At it again - the never ending brush pile

I have a lot of trees, ergo, I have a lot of brush. Mother Nature likes to toss sticks into my yard. Every year, there is a tree or two that for one reason or another needs to be harvested. The aftermath of a tree being felled is brush. January and February are my favorite months to burn brush.

Why? Because of the weather, specifically snow. Burning when there is snow on the ground is pretty safe. Same goes for during a rainfall. 

Yesterday, I braved the cold and lit a small brush pile. I wasn't sure the fire was going to catch and get going, but it did. The flames had died down to mere embers, and I was ready to call it a day. I'd no sooner taken off my wet jeans when a gust of wind rocked the house, and then kept blowing. 

I did not like this. Would the wind reignite the embers in what was left of the brush pile?

I pulled on a pair of sweat pants and went back outside, hopped on the John Deere 1023, and scooped up a few snow piles leftover from a few days ago when I used the snow pusher attachment on the lane. I dropped the snow on what was left of the smoldering brush pile. And you know what happened then?

Yep. The wind stopped blowing.

The Lady of Holly Tree Manor/The Hideaway

Holly Tree Manor, The Hideaway, country lifestyle, rural living, John Deere 1023, snow, rain, burning brush, resources, wind, fire, work smart

 

Twelve days straight

It rained for twelve days straight. I'm feeling very low on vitamin D. BUT... Today started out overcast which has now given way to sunshine! 

Sunshine means one thing, and one thing only, on the manor - time to get outside, see what needs to be done, and get moving on it. 

There is a strip along the edge of the driveway, close to where I park, that anyone and everyone who comes to my house lacks the ability to STAY THE HELL OFF OF!!!! Seriously. How hard can it be? I manage to keep my tires on the stones, but I know how to operate a motor vehicle. But I digress.

I repaired the mudhole by adding some topsoil in preparation of reseeding. Then I added a thin add of gravel to redefine the edge. Suffice it to say, I won't be ordering anything from Amazon for quite a while because those drivers are the absolute worst. 

With that done, I turned my attention to the old tractor path. The entire top broke out of a maple a few days ago and there is some okay firewood in that. I cut the leafy bits off and took those to the burn pile and set aside the bits that are suitable to cut, split, and age for the 2025-26 season. After being trapped inside for twelve days, I was more than happy to be outside and moving around. 

I may be done for the day, but I'm far from done. There is still the mess the well drillers left behind, but a few more days of sunshine will make that easier to scoop up and drop in the corner of my property where it won't impact anything or anyone except the deer. In time the clay will disappear, claimed by the weeds, leaves, and greenbriers. 

Sunshine is rejuvenating. It imparts renewed energy not just to the land, but to me as well. I've been grouchy these past days even though in our modern world we still find things to do in the rain. I had lunch with friends, did some writing, did a bit of promotional work, and gathered up Ron's Civil War books for his youngest brother. It's not that I want to dispose of those books, but he asked for them since he shared Ron's interest in the Civil War. 

Tomorrow's weather should be much like today's. I'd like to get outside early and see what is ready to be done. Or what I'm ready to tackle on my own. There is that to consider.

The Lady of Holly Tree Manor/The Hideaway

Holly Tree Manor, The Hideaway, rural living, country lifestyle, sunshine, John Deere 1023, woodland, energy reserves, Civil War books, rain, a writer's life, romance fiction

Rainy day views

daffodils in the rain

One would think that having reached this stage of my life, a truly rainy day wouldn't bother me. Usually, it doesn't, but this year I'm anxious to be outside working on gardening chores. There is still much to do. At least I can do a few things today, inside in the dry.

The Beefsteak tomato seedlings are ready to transplant from the sprouting tray to larger containers. I'm not fancy with this. I use plastic cups that are rinsed out each year and reused. Four-inch black plastic pots were more expensive, so NO. I didn't go that route. 

Our rain today is the kind that has settled in, complete with fog and distant thunder. From my desk, I can gaze out at the daffodils and marvel at how bright and cheery they are in the rain. I'll enjoy them today because this rain will beat the blooms and by tomorrow they will have faded. 

rainy day office view

Looking out the office door, I can watch the raindrops bounce on the deck boards and see them splatter on the window. The earth needs a good soaking rain and yet I wish it would come in showers that I could work between. We humans are never satisfied, and I should be. Where I live, this could easily have been a snow event, winter's last hurrah as it were. 

But there is hope! The weather radar map shows the actual rain passing in a few hours. I still won't be able to work outside because the ground will be too wet and squishy. I tell myself to stop fretting about it, that I'm retired now and am not constrained to getting everything done on the weekend, but a lifetime of habits and that worker-bee mindset are not always easy to set aside. 

I should console myself with working on the current manuscript, but my heart is outside, in my garden space, and writing prose when my heart isn't in it has never worked for me. It would be better if I take my cup of tea to my comfortable reading chair and just enjoy the sound of the rain on the roof. 

