On Wednesday about the only thing I accomplished was finishing my intern’s birthday present and making her card. I had no ambition at all.
Thursday started off with a pretty sunrise. My general helper was coming at 8AM and the job of the day was raking the backyard.
So I started on the perimeters and she raked the insides. I was after the remaining leaves, but mostly the huge number of branches that came down. I told her that the white oak was raining branches instead of acorns this year. There were almost no acorns, and this will mean much fewer chipmunks next year.
It only took us just over an hour to finish that job, and while she was picking up piles of rakings, I cleaned 4 totes of leaves out of the cold frames. I also pulled up the feverfew as it was too big to stay in there. The snapdragon is much smaller and I want to see if it survives another winter.
The next job I hoped to do was move the cats at the barn back into the butchershop for the winter. Something had chased them out last spring and I hope it has moved away. They got new soft hay in their box and the water bowl is heated up on the island.
We brought the remainder of the bale we used and the old hay up to the Big garden in the truck. I pulled some of the worst weeds and we spread the hay as far as it would go.
I took this photo of the Small garden out the dining room window as the sun came up. This is the job for Friday, getting the tarps up.
There’s rain forecast for just after noon on Friday and so I took a chance and our next job was getting all the wood off the tarps. I was hoping the wind in the afternoon wouldn’t blow them around. I’d backed the truck to the gate and we loaded it up with wood.
This is where those too large pieces of wood stay when they aren’t anchoring things. Before we could stack them, we had to move a pile of wood on the other side of this stack. Before we could move that wood, we had to put the tomato stakes away that were left against the wall. Before we could put the tomato stakes away, we had to hang up the hoses so we could get to the place the stakes went.
So we got all that done and the wood stacked. My helper had not driven a standard shift before, so she practiced up the driveway to the barn.
When we got back, we went in to check stuff off the list and there were a few more items to do.
I had noticed when out raking that the covering for the smoker stove had worn away. So we went out to replace it.
But the ash pile had grown so big, it was coming over the stove, so we had to move that back off the stove, then put the new cover on.
By this time I was done. But she still had lots of time left so she wanted to tackle the little trees’ protectors.
She had enough of them to get all the primary branches and many secondary ones too. She finished early and left to get things done at her house.
I was wiped out and sat down for a rest so I could get a shower. Then I went to bed for a couple hours. It would be an early night Thursday night.
Friday we will be frantically trying to get the tarps up and washed before 11. My general helper must leave at 10:30 and my helper friend at 11. So we will be working at top speed.
My “live wire” 6 year old granddaughter is coming in the afternoon so I will be really wiped out by supper time!