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Post by heavyhitterokra on Aug 3, 2021 16:51:53 GMT -6
I decided to start a new thread here today, concerning yardwork and outdoor improvements, which seems to me to be an offshoot of gardening, but without a real 'catgory' that I could readily think of. If you are anything like me, you spend a lot of time outdoors, in an attempt to improve your yard.
Back in 2004, we purchased a piece of property that had been sorely neglected and very much mistreated. The price was cheap enough, but the labor involved to rehabiltate it was going to be quite involved. Since money was a thing we didn't have at the time, and labor was a thing that youth doesn't much mind, we decided to take it on.
It has been several years, and many, many, trips to the dump since those days. Now, the property has become a thing that we can really enjoy, rather than wince at. it took over a decade just to remove all of the broken glass, old car parts, abandoned appliances, old tires, forgotten bed springs, and wads of barbed wire, hog wire, and sheet metal that had been dumped here.
Then, it was time to start clearing the heavy timber, and acres tall underbrush. There were greenbriars growing from thick, tangled, thorny masses on the ground, reaching so high into the tree tops that they resembled the tattered sails of old time merchant ships. We'd throw huge, dead limbs and old car tires up in there everytime we found them, in an attempt to weigh the greenbriars down enough to break their hold on the lofty tree branches overhead, but through the years that proved to be of little benefit, only adding to the already unsightly mess.
Then, one day, back in the winter of 2008, we had an incredible icestorm that coated everything in the woods with about an inch of heavy ice. The massive added weight of the ice provided the perfect opportunity to help us break the briars free from the towering branches of the tall oak trees. All four of our kids, my wife, and I began to climb the tangled mass in an effort to break it free. "One! Two! Three! Jump! --- one! Two! Three! jump!" We repeated the process again, and again, until at last, there was a hugh "CRACK!" sound and the entire mess came tumbling down!
From that point forward, using the ice as a weapon of mass biomass detruction, we ran, hurridly through the woods, from one tangled mess of greenbriars to the next and tore down the last bastions of bramble that had prevented us from completing our job of clearing the woods enough to drive a truck between the trees.
When the ice melted, we pulled up huge, tangled, masses of greenbriars and lit them on fire, rolling the coals along the ground with rock rakes to burn every last sign of the bramble.
We cut trees on the thickly wooded land, until they were far enough apart to provide filtered sunlight, but not so far apart that they would let grass take over under the canopy. We left about half of the 5 acres wooded like that and cleared the other half to form a lawn and a place to build a garden and an elderberry patch.
When it was all done, I picked up the many, many rocks, sowed turf bermuda grass; mowed it short as could be, and laid out a 9 hole golf course where the old illegal dump used to be. In lieu of holes, (for fear of snakes) we just tap our ball off of designated tree trunks instead.
Since the kids all grew up and moved away, the old golf course sort of fell victim to neglect. There used to be nine, brightly painted signs, one at each 'hole tree' with the numbers #1 through #9 and the par for that tree printed neatly at the bottom. Now, there are only six of those original nine signs left, and none of them have anything resembling bright paint or par numbers printed on them. Today, I decided it was time to resurrect the old 9 hole golf course, mowing the entire 5 acres and pulling weeds around the base of each tree. Maybe, by Labor Day, I'll have new signs painted. Re-numbering tree 'hole' #1Fairway on the way to tree 'hole' #2 Swing hazard for tree 'hole #3. Tree 'hole' #4 Hammock trap near tree 'hole' #5. fairway on the way back to tree 'hole' #6. Goose Obstacle on the way to tree 'hole' #7. In the rough on the way to tree 'hole' #8. Backstop for tree 'hole' #9.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 4, 2021 5:30:39 GMT -6
Great job on your personalized golf course, Ron!
It has been raining too much in spring. I cannot tolerate the heat well. Next spring I'll be able to use the scythe to help keep up, but every year it always gets away from me for one reason or another. The yard looks horrid as scrap metal waits to go to the yard and we only have one vehicle. Lately, Bill has been going to rehab in prep for shoulder replacement in addition to him needing to get to work. Catching the truck at the right time has been difficult. It's a long wait at the yard requiring about half a day. The scrap would already have been gone were it not for the muddy scrap yard back in May. We were required to unload ourselves, but couldn't risk getting stuck. June was just as wet, July was spent mowing and we haven't been back.
