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Joe wasn't enthusiastic about my desire to do things at the farm using manpower instead of petroleum horsepower. But when I could get him to join a workparty, he was the best.

He died last week, and this is one of the few photos I have of him on site. The photo was taken May of 2009, when the camping area was increased by 75% due to lots of hard work.

I am sorry to hear about your loss Lolly. Good friends are hard to come by and it is always a personal loss when one passes. It is us the ones left behind that feel the loss, he is at rest. Keep the memories, enjoy the happy times you guys had over the years in your mind, Smile when you think of him. His life made a difference, celebrate his accomplishments and his legacy .
BBBIIIGGG HHHUUUGGG !!!!!! Some times we ALL need a hug.

Lolly, I am so sorry for your loss. I can't say much more than Guy has already said so well. Just know that you have friends here to talk to if you feel the need. A big hug from me too.

I'm so sorry Lolly. You are in my thoughts my friend.

The weather here has finally improved enough that I was able to spend two nights at the farm already this week. That is a good thing, since my little sister volunteered the place for a Memorial weekend get-together with family members from out of state and there is plenty of work to be done. Thank goodness my friend Shag likes to hunt deer at the farm and loves to mow using my old tractor and bush-hog! Next week his wife will come with him so we can pick out a garden site for them, since their yard is way too small for more than a couple of pots.

Using my farm time wisely, I began working on a big hugelbed / keyhole garden / pond that will be several years in completion. The site is down hill from where the house will go, near to the proposed driveway entrance into the woods. It is between two drives, which limits the north/south aspect, and the opening is facing north. I want it to be a food forest as well as meditation garden, in memory of my son who didn't like outdoor work, but really liked fruit. Later in the year (after spring soccer season) my grandson will be joining me to help divert the flow that comes down the gully in the hillside so that we can direct it into the pond we will dig,

I don't own a chain saw that I can pull start so this is what I had to work with earlier this week...

and it goes on top of this...

It is coming together, slowly so far. If Kathy and Terry make it down for even a few hours this weekend, the help will be invaluable. I've been playing pick-up sticks with the loose stuff, which I would like to have cut into smaller chunks so the bed has a more rounded shape than I can get with these long trunks. There is plenty of deadfall in the woods that can come out, if there are two people to work it. The hillside is too sloped for safety without a buddy on the ground to control the drag and be there in case of emergency. The volunteer woods need someone with a chain saw to drop a huge amount of standing dead stuff, so I'm not digging holes all over the place by pushing them over!

By chatting with neighbors and bartering the use of my backhoe, I will be acquiring a bunch of well aged horse manure and an unknown amount of spoiled hay this weekend. The space inside the logs will ultimately become a pond, so that is where I'll be grabbing top soil to finish everything off.

Talking with a guy at the pumps while I was getting mower fuel will result in a face-to-face meeting with a fellow that was a logger in WA before moving here. I want/need some pine trees taken down at the top of the hill and hope to be able to afford to hire him to drop them. Or maybe he can girdle them for me at least so I can get them down next season, or next year, or ... My walnut and oak trees will never get any girth on them if the pine trees don't get removed.

I sure haven't spent much time keeping up with my on-line diary of things that have been happening at the farm!

Back in June I applied for a building permit for a 16 X 20 polebarn. Of course having the permit in hand meant that the weather would turn off bad enough to keep work from happening, and brother in law Terry would have dental problems, and weddings and birthdays and family reunions would occur with regularity and deprive me of free labor! Work has been slow, but I can see a difference, whether other folks notice or not.

About a month ago, while my friend was mowing the bottom ground, I was using the backhoe to find a small trench that is near the wetlands. We didn't want to accidentally wind up with the tractor and bushhog mired in super soft ground. Well, I found the trench and mashed down the 6' grass (yes, that is 6 feet) on the north edge. While working my way to the south side, I forgot that the Kubota can turn on a dime!

Yes, that is the whole rear tire dropped into a hole. It took about 30 minutes to find suitable material to put into the hole under the tire, chain it to the tractor for extra power, and reverse like crazy to get back on solid ground.

I mentioned that I want to put some fruit trees on the hillside where pine is currently interspersed with nut trees. I have found a fellow that will come out occasionally (as I can afford it) to drop some trees for me. He recently cut 9 in this general area at the top of the hill.

Just this past weekend we had a relaxing weekend, only doing what we felt like. One of those things was dragging pine trees down off the top of the hill!

Eventually (next month, we hope) those logs will become part of a polebarn to be erected on this site, as shown by the backhoe inside the flag perimeter. BTW, when Terry gave me dimensions for the pole barn, they weren't quite correct. The building would have to be 24 feet long to get the backhoe completely inside, under lock and key. Good thing I have another few hundred pines to remove!

It's so nice to read your update Lolly, I'm glad you are moving forward. That is some hole! I'm sure that was a bit of a nervous moment when the tractor dropped in there.

It was a nervous several minutes! I really need to think about adding the seatbelt, since it isn't the first time I've had something like that happen while I was driving. Once I got the legs down on semi-solid ground, it leveled out easily enough, lifting the tire so we could shove five 2 X 12's underneath the rubber. I still wasn't level, but there was enough height that I could get traction, while Shag was using the tractor to make sure we had enough horsepower to get all four wheels back on the ground again.

Sis was riding on the backhoe as Terry dragged logs through the woods on Saturday. She was a little upset when he chose a new route and told her to climb down, just in case it tipped on him. Did I mention the slope of the hill is as much as 25% in places?

I guess you have to click on the thumbnail for the video, which will take you Photobucket where it can be viewed. Video gives depth that a still photo just can't. It makes it a little easier to visualize the contour of the hillside.

Very Impressive