The Lady of The Hideaway

Holly Tree Manor, The Hideaway, rural living, country lifestyle, rain, snow, weather, a writer's life, radar map, gardening, tomatoes, transplanting seedlings 

Rainy autumn days

I should be writing or making split pea soup. I should be in the laundry room pairing up socks so I can toss them in the appropriate drawers (his and hers). I should be doing any number of things that need doing, but instead, I've been wasting time. 

It's a rainy, dreary, windy autumn day. The wind is showing me just how far along the trees are in changing color, so I guess it's not all bad. 

The view outside my window is different. With the poplar tree gone, a woodpile has taken its place. Loki has already discovered the squirrels that have taken to sitting on top of the woodpile. He's stalking them, but not having any success, I'm happy to report. 

Yesterday was the complete opposite of today. The sun was bright and the sky was clear and blue. The last blooms of the season, those the deer didn't find, are showing their colors. The deer are more interested in the acorn crop than blooms right now. 

Dreary days like today will become more frequent as the season turns toward winter. I must learn to change with them. 

The Lady of Holly Tree Manor (The Hideaway)

Holly Tree Manor, The Hideaway, autumn, winter, changing seasons, woodpile, squirrels, country lifestyle, rural living, simple country pleasures, a writer's life, rain, fall color

The first rose of 2022

Life has taken on a surreal feel. With only four more working days left at the day job, I can't decide if I'm excited or dreading the loss of so much structure in my life. As someone who has been gainfully employed for fifty years, I may have been brainwashed, or at the very least brain-trained, to believe regimented days are a good thing.

Nope. That's not it. I simply want the next four days over and done with so I can finally, finally, finally move on and get on with "retirement." I have a set of lists, you see.

There's a list, actually a spreadsheet, for outside work, inside work, tractor work, gardening work, pantry work, equipment maintenance, and items to improve the humans in the house. I do so love a good spreadsheet when the cells get filled in with the color of completion! 

But there's one thing I can't put on a spreadsheet: remembering to take the time to slow down and enjoy the fruits of all my labor. 

Yesterday, late afternoon, the sky darkened and a front swept through bringing rain showers. The spousal unit and I had gone in different directions puttering at small tasks, and the rain sent us inside to the television. I glanced out the front window and noticed the season's first rose was blooming. How wonderful! 

The sunshine reappeared while the rain continued to fall. I love when that happens! Spring's green world glows! I snatched my phone and stepped outside to record a short video to share with whoever is interested but to mostly have to look at any time I remind myself it's time to stop and enjoy the roses. 

The Lady of Holly Tree Manor (The Hideaway) 

Holly Tree Manor, The Hideaway, simple country pleasures, roses, gardening, pantry prep, greenhouses, rain, retirement, to-do list, spreadsheets, country living, rural lifestyle, a writer's life

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IVS9UTXQWzo

Expect the unexpected (tree fall)

I wouldn't want to live anywhere else. I would not thrive as a city dweller. It's May 7, 2022, and everywhere I look I see shades of vibrant green! So much green! It makes the heart hurt it's so green.

Springtime in the country means rain, and rain means all sorts of things. Rain puts water into the ground, cleans the air, fills cisterns for farmers, and rain barrels for the gardeners. But too much rain can be deadly. While we're not in a flood plain, we do have a few issues that stem from too much rain. Two-thirds of the mountain is above us, so we have to deal with drainage long after the rain stops. Too much rain softens the ground to the point where some trees topple over, root ball and all. That's what happened last night. 

Around 2:30 AM, Deuce hopped off the bed, barking and growling. Being his doggie Mom, I got up to see if I could figure out why. The obvious culprits, in the middle of the night, are deer in the yard. I don't know how he knows, but he always knows. I switched on the outside lights but didn't see or hear anything above the sound of the rain and wind. Back to bed we went. 

This morning, I settled at the computer and looked out the north window and saw a tree had come down. The root of the tree is on the other side of the stone fence but it fell our way. I could go to the neighbor and ask them to remove the tree, but we want the firewood. And truthfully, out here, our neighbors would expect us to harvest the tree for firewood. If a tree fell the other way, we'd let it go to the neighbor for their woodstove. True country folk are like that. 

It's an easier job than it might appear. After the ground has a chance to dry up some, I'll take a battery-powered chainsaw over the stone fence and make a cut as close to the root ball as is feasible. It should release the trunk and top of the tree and allow it to upend toward our property. 

Expecting the unexpected is part of country living. The unexpected is not always a bad thing. Frequently it's a good thing, like receiving unexpected free firewood. It's even a good thing we'll have to do the work to harvest the wood. It will make us appreciate the gift of heat on a cold winter day even more. 

The Lady of Holly Tree Manor (The Hideaway)