Weekend Happenings

The weather was perfect this weekend. It was misty and there was a chill in the air. At times, it was down right cold. Our children have been sick with a stomach bug throughout last week, and I haven't been outside as much as I would have liked. On Saturday morning, Michael decided that it was a great day to start our woods clean up project. This project is one that will take many years to see through completion. We own 17 acres of land, and probably about 10 acres of it is in woods. This would be wonderful if the trees were in good shape. Our trees had been damaged by Pine Beetles several years ago. Some of the pines are so bad that if there is a slight breeze blowing we will not let our children in the woods at all. We hear trees crashing down often in the woods. We had a forest ranger come out and look at our forest to help us know how to manage it better. His advice was to get rid of the pine trees. He spent a lot of time educating us in forest management.

Hope and I packed a picnic and we headed out to the woods on our property. Michael cut down trees and we spent the day burning them. We have waited to have any burns on our property all year long due to the severe drought. We were so cautious because we didn't want any fire getting out of control. We made sure to keep the fire small which made the actual job of burning trees go much slower. We had such a relaxing day out there. We all worked, but there was time for play as well. The children climbed and played in a tree that is close to our pasture. It was so good for me to get outside after being stuck in the house doing laundry all of last week. We only made a small dent in the work that still must be done, but it was very rewarding to see what was accomplished. I couldn't have asked for a more perfect day on our farm.

grace and peace,

julie