Unconventional Workout, or How Mother Nature Takes Back Her Own

I have to tell you, pushing around a brush hog (lawn mower on super steroids) for almost two hours really gives you a workout. I don't care if it is "self-propelled." It isn't self-steering or self-turning, and it weighs about 350 pounds. I got quite a lot of brush clearing done yesterday. I didn't make it all the way to the berm at the end of the narrow side of the pond, but close. 

The answer is no

The question? If The Aussie could get the mower down the bank of the pond and mow around the edges for a bit. He got it down there. And got it stuck. 

 

Enter Tigger (yes, I named the UTV) to the rescue. We were able to winch the mower out of the soft sandy area and back up on to slightly more stable ground. This little thing is a serious workhorse. She was hauling stuff all weekend. On a side note, we aren't always there working alone. We are blessed to have some really good friends to help us with this place, and rescue me when the car breaks down, over an hour away, with a car full of three dogs and a parrot, in 104 degree heat on a getaway Friday. Things could have turned out very badly for my pups, but Someone was keeping watch over us and I was able to limp to a gas station and made it under the shade cover over the gas pumps. (Thank you, also, to the man who gave me bottles of water for the dogs, and Angie and Brooke, who kept me company while I was waiting for my rescuer, my husband (who wasn't allowed to leave work, even though it was an emergency, thank you very much corporate person who doesn't know what Texas heat is like), and a tow truck.

 

Some of these friends are REALLY, REALLY handy with chain saws. The guys were able to finish cutting down a number of dead trees and get them cut in to logs. We really need to research converting a gas fireplace (no chimney) in to a wood burning fireplace to take advantage of all of the dead wood we have. (Another side note: I wonder if we can get Gatorade to be a corporate sponsor of our work weekends.)

 

Last time we were there, we noticed a hummingbird flitting around the patio. When we went in to town, we picked up a hummingbird feeder and some nectar. As it turns out, we don't have one hummingbird. We have four that regularly visit. One of them is a bit of a bully, too, but it's really neat seeing hummingbirds so close. If you look just to the left of the bottom of the feeder, you'll see a little light brown shape. That's one of the regulars. They are seriously tiny!

 

 We also had a couple of Bambi sightings. The light tan spot in the middle of this picture is a young fawn. We didn't see her mom, but the guys said that momma was likely hidden in the trees. Little one was grazing on some of the brush near the edge of the pond. It was so cool, seeing her!

 

Next work weekend trip we'll be making bread. Start to finish, I'll grind the wheat to make flour, and then make bread. Okay, so we'll be using a bread maker, but still. It will be very fun. Now if only we could get some cooler weather. I want to do some campfire cooking!

Who needs Crossfit?

Between 6:30 am and 10:30 pm yesterday, I logged 4 hours and 18 minutes of physical activity. Let me tell you, in 90+ degree heat, you feel each and every minute. A lot of those minutes were spent hauling this thing around. We had to get it down driveway #1, on to a metal trailer (which had to be pulled down the driveway and on to the road by hand), strapped down, moved off of a trailer, and pulled up driveway #2 and positioned sideways (so it doesn't roll) in the garage. That little black trailer dolly you see me pulling on is a godsend. This "garden cart on steroids," as The Aussie describes this cart, weighs 1500 pounds. Not easy. I earn more WW activity points doing yard and ranch-type work than I do lifting weights and walking dogs.

 

My only injury of the weekend came when I momentarily let go of the dolly and the leg smacked in to my shin. Getting the dolly back under the ball of the hitch was a minor miracle, so I can't complain too much. The bruise and bump are impressive, but I'll just count them as another badge of honor. (Badge number 1 came the weekend The Aussie learned how to use a chainsaw and I got scraped up by some branches while clearing brush.)

 

Speaking of branches, while we were wandering around, we heard a really loud crack. The Aussie was actually looking at this tree when a huge branch came down. You can see the broken off section halfway up the tree the branch was.  I'm glad we weren't near the tree. Eventually, it may have to come down, but even dead trees serve a purpose. Especially if you're one of the resident woodpeckers.  In the meantime, I'll just keep working on my farmer tan.