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Jack has a crib party, Katie's first ponytail and more pond dredging

9/27/2012

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Good evening, dear Reader!
The days have been glorious! Fall is still warm (after a cold spell) and perhaps 80 degrees by next week! No rain predicted. Dry and warm. How fantastic!

You can tell by the pictures above that Jack had a crib party. Angela sent the picture with the caption underneath, "He's such a good host." And doesn't he look like he is! How do you like Chloe's socks? Life is never dull with triplets! The second picture is of Chloe with Jeff's caption, "Queen of the Living Room." I hope you like Katie's first ponytail, too. It's quite something!

The pond dredging has just finished after 7 days. Aaron Armitage came over with his drag to smooth down the churned up soil - which is pretty hard to do with millions of rocks all around. It's times like these that I am really aware this IS a gravel pit! Now that all the pond has been cleaned out and the shoreline re-sculptured, I can get new landscaping going. I have a call into Randy at Ekana Nursery for some help in that department. I want to plant some nice trees around the pond - and forget about box elder trees! It's so nice to know that the pond is deeper and cleaned out. The fish seem to like it, too! We have lots of sand/gravel loads dumped around the land to be used to contour the hills (much needed!). In fact, the official tally of dump truck loads is: 74 loads of dirt, and 97 loads of mud. A lot of that mud is in the old swamp, but some of it is on the south side of the pond on the hill and even further south ... over the hill. Lots of dirt piles, too. What a wonderful mess! Next year will be a fun one as these piles of sand and gravel (and gunk) get spread around.

The first trio of pictures of the dredging takes place on the lower level beach. The next row is: working in front of the cottage, working in front of the garden and a long view from the south side of the pond. The next row of pictures  shows the view from the beach, just one of many bigger rocks, and Aaron moving some of the new piles of dirt over the cement pieces I had dumped this year and last year at my Beemerville gate. The last row shows the finished dredging work, taken this evening.

Karl Hawbaker suggested I sculpture the south bank back at a more gentle  slope and I liked it so well I decided to do the same thing for the lower level by the beach on the north side of the pond. It looks really much better and will be much more mowable (the name of the game here at this ponderosa!). Oh dear Reader, you must see it! Karl's next suggestion is to build a pier along the south side of the pond, curling it around the western edge of the pond. Karl's got great ideas...I just have to come up with the money! One day, Karl, Dave and I spent hours dreaming about where to put the house on top of the hill. Lots of house sites, and lots of dreaming! Nothing makes me happier!

Have a pleasant evening, dear Reader. And come for a visit and personal tour! Bring your imagination, too!
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Wow Cleaning out the Pond

9/20/2012

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Dear Reader,
Unbelievable! They're here! Lots of work in the last few days as Dietz Drainage Inc cleans out the pond...something that hasn't been done for 30 years. Craig - one of the talented men doing this job - called the "stuff"coming out of the pond "Mississippi Mud." The black gunk is from the farmers' fields all around Willow Creek watershed. My pond was flooded from Willow Creek and I ended up with a lot of topsoil. This is exactly what happens  in the Mississippi River, too, so the name for it is apt.

If only you were here to see it, dear Reader. Amazing! Jeff asked me to take some pictures so here are a few so you can see what's happening at The Land. The 1st photo in the 2nd row shows one of the places Dietz is dumping the muck - filling in some depressions that needed some building up. The last two photos show where the excavators are changing (somewhat) the bank on the south side of the Road-Between-The-Ponds. They are also taking excess soil off the south bank and sloping it back in a more gentle way so I can mow it down to the water. The old swamp (seen in the last picture on the very right-hand side) which the beavers had drained and made a lower meadow-like hole, is now filled to the brim with debris from the pond. We are trying to build that part of the road up as far as possible to make a higher dam to keep out the water overflowing from Willow Creek, when there is a flood. It looks so different!

Enjoy the photos, dear Reader!
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All Kinds of Excitement More Triplet Pictures, Medicine StickMissing, Land Pics and Barn Burning

9/9/2012

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Picture
Last week, August 31st to be exact, on a full moon night, my neighbor's barn burned completely. It was a horrible sight. I was watching a movie in my library when I heard - and felt - a huge explosion. For some reason I kept on watching the movie for a while, until I heard some smaller explosions. Then I walked outside and oh! this is what I saw across the field. It seemed so near! I knew it was Jacox's barn, and I knew it wasn't going to be saved. Lots of firemen were already there and more coming. I was in my nightshirt and glasses, but I grabbed my camera and ran the entire way to the fire. The above photos will show how it  progressed. The second photo is taken next to my mailbox. Sad to see it go. The only good thing is Jacox's were insured, so will probably be able to rebuild a nice barn. How sad to see it go up in smoke, though. When Harold and Elaine lived there, Harold had so many neat tools in the shop part of the barn. It was Allan's shop, too, but I am hoping he had most of his tools in his work truck (which would not fit in the barn). Last year, Allan started to ready the barn for a new roof - at least he started on one side of it, but the new roof was never put on. Now, of course, there is no need for a new roof on the old barn, because the barn is long gone. Sad, sad, sad.

The photos below the fire photos are of the Land - the blue heron on an early August morning, and then the photos of my house at the end of August.

I forgot to tell you, Dear Reader, (I think I haven't told you before!) that I had the Land blessed by a Native American from Paw Paw. His name is Royal Jenkins, and he perforned a lovely ceremony in his native language. He blessed the Land, me and even JJ, as he was near JJ's chapel. He blessed my whole family. Then he put a special Medicine Stick (blessed by a Zuni Medicine Man at the Salt Lake Volcano in Salt Lake, New Mexico, close to where Royal grew up) into the ground. It was never to be moved or taken out...or bad medicine would happen. Unfortunately I noticed the next day the Medicine Stick had been moved. That was several weeks ago. Then today on my walk, I looked at it, and it wasn't there! Completely gone! It will be interesting to see what happens next....

More photos of the Heim visit below. There are some great pictures of the triplets with their great-grandmother, who Jeff calls "Nonnie." Mom loved seeing her new little great-grandchildren. And they loved her! See Jack listening to his great-grandma as she talks to him. What a cute photo!

Randy Ikeler finished welding the old steel cart this week. He and John Nicholson brought it back and put it under the pine tree. Randy did a great job. I think John helped, too. It looks better than I ever thought it would! That particular cart has been on the land at least 40 years, because it was sticking out of the fill-area on the south side of the pond before we bought this place in 1973. Just think...next year it will be 40 years! Amazing, dear Reader, Amazing!

What beautiful weather we are having - finally! A gorgeous day today. I hope you enjoy it immensely!


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    Author

    Jane Heim is a writer and lifelong activist for sustainable living and organic growing. She is author of The Directory of Working Women, What to Do When the Stock Market Falls, and Car Living Your Way.  She is also the author of Chemical Cowboys, an article that has recently appeared  in Acres USA.  Ms. Heim is also the author of an upcoming article on www.motherearthnews.com
    Ms. Heim originated and developed the Organic Education Center for Oregon Tilth in partnership with the City of Lake Oswego, Oregon. She Co-Founded Spray Drift Educations Network in 2011, IOGA original board member.  S
     he presently lives in the Midwest in a cottage overlooking her lake.

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