In addition to all the junk that needs to leave the property there is a large amount of tree trash remaining from that polar vortex. The fire department is very close by and they've become accusing to dispelling any alarm at seeing my back yard on fire. I think they understand. I try to burn it in a good timing, like when it is about to rain. I used to haul it to the dump, but it became too much. Burn is the most reasonable work load and it clears it out quickly.
But this year there is quite a lot of it. What we can salvage to burn in the wood stove will be removed/, but I think sitting down with my son watching How to vids on chain saws is in order. We bought a new chainsaw earlier this year, but it seems to be spent already after he worked on the bosses' property. Real shame.
All my horse feed bags have been replenished with leaves and pine straw (from work on the bosses' property). So a bunch of those are sitting around the yard as well creating obstructions for even the push mower. I need to dump the bags and chip it down to condense.
It's overwhelming and also dashing my beautiful garden I once had. I should be preening the edges of my garden and also spending time setting its expansion, but I'm too busy whacking weeds down.
One day I sat and prioritized. I had to consider my disabilities which create a limited scope of work as far as time. I can only do "little and often". I cannot just roll up my sleeves, commit to the entirety of a project and work until it's done. I must start and stop. There is very little "satisfaction of a job done" in short order. I must continually look at the big picture, stay on top of the task at hand (hard not to get distracted) and to be honest this really sucks.
I figured out a way to get some sort of instant satisfaction. I haul the lawnmower and manual edgers whenever working on a garden bed. After working the garden bed, the walkway gets weeded, its edges trimmed and the surrounding area gets mows. I try to follow through as much as possible. It may be a while before I come back to it.
But, alas, according to youtube the timing is off on the mower and its key needs replaced putting all of this at a complete stand still. So frustrating.
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Post by macmex on Aug 4, 2021 9:08:15 GMT -6
Bon, what brand is the chainsaw? What exactly does it do or not do now? I once went over 20 years without using a chainsaw and had to relearn a lot about them when I resumed. The most common problems are 1) the bar gets bent, causing it to cut crooked and bind 2) the chain gets nicked and dull, causing it not to cut, 3) people use the wrong fuel mix, which in some cases just means the carburetor needs cleaning, but in the worse case scenario it means the motor is shot.
My garden is a mass of weeds right now, but I have to consolation of knowing that when I cut them I'm "harvesting" something to feed our rabbits and goats, thus turning them in to milk and meat.
I haven't been feeling very well for some months now, but recently started to feel better and I'm starting to get a bit more done in the garden. By fall I should have some good stuff coming in and be on top of some fall/winter crops.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 4, 2021 10:36:39 GMT -6
Husqavarna It runs. Not sure what Bill said was wrong with it. I know the chain doesn't want to stay on. I'm glad you're feeling better. I pray you stay that way. Been busting on fall seedlings, myself.
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Post by heavyhitterokra on Aug 5, 2021 0:27:03 GMT -6
Bon,
When I have lots of stuff to burn, I call the fire department and tell them what I'm about to do. They are usually very understanding. I've seen the Hulbert Fire Department parked on standby while people burnt old houses to sort of clean up around town. In the country, we've called them before to help administer controlled burns on huge swaths of land. Back before people had brush hogs and tractors that's how everyone controlled brush. We used to burn grandma's 40 acres every Spring, just before the green grass came on.
It might be a regional thing? Around Hulbert, that's just how things were, so people supported controlled burns, plus, back then, there were no public dumps, so everyone tried to burn as many solids as possible to condense the mess. Metals were salvaged after the burns and sold or reused.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 5, 2021 11:37:06 GMT -6
I thot about giving them a heads up, but the level of hate in this town is obnoxious and I'm too pointed in my convos. It's so easy to hack people off. Nonetheless, they are literally across the street. I keep the burn down to nothing more than a small bonfire, something no bigger than a water hose and a couple 5 gallon buckets can handle.
The new slum lord neighbor on the block was romping up and down the alley just yesterday marking his territory. I gotta get moving lest he find something to spew hate against.
I started taking notes of my clean up work with date and time stamps. This is all that is needed to knock the liars off the rails. I also have written up a brief statement of my legal position regarding all these properties. I don't own any of it. This should help thwart any future attempts to bully. My letter refers everyone to MY HUSBAND of whom they are terrified.
