April 1, 2015 Mother Nature Thinks It's May 1!

This branch was jammed almost two feet
into the ground!  JB had to nudge it with
the tractor bucket in order to loosen it
enough so I could pull it out.

Our first blooming yellow bells.

Monday 3/30. I sat on the porch with my coffee for a while this morning for the first time this year.  Then I just couldn't sit still any more and was out working on the branches by 9:30 am.  Unheard of Up Here at least until late April.

Not wanting to be outdone, JB came out and started chainsawing the last of the trees.  He cut a total of ten rounds, with only two more cuts to go on the large end of the largest tree.  He then moved all the rounds and a huge pile of branches with the tractor to their respective piles for splitting and cutting.

I have created four large piles of small branches to be put through the chipper, and JB plans to start on them Wednesday.  There is still one more pile of large branches to be stripped.  And I have to finish clearing the west slope of small branches that fell down there.  The huge pile of rounds is going to keep me busy splitting all summer, especially of we take down the four other trees that JB wants to.

It was a very good day, and I can now really see the results of our work.  I was beginning to wonder if we would get this mess cleaned up by our July 4 picnic, but now I am sure we will, and actually much sooner.

Tomorrow JB is leaving for Down There at 8:00 am to meet his brother who is passing through on his way to Quincy for a meeting.  They are going to trade boxes - one from us to his Mom and one from his Mom to us.  She always sends over books that she has finished reading.  Then JB will run some errands, which includes taking our small Coleman generator in to be fixed so I can use my electric chainsaw again.

JB worked on organizing his Magic cards on his computer, while I watched three episodes of Warehouse 13 this evening.

Tuesday 3/31. It was 40 with a few scattered clouds and an icy wind this morning.  JB left for Down There as planned.  We are washing dishes every other day now to try to save a little more water, and today was the day.  After that chore, I did some little clean up chores outside and stripped the last three large branches in the one pile.  Also started clearing the west slope of small branches.  Then just sat on the porch and enjoyed the day and being sheltered from the wind.  It blew all day, getting stronger as the day wore on.

Randy called and we had a nice long chat.  He is getting so frustrated with all the improvements they have to make on the house, and the problems he is having with their wood stove.  He hasn't been able to just ease into living in the mountains.  I'm sure that if he could just get their house warm, everything else would fall into place.

JB was home by 1:30 pm, and with the driving wind, we just stayed inside and read mail and papers.  Went on a windy afternoon walk and saw a large eagle checking out possible dinner in the canyon to the south.  I had seen a red tail(?) hawk on our morning walk.  Also noticed the first yellow bell blooming.  It's like we have skipped April and gone straight to May!

Unfortunately much colder temperatures are in the forecast.  That could be a real problem for the orchards and Larry and Elsie's blueberries that are already starting to bud out.  It was almost down to freezing by the time we got to bed at 10:00 pm.

Wednesday 4/1. It is 30 with clear skies this morning.  Fortunately the wind has calmed to a light breeze.

Thought for the day: The biggest lie I tell myself is - I don't need to write that down. I'll remember it.