Crumbly Acres Clean up on Aisle 7

 It was an adventure. My goal for the project was to clean up the front garden, and clear my walking paths. Mostly it was the old white Pines that lost their tops. They were wicked winds. This was the July 1st and 2nd windstorms.

I met Jamie out front at 8 a.m., bug spray in my pocket, he was managing two projects this morning. I suggested they park the trucks on the 'lawn' which is shallow, and mostly weeds. Whoops. I forgot about the daffodils I planted there. Hmmm. Spring will tell the tale.

I showed them around, following the list I'd laid out with Steve, the company owner. He is a good boss, they tell me. I've met him several times, as this is the third job they have done for us. A whacko list, with 16 acres, and damage scattered. I didn't even look at lot #3! 

They are safe, they have safety gear, gloves, boots, pants, and helmets with communication built into them. After they finished an area, they used a heavy duty leaf blower to clean up the path and driveway.

I am always amazed that they can back these machine up our driveway, towing the equipment. I can't even back up the lawn tractor with the trailer.

Task #1 

The catalpa tree died one year, now sends up two suckers side branches. It clutters the garden, and the Maple overshadows it. 

One year, we had the Barred Owl land on it! Jan., 2023. I guess that's why I was reluctant to take it down. 

Before:

After, 

I have to dig out the Wild Grape plants, and this wee sapling that needs to go. 

It opens up the space.

Task #2 

The poor white pine trees were brought up with the tractor. These are from beside the path to the frog pond. The tree was wiped out. This was its topper. We decided to leave the stump, Christine and I. It is habitat for all sorts of things. She knows her trees.

 

I asked them to cut it up and split it. I totally misled them. We have a wood stove insert, and it only takes 16" logs. I said 24", and that was really dumb. A lot of people have outside wood stove that take larger logs. I measured the stove, just to check and corrected my mistake with Christine, the project lead. 

The noise of the chain saw didn't bother Cinnamon. Nutmeg huddled under our bed. She wasn't having any of it. Cinnamon spends most of his day on the back deck. He was perturbed at being kept indoors.

# 9 Barry's Path

I cancelled item #6 at The Point, which we call the peninsula. I thought this path had better be partially cleared now before I fall over the trees. I will have the crew back after Barry harvests what he can. 

Here I am trying to navigate the path. This I was leaving for Barry, but he wasn't whittling away at it fast enough. 😝

What a mess!

The crew felled the one that was hanging over the path. Barry will deal with it. 

We have more wood for winter. They cleared all the wood chips off of the 'lawn' with the leaf blower.  Lawn, AKA Twitch Grass and weedy things. 

We were really pleased with the work. Such a relief. They are good workers. 

Friday windstorm!

Saturday morning we awoke to some storm damage from heavy winds. As I explored our damage, I could hear chain saws in the distance. 

That was a storm! We lost power, but it came on just before midnight. The rain poured down, and the wind blew at the frog pond. I'm still not picking up any ducks. Back to square one!

frog pond from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

The winds blew the dead leaves around. I love the wind. It got a little more extreme during the evening, though.

windy day frontyard from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Windy day in the backyard: 

windy day backyard from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

It was a quite the wind.  The storm knocked over the lawn ornament (see above), it spins so nicely in the wind. I spent some time repairing it.

It even knocked over my bench.

There were a couple of dead elm trees knocked over, as well as the birch tree branches. It is weird seeing them horizontal.

We lost some more sumacs right beside the arbour. JB was out walking, and he fetched the skilsaw for me. I cut them up and threw them off the path. This used to be an wonderful, intact sumac grove. The people that built the house need lawn, apparently. I'm letting it grow in, but it doesn't seem to be helping the integrity of the grove. The soil is very shallow here, as is the way in Lanark County.

Another dead elm blew over near the 5 sisters, near the meadow. The 5 sisters only lost a few branches.

Down at the frog pond, I thought this tree would go down in the storm. It had some cracks, and has been dead awhile. I knew there was a storm coming and expected it to go over sometime. Happily I didn't put the trailcam on it, but on the tree to the left. The camera seems too far to capture the ducks on the pond. I'll have to go at it again.

On the way back to the house I found another snake, this time a garter snake. Bless their little hearts as they eat their share of crawly critters!

There was a deer in pond. I knew what she was after. I'd put some cracked corn out for the ducks. There are more nesting boxes on the lake, and my pond isn't looking very lakey, so I want to encourage them. I have three boxes, and only had one filled last year.

deer in pond from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Down at the pond, last but not least, I spotted a brown creeper! They have just arrived, migrating to follow the bug population, just like the phoebes, a sure sign of spring. There were 3 phoebies in the backyard lilac tree, as they are deciding upon a nesting site. I slowed down several clips, as it is so fast for me.

brown creeper from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

What a week!

October ended with an horrific crash between Barrie and Toronto, on highway 400. Another incident with a tanker truck, which involved another tanker, 14 vehicles total. They are bringing cadaver dogs to search for bodies in the debris. This is becoming common.

Back to nature... last night we were treated to coyotes howling in the back 40. They must have caught something.
The week began with 3 days of rain over the weekend (100+ mm/4").
The goldfish pond is green and full beside the house. I have to drain the water barrel, which drains into it. It'll freeze soon.
 The frog pond, down beyond the meadow, is full of lovely water for the critters. The swamp grass is green!

Tuesday, Oct. 31st

I visited with my client, on the way home I had to stop, climb the bridge, and photograph the clouds and the rainbow. By the time I climbed up to the top of the bridge, the rainbow was much less visible.


I left hubby waiting for Scott, who does trees for us. This one had fallen over the house. By the time I returned home, they'd done the deed. It was quite a production, they covered the windows, and the air conditioner. JB put towels on the windows, just in case, and they covered the old air conditioner.



All went well. I have more clean-up to do except it's pouring rain today.