Wood Cutting

I have been steadily cutting wood for the upcoming heating seasons. This was a red oak that had fallen victim to ants two years ago. I finally finished cutting it up after trying to give it to my neighbors for cutting into boards. They didn't want it as they said it would be to difficult to get out of the woods.
I am proud to say that I have yet to cut a live tree down out in the woods and now I have about 2 years of wood cut, drying in stacks in the woods. It is a labor of love as I really like the exercise of cutting and splitting the wood by hand.

A Day On The Lake

Monday, July6th, was a holiday for us at E-M. This was my day to be out on the lake so I ventured north to Wild Goose Lake for some bass fishing.
I was on the lake by 6:30 in the morning with the sun first coming over the trees and the temperature of 58 degrees. The lake was like glass and I was greeted by a pair of loons singing to each other.

So, you ask, how was the fishing? Well as you can see the first one was the biggest of the 11 bass I caught. This one was 22 inches but was not very heavy and as everyone knows, you always let the first one go so you have good luck fishing the rest of the day.
Sorry to report that there were no larger fish to be caught but it was a very successful day on the water in other aspects.

Long Job

Sorry that nothing has been blogged but I am stuck on a job in east Tennessee. I thought it would have been a 4 or 5 day job but has turned into a 10 day job and I haven't left yet. Maybe tomorrow.

Mean while, I think the yard and the garden are going to need a lot of attention if and when I ever get home.

I am back because I want you to notice the book I am reading ow. I got this from PDXKatie for fathers day this year. She always knows what books I should be reading. It started out a little to self serving about the poor life of an Indian boy. It has turned into a really nice - feel good book.
Haven't finished it yet but I will if I ever get on another plane to go home to the farm.

Around The Farm

We found this fungus growing on one of the maple trees next to the house. It is probably 10 inches in diameter.

This what the new raised bed looks like with the squash in the middle and 4 tomato plants on the end. It seems to be doing well so far.
Again these are some of Nana's flower's around the house. As usual they are very nice at this time of the year.

The First Garden Goodies

I was going to say that this is the first from the gardens but we have been eating asparagus from the garden for some time.
Anyway, when I was a kid, a couple of years ago, I would plant and hope radishes would grow into something to eat. I was forever disappointed year after year because they would be long, thin and tasteless.
So this year, the first in 40 years, I thought I would try the radishes again. As you can see they were and still are a success. They really do taste good. I have another row that is going to mature in about 1 week so we now have plenty.
This is the first crop of Shiitake Mushrooms this year. It ad been quite dry and so we had nothing. This week we had some nice rain and it was just what the mushrooms needed. There are 4 pounds i that photo and still some are waiting to be picked.
Yesterday Nana made scrambled eggs with chopped up Shiitake Mushroom - what a treat.

Iris

This is one of Nana's most beautiful Iris that Nana has in her flower gardens. It came from her mothers flower garden. It looked very nice in Glenwood City and now looks wonderful in the Valley.

Planting Again

Nana has quite the hosta garden on the south side of the house. It has always been very difficult to grow anything there but as you can see the hosta's do just fine.











This past weekend was a busy one at the farm as we are trying to finish all of our planting by June 1. It didn't happen as we still have a few things to plant around the house and at the end of the driveway.









Nana"s azalea bush is as great this year as ever. Maybe because the deer left the buds on it this past winter.