Kevin Standlee: Fandom Is My Way of Life

Over the past few days, there have been times when the wind wasn't blowing so hard, and Lisa got out and tackled some of the weeds by hand with a Hula-Hoe. This is a lot of hard work.

( Some Progress )

Lisa's work made it easier for me to haul the other brush that she cut and raked away from the fence that divides the two properties from the pile she made over to the main brush pile, without having to walk through the tall weeks. I may be a little allergic to those weeds, as after our bid day cutting cottonwood branches, I found myself with a rash on my lower right leg, despite wearing coveralls.

Sunday had ideal conditions for burning the brush pile that has been accumulating since late last spring. The temperatures were cool but not cold. It was dry and there was almost no wind, although very light breezes that helped with the fire and with dispersing the smoke were present. So early Sunday morning, Lisa and I went to work on burning brush. For those of you who have been following me for years, this is pretty much a repeat of the past few years' burns.

( Burn, Baby, Burn )

This is one of the better times to do these controlled burns. There's a fair bit of new green growth around here, but being green, it's hard to set alight. Even the brush from the pile that has been setting around for moths needed some encouragement to get burning.

So the brush pile area was clear. Except that we were about to start building it back up again straight away. More about that tomorrow.

There were no excuses to keep me from getting to work on what promises to be a never-ending project: clearing the East Lot of weeds, at least along the defense line between it and the fence that separates it from the original house.

( Progress Made )

If you zoom in on the long shots, you'll see a pile of debris including an old pallet in the distance. This is intentional, and it will stay there until we can put in a fence. We discovered that when there was a cleared area running the entire length of the fence that people would drive through it. To avoid creating a "squatter's rights" easement, we need to discourage people from cutting through the property.

My thanks to those of you who sent your congratulations about our acquisition of the East Lot. Today, I started doing some weed clearance, but not on the new property, as there were higher priorities.

( Driveway Clearance )

I'm pretty happy getting all of this stuff pulled up. We'll move vehicles back here soon, although we have work to do like getting that bad tire off the Rolling Stone and replaced. It's a start on the larger job of cleaning up the East Lot.

One of the, er, interesting things about the property here in Mehama is that we never want for projects. Besides That Darn Roof, there is log-splitting (I spent an hour this morning splitting four more poplar and cedar logs) and lawn mowing (although since we don't water the grass in the summer, it stops growing and we don't have to cut it so often). And then there is brush clearance. Things grow very fast around here, and there's never a shortage of brush that needs clearing.

( Pictures of the Next Project )

Yesterday evening, Lisa did not feel like climbing back onto That Darn Roof to start the next phase of that project (move ladders, install more lathing, prepare for more Gray Goo). But the weather was too good to waste, so she got out the electric trimmer, I got the clippers, rakes, pitchfork, and hand cart, and we started hacking away at the brush. As Lisa plied the cutter, I raked the debris away and lifted it into the cart.

( Proof of Brush Cutting Concept )

Unfortunately, while I was whacking away at the loose brush with the rake, I came up with only half a rake. I held up the rake and waved to get Lisa's attention. (We were, of course, wearing eye and ear protection while working with the noisy, debris-throwing equipment.) Half the tines on the rake had broken off at the center of the rake where it attaches to the handle.

Lisa fished around in the bush I'd been combing and dug out the broken piece. She said, "This rake has broken before; you can see where someone welded it. Well, we'd better fix it." And thus we downed tools and headed over to the workshop, where Lisa rolled out her welding kit.

( Yes, Lisa has a welding kit. )

Unfortunately, the time we spent repairing the rake used up much of our brush-clearing time, so we only got one (fairly large) cart load of brush cut before calling it a night; however, if we can clear the brush faster than it regrows, then maybe we can accomplish something. Lisa has an idea that maybe after we clear the area, but before we get the gravel, that we could lay down plastic sheeting over the area to be graveled in order to discourage the brush from regrowing.