Meanwhile, we haven't heard a word from the city that is familiar with us and has serious problems elsewhere with which to contend. I empathize with them for having to deal with the likes of this new neighbor.
I look forward to cooler weather. That's when I get to really slam dunk hard work and clean up efforts with exception to burn. Sometimes it's very dry in winter and burning is a no go. But by gollies we can break it down and get it ready.
The back 40, as I call it, has grown back in after my last scythe. It is truly beautiful too. Really, it's looks so soft and tender, unlike unruly harsh brush. It's bermuda with Johnson grass mixed in, but mostly bermuda now. Johnson grass doesn't compete as well with bermuda when it is mowed. It's beautiful hay. This section is probably about 375 sq ft., that's all. After I get the mower fixed, I'll scythe it back down and then scalp it with the push mower.
But me, not the neighbor. That's the focus of the new guy. I'm beginning to think this happens because God is testing me. I don't know why. I had the same hazards from the folks who lived in the very house this guy purchased.1
Yesterday, when I was weeding and amending the fenceline beds, those that are street side, a city truck with 3 carousing youths pulled onto the city property across the street. Among them was an obnoxious teen with a very loud mouth, the kind that you know isn't going to do well in his future, the type that everyone dreads being around, the one you just ignore and go home and pray for - especially that you never catch him drunk. I was pulling Egyptian walking spinach when I heard this kid yell, "**** u b****." Not to my face, but certainly for me as there was no one else around.
I have no idea who these kids were. This is how it is here. Everywhere. The hate is at ultra high levels. Dunno how it is in the rest of the world, but it was already this way years ago and much worse now. It's a tinder box of fear, loathing, covetousness and a myriad of wicked things.
It's interesting that I do not desire to be spiritual or point out spiritual illness, but it's to the point that there is no other explanation. One cannot wrap their minds around such things within a secular context. It makes no sense.
This is just yard work. Just yard work on my alleged private property!
I looked at the price of concertina wire recently.
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Post by heavyhitterokra on Aug 5, 2021 19:47:15 GMT -6
Yikes!
Makes me glad I live in the country for sure. Even way out here, we had a neighbor like that once.
Almost twenty years ago, we bought a house and one acre of land in a foreclosure that was located on 40 acres of Indian Land. So, we had one acre and a nearly destroyed Indian house, surrounded by 9 other Indian houses located on the other 39 acres belonging to the relatives of the deceased man whose house this used to be. (Does that even make sense?)
In other words, we were the only people on these 40 acres not related to the man whose house this once was.
This particular bad neighbor had no right to the house, but since it was on his family's land, and it was his deceased Uncle's house, he had decided to 'squat' there during the 5 years it was in foreclosure. When we moved in, he moved out to go live with relatives in one of the other 9 houses located on the same 39 acres.
Talk about hatred and hostilities! We woke up our first Thanksgiving morning with 7 dead deer strategically placed around the border of our one acre of land, all in an evenly spaced circle, two, of the seven dead deer were hanging from trees, one on each side of our driveway; and a dead crow with wings outspread, was laying on our front stoop, facing the door. (No doubt some sort of Cherokee hex thing).
One night, this bad neighbor took 4 rock-hard bags of moistened concrete and built himself a 4 sided fire pit out behind his sister's house. Then, built a fire in it to burn the paper off the bags and commenced to drinking himself crazy. A few hours later, his dope-smoking buddies showed up to join him for a very loud drinking party, right in front of our house. By that time, I had already called the police on him several times, to no avail. I was told he lived on "Restricted Land" and that I'd have to refer my various complaints to the Cherokee Marshal Service.
Well, guess who doesn't give a flip about what a white person complains about while living in an Indian house, located on Indian land?
To make a long story short, we made peace over the next year and I was invited to their house to eat deer with them the next Autumn.
But not before I had taken all seven dead deer, chained them together, dragged them to the neighbor's house where this guy was currently living, and left them in a pile in their driveway. I could see them all peeping out through their window blinds, but no one came out to confront me. I left the dead crow in their mailbox and drove back home, never speaking a word to them.
I won't relay the details of several other encounters here on public space, but they were all civil, as I used to work for the Oklahoma Department of Corrections and made my intentions clear without many words. Sort of a Teddy Roosevelt tactic.
We all get along just fine now, but there for a while, it was pretty intense.
