it will improve as the summer progresses.  

Other activities include mowing, weeding, mulching, some tractor work, helping a neighbor with the removal of a downed tree, and the usual household chores. I even uploaded a short video. I wanted to have the pool set up by now, but that hasn't happened. 

It feels good to have the work done. For the next little stretch of time, I'll need to water the garden (possibly daily) and mow once a week or so. During this "break in the action," my one cousin and I may drop a large cherry tree that is leaning out over the yard. Cherry makes great firewood and we'll each take half the wood for the winter of 2024-25. 

One thing is for sure - there is never a day with nothing to do.

The Lady of the Hideaway

Holly Tree Manor, The Hideaway, country lifestyle, rural living, gardening, Greenstalk, cutting wood, mowing grass, John Deere 1023, helping neighbors, hard work, loving life

I heard a noise...

This past Wednesday our area experienced thunderstorms and heavy rain. I'm not complaining. It's summer and if you live in western Maryland, it's thunderstorm season. So, yeah. It arrived right on time. But thunderstorms also mean tree damage. 

We were watching it rain sideways when there was a flash, a pop, and a snap! The lights flickered but the power stayed on. The television didn't come back on, which was worrisome, so I investigated the situation and discovered one breaker had tripped. I reset it and all was well again, at least until we went outside to see if there was any damage. 

One of the maple trees between us and our younger cousin snapped about ten to twelve feet up the trunk and, unfortunately, the top fell in the direction of our shed. Deuce told a little story of how one of the branches landed on the John Deere's bucket, but Deuce didn't know to look up. Dogs are like that. They don't always look at what's over their heads. Anyway... getting this tree the rest of the way to the ground looked to be very problematic. 

I called my cousin to let him know we'd be cutting a tree on his property before it could land on our shed. He immediately came up for a look-see, and to see if we wanted the wood. It's his tree so no, we told him to take the wood. We settled on this morning to work together and bring it the rest of the way down safely. 

We got lucky. Last evening, I heard a tree fall, a sound I know well having lived in the woods for over forty years. Deuce started barking at the window so I knew which direction to look. The tree had snapped off completely and come down, landing just short of the shed and the John Deere 1023. I texted my cousin and he walked up again (we're curious that way). We all agreed it was a good thing because of our safety concerns. 

Today looks to be a hot one with the mercury rising into the nineties. The spousal unit will probably go out and cut the top out of the tree and use the Brush Crusher to haul the pieces to the burn pile. This will clear our "alley" behind the shed. I doubt we do any additional clearing until Monday is supposed to bring cooler temps. 

My cousin will come to cut the wood and we'll give him whatever help he needs. The "damage" will be cleared and the wood harvested instead of wasted. It's just the way things work here at the manor. 

The Lady of Holly Tree Manor (The Hideaway)

Holly Tree Manor, The Hideaway, fallen trees, country living, rural lifestyle, thunderstorms, cutting wood, storm damage, a writer's life, simple country pleasures, summer heat