. . . as you can see by these plowed up piles by the beginning of our driveway.
The raised beds aren't totally snow-free yet. The blueberry bushes are in the upper left side of the picture, and they're still about half buried in snow.
A good half of the field garden, to the right of the raised beds, is peeking through.
And although we do have dry gravel in spots, there are still many areas like this.
The pond remains frozen except in spots around the edges. You can see some of the chickens sampling that cold, cold water.
I've got a bit of wood working to do. I've been working on splitting up the remaining bundles of wood slated for kindling and getting it into the kindling bin.
The bundles needed to be moved out of this section of the wood shed so we can start stacking large pieces of winter wood in there. These few bundles are all that remain so that task will be done PDQ.
A task that will take me quite a bit longer are these bundles of soft wood that need to be split (not as small as kindling) for setting on top of the kindling to get the fires going well before putting in big pieces that will burn for hours. They ended up stored in a spot where we'll need to stack more of those large pieces of winter wood. (Who engineered this?) The picture shows only half the bundles I need to work up. Another bunch of the same quantity is across the aisle.
And speaking of those large pieces, Papa Pea, Mama Pea (yours truly), Chicken Mama and her partner, from now on referred to as Gilligan (not his real name but an inside family joke), are working together to get wood put up for both households. Above Papa Pea is working on one end of the wood pile . . .
. . . while Gilligan works on the other end.
We already have a few days of work laid out for the four of us when we attack this pile that next needs to be split and stacked.
Yep, even though it's still wet and kinda muddy out there, it's time to get going on the spring time outside chores. No more lounging around all day inside in front of the fire!
23 comments:
Lounging? What lounging?
Nice to see a view of your field garden waiting for Spring to start waking it up. You must be so glad to see the snow finally going.....
You lounge? Good one!
Enjoy the outdoors. Our snowfall from two days ago melted and the brown beckons....but I still have to take it easy for a bit.
But I am SOOOOOOO happy that it's finally time to play in the dirt. Happy Spring
Susan - Nope, there truly wasn't much of that going on around here (or your place) this winter. And I thought it was supposed to be the "down" season. Hahahahahaha!
Vera - Actually, it's disappearing early this year. I'm just crossing my fingers we don't get that one last big blizzard this year. Could happen!
Sue - With your sandy soil, I'll bet you don't have nearly as much mud in the spring as we do. But even if you can get out to start your clean up, be very careful you don't work too hard and have a relapse of your respiratory problems! If so, I'd have to come, bring pie (lots of pies) and beat you up for not taking care of yourself.
200 -250 miles sw of you ... some nut job was water skiing on the local watering hole ...
You have been busy. I remember Mama using those spit small pieces for an old style kitchen wood stove that sat beside the gas range. She used it in winter for cooking.
Where did you get the logs? Were they cut on your place? Just curious. I know what a job it is to fell and top trees.
Marie - Ha! Nut job would be an apt name for him! Sure hope he had on a wet suit -- or dry suit, or whatever would be the proper suit.
Glenda - We don't have the equipment for logging in our own woods so purchased those logs from a local logger who will sell a truck load to private individuals. In our area you can also order cut and split firewood but, of course, that's a lot more expensive. Both hubby and I enjoy wood working so we've always done ours this way.
Hi Mama Pea :)) Look at all that wood! Wow!!! How do you guys tackle that, a little each day to prepare for the next winter? You have a lot to split. I think we may have the wrong type of ax ourselves...that's yet another thing for the "learn as we go" list, what kind of tools are best for splitting all sorts of wood.
I MUST know about Gilligan lol...I know, inside family joke. I laughed anyway because Alex and I just finished watching the entire series of Gilligan's Island and I loved every member of that cast, especially the goofy Gilligan. I hope your son in law is named after his size or similarity and not his Gilligan-ness lol...
Blueberry bushes!!! How wonderful. I definitely have lots of berry bushes in my future plans. Enjoy your spring chores! :)
Rain - We like to get all of our wood for the next season cut, split and stacked under cover before June at the latest, sometimes we succeed in getting it done by the end of April.
Splitting is done with a wood splitter. Both hubby and I enjoy splitting by hand with an ax (and have done our share of it) but that's a slow process compared to using the wood splitter. Since we burn between 7 and 9 cords a season (depending on the severity of the winter), we have a lot of wood to get put up.
Our "Gilligan" isn't anything like the TV series character in personality. The name has more to do with his given name. :o)
You go girl! Wood work is pretty much all spring, summer and down and dirty by early fall. We have a copious amount of oak (several varieties)and a lesser amount of pine. So the dead or almost dead are thinned out. Grateful to have our own wood to harvest and stack. We have sun in the low to mid 70's for highs and mid 40's for lows. Rain returns for yet another curtain call next Wednesday and is supposed to continue through the following week. So I agree a second thought blizzard for you could materialize. I spent today demoing spinning at an alpaca farm shearing in the morning. Then into Redding for a bit of supply gathering. A nice mix of lounge and if I have to.
That's always my thought ~ just about the time I think we will have that early Spring ~ we get one more nasty blizzard. With the weather we've had this year tho, I have to wonder if it will happen..........
Goatldi - You always sound happy and glad to be in your life -- which is an enviable way to be, for sure. I'm not wanting to trade my life with any other one, but do create stress for myself from time to time staying in that "nice mix of lounge and if I have to." Today, for instance, when I had planned on a day "of lounge" but can't seem to keep the "you should do this" thoughts from knocking on my forehead demanding attention. :o/
Sandy - Yup, who the heck can truly predict what's coming down the road, eh? Let's just keep pretending (believing?) we will get an early spring and tulips will bloom before July 4th!
Great pictures! So much work, but your garden beds look like a dream.
Keep on Mama Pea. What I don't always mention are the days when I don't touch anything fiber for many a day in a row.I think a lot of my attitude towards life got formed in the last 5 years. When the hard facts smack you in the face there are only two answers you will or you won't. Won't isn't an option. We have all been there I bet.
No need for a fire inside when you're generating all that heat working outside!
Mama Pea,
Plenty of work there to do on your property with chopping and moving wood. Hey when you and your team is done I have all kinds of fallen trees needing chopped here. There's no snow here, and it's warming up.....entice you?? :-) Were doing the same thing here. Don't work to hard, and with it still cold there and snow you won't have to worry about snakes like here.
Hugs,
Sandy
Rachel - Thanks for commenting! The beds look pretty forlorn this time of year but soon, soon they will start to look purdy! ;o)
Michelle - Well, you also know what they say about heating with wood! We've actually made it without a fire a couple of days recently. MUST mean spring is on the way!
Sandy - You may have enticed me . . . until you mentioned the SNAKES. Then you lost me, but good! ;o)
Post a Comment