In the years following, We've not only cleaned up our own yard, but have cleaned up the entire section line, hauling off thousands of pounds of refuse in the process. Along with each improvement, the neighbors do the same. We now work together, picking up rocks, dragging off fallen timber, keeping the trash picked up and attempting to make this a better place to live.
Home improvements, yardwork, and general cleanliness makes this a better neighborhood for all of us.
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Post by macmex on Aug 6, 2021 11:16:31 GMT -6
We bought our present home in 2005, arriving in Oklahoma from New Jersey, where we had lived for four years. Coming from out East, it felt like we had arrived with "the good life" here. Our home in NJ sold rapidly and we were able to purchase a larger place with MUCH more land, cash down. We loved the culture and almost everything about Oklahoma. Our home was larger than we had ever experienced. Quickly, we started setting up housekeeping and accommodating the animals we'd brought with us.
One of the tasks upon which I embarked immediately was to begin dealing with any trees which would endanger the house and outbuildings. The previous owner of our place had planted cottonwoods and red maples, no doubt to obtain some fast shade. But now the cottonwoods towered over our buildings and red maple shatters easily. Some limbs overhung the house. I knew they needed to be dealt with ASAP. So, we started downing and trimming trees. It took a couple years to eliminate all the cottonwoods. Not a one of them was in a safe location. In 2008 we had a terrible ice storm which socked us in for a week and caused us 10 days of electricity black out. I was so glad I had been preparing for such an event. There was just one limb, which laden with ice, would have destroyed the roof over the master bedroom if it fell. As the ice storm settled in I debated what to do. None of my ladders would safely reach it, let alone support me while wielding a chainsaw. As the ice started accumulating on that limb and it began to bow, I had an idea. I went for my 30 30 deer rifle and shot it at its fulcrum. Sure enough the limb gave out and swung down harmlessly, since it hadn't gotten heavy enough for a sudden break.
I've continued trimming over the years, as the trees grew. But the maples kind of got away from me. In fact, they knew something I wasn't thinking about... the location of our septic laterals.
Yep, the previous owner had planted a ROW of red maples only 12' from the main septic lateral, leaving the septic tank and going out to one of the fields. Three years ago we started having some drainage problems, which worsened with time. Finally, in 2020, Jerreth and I rented some equipment and spent over a week digging up and replacing the lateral lines. The were completely clogged with red maple roots! That was really hot, dirty work, and of course, while we did it, we had no way to use our shower or toilets. But we got it done, and looking at those trees I made a note that we'd have to take them out very soon in order to prevent a repeat of this problem.
This year we decided to tackle the worst couple of maples. I told Jerreth that I didn't want to risk felling the largest of these trees myself. I'd rather pay a professional, just to be safe. So August 4 the tree service folk arrived and dropped the two worst trees. I had to take a day off work to be there and to prepare for their work. The trees were along a fence, separating our back yard from the South pasture. That fence had to come down, and, of course the animals had to go to another pasture for the day.
As Jerreth was getting ready for work she asked me to please NOT cut on anything (not even a downed tree) without someone else present. I told her, "Why am I staying home if I have to wait for folk to come home before I can start the cleanup?" She acknowledged that it was a hard thing, but in her heart she worried for my safety. (Might have something to do with an accident I had back in February.) Then her eyes lit up and she said, "Ask Ron to come over!"
So I emailed Ron.
The tree service arrived and took the tree down in record time. I only paid them to fell it, since I have everything I need to cut it up and deal with the wood. They came and they went. Just before they left I took this picture.
See the "little men" on the left? That was one BIG tree!
I had the foreman take a picture of me, standing by the stump and trunk, but the photo just doesn't fully capture the size.
I had asked Ron to come over around noon, which was only an guestimate of when the crew would have finished and left. I think Ron got over a bit after noon, which was good, as I needed to eat something before starting.
We worked really hard and though cooler than normal for the first part of August, it was still plenty warm. We drank water like crazy while we worked. Here's a picture of us working at the end, just before we got things cleared enough to put the fence back up. After working for hours we realized that we couldn't hope to cut the whole thing up before dark, but we HAD to get the fence back up.
