Recovery and desecration

Well, there's been plenty to do on the farm after our recent wind event.  The cleanup crew came as promised and did a day and a half of work with the proper equipment.  At first it looked worse as they cut down 10 trees that were too damaged to salvage (mostly pines).

They segregated the pine logs to haul off and save us some burning and used an industrial sized stump grinder to take care of the stumps in the yard.

They also plucked the big sycamore butt log we had in the pasture burn pile and set it aside in another area.  It was smoldering and they started stacking the debris on top; it started burning and they began feeding the fire on an industrial scale.  It's amazing how much burned in the days since they started.

I also asked them to segregate any big oak limbs for firewood to keep me from running out of things to do (LOL).  They obliged.  I've started cutting out split-able rounds; maybe I can hire one of the grandkids to use the electric log splitter and finish the job for me.

We still have some cleanup to do, but it looks so much more manageable.  There's more light filtering into the yard now...that might be the impetus for grass to grow.

We're also going to re-do the bird feeder area after some selective pruning.  I think we may be able to save the redbud, but it was looking pretty hopeless right after the storm.  The bearded irises at the base of the birdbath have also shown signs of springing back.

The wild blackberry patches took a hit from the storm, also.  The big patch between the pasture and the deer feeder were sacrificed for the new burn pile, but there are a few on the south side of the house that may yield enough for a cobbler.

I finished my contractor gig yesterday and went to Houston to turn in all of my stuff, so I am once again fully retired, and can help Denise in the yard.  She told me this morning that Aunt Faye had a special request for some pine cones...but all of the yard pines were cleared and burned.  I had a real challenge finding a few - NOT!  

We still have some large trees down on the perimeter of the yard, including a couple of uprooted pines.  I felt like I was picking giant blackberries, and got her a couple of garbage bags of cones.  Don't make a cobbler with those things!  The big trees will be a project for another day (maybe after I get a tractor?).

I did take the opportunity between clean up chores to pull the cards on the critter cams.  One of them stopped working the day of the storm (Apr 24) but yielded a couple of interesting shots before it shut down...bobcat, and a hound to go with the fox.

The other camera caught a little bit of the storm and the aftermath.  Note the darkness in the middle of the day and the hail on the ground afterwards.

The camera was re-directed during the storm and showed all kinds of critters disrespecting "Critter Watch" (Buck's final resting spot).  Here's a sampling of the desecrators - 

Well, even though ol' Buck can't take care of the critters, his successor is more than willing and able to take up the slack.

And after a hard day of guarding us, Roux is glad to find a sunny spot on the back porch to take a little snooze.  Hey, that doesn't sound too bad, so I will sign off after this.  Happy Mother's Day tomorrow to any of you mothers who visit this blog.