April/May 2025 Island Trip – Day 2

We took left over shepherd’s pie from last night’s diner, warmed it up and placed over easy eggs on top for breakfast. It was sublime. And then I got going…

First up was to get the burn pile going. We sorted lumber that the general contractor has added to it from the deck rebuild. The salvageable pieces are now a ‘bridge’ over the creek, down slope from Stella. this allows me to drive the mower across the creek over to the orchard while the creek is still wet and sloppy. It feels really good when we can repurpose materials.

The fire was a success, doing what we needed, except my hope that the old alder stump would go down with the fire was overly optimistic 😂. Mr. Tenant has been slaying hawthorn in the east field, saying it helps with work frustrations. We got a lot of those piles onto the fire. They burn almost as well as conifer.

After some lunch I set out on the mower, taking it across the new bridge to the orchard! Successful mission 😁. It’s nice to see that area mowed. I am thrilled that all the apple trees are in one state or another of ecstatic bloom. Last year only one of the Acane apples bloomed. All three are busy, and the full sized yellow apple (never seen this), as well as the plum. Not a tent caterpillar in sight, and I still have to ‘inspect’ the bark of the trees for eggs.

I also mowed the east field, which has been enlarged by Mr. Tenant’s hawthorn eradication efforts. It’s fun to enlarge the fields, and I know it equals more mowing…

My DH got the camera we installed at his mama’s house while it was unoccupied, deployed here. Our trail cams ultimately failed. Yes, they were inexpensive, and complete abject failure was a surprise. This camera is an actual security camera. It feels good to have the barns and trailers covered. We’ll be adding another for better coverage soon.

We made a quick run to town where the hardware store had everything we needed except a mouse pad! Gotta love a small town mercantile. Then out to our friend’s who keeps our knives sharp. My DH brought his and his dad’s childhood knives, some with bone handles. And then back home.