What a gorgeous week of weather!! Elderberry and Potluck Farm (an adjacent intentional community) co-own a beautiful 12 acres of land we call Bella Vista (for the stunning view). It is about a 15 minute walk from Elderberry through beautiful, flower-filled woods (see the previous blog for our wildflower photos!) The land was clear-cut before we bought it, so it has many large tree stumps. In addition, it is basically a high-elevation rock outcropping (high for our area at least) . These features make it difficult to keep the field mowed and maintain the lovely view. So, year after year, we have worked at moving rocks, sawing stumps, and building cairns on rocks that we cannot move, so that we don't hit them when we mow with the bush hog. Today we rented a stump grinder to help with getting rid of the stumps, and we also moved rocks, cleaned up woodpiles, and clipped a lot of blackberry brambles. We made pretty good progress!
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| Maggie, Phil, Marj and Dick (and pooches Riley and Ellie) take a break |
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| We have chairs that stay on the hill so that we can come up for a drink at sunset - they also provide a shady place to take a break from the stump and rock work! |
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| Karolyn finds that the walk-behind bush hog makes a decent chair! |
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| Phil with the monster stump grinder! |
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| Karolyn with the walk-behind bush hog |
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| Phil took out about a dozen stumps - no small task, and this equipment is a bear to handle! |
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| Marj clipping away at brambles around the stumps |
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| Maggie - also lopping at the brambles! |
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| We make cairns to mark rocks that we cannot remove to ensure that we don't hit them when we mow |
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| Taking a break in the shade!!!! |
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| Mary and Phil |
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| Lots of equipment! Stump grinder, tractor and bush hog, and 4-wheeler named Zeke |
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| Marj, Karolyn and Maggie gratefully accept a ride with Zeke rather than walking home after a few hours of hard work! |
