Adventures In Homesteading (Day 33)

Hello Everyone!

On time at last, Swimming in a day use area, A fire found unattended, Another water run, A felled poplar & A wee bit of terraforming is in order!

Alright, I am actually more or less on time today with my writing routine... which (considering my very long day) is a good feeling given how hit or miss that I have been with that particular task. It is kind of funny that during all this time that I have kept missing my mark with the writing... that I have also been avoiding drinking espresso at (or near) sunset... and I think that in the last thirty-three days... I might have done it a handful of times... so maybe there is some correlation there!

This morning I was up bright and early so that I could get all my water jugs (that I had already staged at the driveway) evenly dispersed... between all the six mil bags that I carry/store/transport them in. I also had to get all my large carbois together... because during my other visits to the spring I had only been filling one of them... instead of four or five of them.

As far as the water scenario goes... I have the timing and everything down with how much spring water will last... for how long... and when I will need to schedule a ride for refilling the jugs. Needless to say that during my journey this afternoon to get the water... I made sure to fill all the critter bowls and use up a lot of water from my last trip to wash things off so that I had as many jugs as possible.

It is kind of a side note... but the first place that I visited today was either a many miles long lake or a river... and whoa yup I got right in the water and gave myself a good soaking for several minutes. There are a bunch of public camping and 'day use' areas along a nearby road... but whoa the one we visited was littered up and there was a smoldering fire there (with plastic melting in it) left totally unattended.

Of course we worked to extinguish the fire... but honestly the other fella did most of the work... because I got super distracted collecting a bunch of purple persimmons that were all over the ground near the shore. I filled an entire small jar with them... and later planted them in a bunch of the more sunny areas along the property lines here.

The water itself was pretty awesome in regards to temperature... and the massive flat (non-slippery) rocks that were all along the bottom... made it so that my feet never got mucky when I went in and out of the water. Without a doubt (sans the trash and such) if I could... I would still be soaking in the water there after the month that I have had hacking out a farm in the 'wilderness' here.

Late in the day I got to feeling a bit lively (probably due to the coffee drink that I got at the dollar store) and decided that if I am going to help save a big twin crown oak from erosion... that I needed a very long log. Since I have been procrastinating cutting down a small poplar for my friendly neighbor... I decided that 'now is a good time' and like an 'elf in battle' I went and felled it, de-limbed (bucked) it and got all the debris hauled back to my farm... in no time flat with nare a hitch along the way.

Truthfully, it felt pretty good at the end of it to find the fulcrum on the main trunk, heft it onto my shoulder... and hike uphill... then downhill over a very long span... so that I could use it as a water diversion in my 'oak saving' project. Basically, I am thinking to send runoff water from one shallow gulch along the contours of the terrain uphill of the bar into that main spring site that I have been doing preliminary development on.

That particular poplar tree worked out perfectly also... given how oddly its base is shaped... and actually makes a sort of 'fin' that will force the water to swirl slightly as it encounters resistance... and before it works its way towards the spring site. There is essentially a finger of land there (where the bar is) and I am going to attempt moving the water that is flowing on one side of the finger... to the other side of it.

Anyways, the only obstacle I encountered during building the 'berm' (that the log creates) is one small cedar... and I dug it up then transplanted it to near where I transplanted that white pine the other week. As far as the berm itself goes... I have yet to stake down the big log... nor fill under it with leaves, twigs and clay... but I am thinking to do that the next time that I begin digging at the spring site.

Well, it seems like I had so much more that I had wanted to write about... but I think that is all the words that I have in me for this entry. I am kinda running late in the day at this point... and have yet to do my late day chores... which I am alas quite the stickler about never slacking on.

I hope that everyone is doing well. Ta ta for now.