At one point, around 4 pm, I felt sorry for the livestock, which were over in another pasture with very little water. I reasoned that if I let them back over, surely they'd get a drink and entertain themselves with all the leaves from the fallen tree. So I did and... nope. Like naughty children they realized the fence was down and that they could romp in our yard... perhaps eat some of Jerreth's flowers.... Until my daughter put the animals back up for us Ron and I spent all our time chasing goats and cattle out of the yard.
By the time the sun was setting low Ron and I were staggering like drunks. We'd pushed all we could. Jerreth and Emily did the chores for me, so we could wrap things up. Bed never felt so good, that night!
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Post by heavyhitterokra on Aug 6, 2021 14:23:46 GMT -6
George,
When I got back home that evening, after cutting up the tree, I looked up the weather records for the Tahlequah airport Meso-net weather station. It was 90 degrees at 4:00 pm while we were out there in the middle of all that.
I'm sure glad we had your well water at the ready. That was a lot of hot sweaty work! Still, like you mentioned above; not too bad for August. 90 degrees was actually pretty mild for this time of year. God was really, really, looking after the two of us because you know neither of us would have had enough sense to call it off for a cooler day.
I'm glad I have neighbors like you and Jerreth. We look after one another that way. That's how the whole world should be.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 14, 2021 20:19:26 GMT -6
That is a really big tree! I'm so glad you two were out there working together, spotting each other. My son is big now and I'm glad so he can be out with his dad with things.
Got the mower fixed. Had to drag Bill outta the house to help out. Shoot, never saw the things he did. First time I ever saw someone cut threads. But he sure got the crankshaft (? That round part beneath the flywheel) off gently. Only to discover the key was fine.
Not sure why the timing is off, but at least I don't think we're tearing it up continuing. Felt good to start seeing a yard again.
This heat, tho. The kids and I can only trade off mowing. One mows a section, comes in and cools down while another is mowing. Poor kids don't know what it's like to persevere in hot weather. I'm too old and they mimic me.
I actually like mowing. One of the few times I get a solid cardio workout.
While the kids were mowing, I began crunching down tree brush to get to the limbs and mow the grass underneath. I'll use the old chop saw to cut down the small limbs and branches for fire. We'll do all we can, get it all orderly so Bill can come out in a day and finish it off with the saw. When he sees the manpower behind it, it's encouraging and he's not as hesitant to go and get er done.
I'm gonna need to contact the fire department. I have too much brush. I have two piles and a 3rd starting to grow! I can only burn it, but I need to burn much bigger this year.
I'll need to stock up on hotdogs and marshmallows, find that heavy grate I have laying around somewhere and ready it for some burgers. Or grill up some rabbit.
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Post by heavyhitterokra on Aug 15, 2021 14:36:35 GMT -6
Bon,
My mother-in-law lives in town and burns her brush in a little campfire in her backyard. They have 4 city lots to keep cleaned up. She just builds a small fire and keeps it going about the size of a bed of coals on a charcoal grill. She piles a little wood on it every 30 minutes or so, all day and all night until all of her brush is gone. Sometimes, she burns more than one campfire at a time and those keep her pretty busy keeping them both fed. It might take her a week to burn all her cuttings, but she eventually gets it all done without raising suspicion or getting complaints from her neighbors.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 15, 2021 17:13:34 GMT -6
This is exactly what I do. Now, I'm not feeling sorry for myself but scratching my head this year. If you add the clean up I volunteer for the neighbors (invasive poplar), I'm working about 10 lots.
That polar vortex really jambed me up this year.
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Post by heavyhitterokra on Aug 15, 2021 17:36:47 GMT -6
Bon, You sound like me, keeping busy cleaning up other people's brush.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 15, 2021 20:55:03 GMT -6
Yeah, but folks love to take a stroll down my alley. It's so perdy with the tree branches, jus hanging over enough (but not too far the city trucks would complain) to provide cool shade and the grass mown without noticeable weeds. And then there's my garden, they like to see what I'm growing.
Garden looks like carp right now. August. meh There's some healthy okra 'trees' out there.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 2, 2021 18:48:23 GMT -6
We burned again this morning. It wasn't as hot with cool wind gusts that spoke of fall. We pushed the envelope this morning on that fire and I say that we only dented it. Two days of burning and this is just the twigs surrounding the brush pile. Thinking of burning two small ones tomorrow and starting again Saturday where it is projected to rain in the eve.
I'll be burning for months. I seriously l need a 55 gallon drum where I can burn more regularly, but more safely. With a screen on top.
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