9.6.2024

When we went to The Local last night, Jim finally got the number for his mug!  Now he's really official! 

Mom had a doctor appointment this morning so we were gone until almost lunchtime.  Jim had gotten the chipper out and connected to the Bobcat, so after lunch we headed out to do some clean up.

Starting to chip...

First pile done, so Jim moved the Bobcat over to the other pile and we continued chipping...

Both piles done and things look so nice and clean!

Putting the chipper back and Jim's moving it back into place...

Next, Jim wanted to move the log splitter out of the pavilion.  Before long, we'll be making forms and get ready for concrete!

Putting the log splitter next to our to be split pile!

Set on wood blocks and ready to go!

Jim would love to move our stash of bricks out of the way so that we have a clean building site to start out with when we build the house.  Jim ordered extra bricks to use for part of the house foundation, but nature is starting to reclaim them in this spot!

He first did a little flattening of this area in the woods...

Jim put the forks on the Bobcat and tried to see how moving one of the blocks would go...

Success!

We decided that this area behind the old shed might be a better spot to store the bricks.  There is no undergrowth here and it would just need a bit of flattening...

Jim had to first move this big fallen tree trunk...

This trunk is probably 25' and Jim was trying to maneuver it between existing trees to put it next to this pile of other fallen trees...

More wiggling...

Done!  It was twice as long as these others, but Jim got it to fit perfectly!

Nature notes - we saw a mama turkey and 5 babies.  The other babies we saw are much bigger now, so this is obviously a different family.

When we moved the chipper, we found all these weird funnel-shaped holes in the sandy dirt.  A quick look on google said that they might be from antlions, also known as doodlebugs!  They apparently live at the bottom of these funnels and capture ants or other small bugs that fall into the funnels.  Mother Nature is amazing!

Speaking of Mother Nature, this has been the most glorious, picture-perfect week.  Highs averaging around 70 with lows in the 50s - perfect for sleeping with the windows open.  We may get some needed rain this week but it sure has been nice!

High 77.1/Low 48.9 - beautiful!