The Garden Spot

 As you know, we've been getting the garden ready. Lisa planted some onions and got seed potatoes, tomato and collard starts. There are also going to be green beans from seeds.

The onions are in this bed. Since they're seed onions we couldn't use the weed cloth. The cage is one we had to keep the birds out of the strawberries. It's here to keep the cats out now.

 

Bean seeds. Aren't bean seeds just beans? They had to soak overnight.

The starts.

Beefmaster

Big Boy

Grape tomato

Collard greens

We got our walk done between rains today.

Clean Split

 

I finished up the trimming in the front yard with the push mower after work today. It was pretty long in the places the zero turn doesn't reach. It started raining just as I finished. It was still sprinkling after I got a drink so I went out and split some logs.

This oak wood splits nicely.

I split all of the smaller big logs on the top row.

I got them all split into six pieces.

Once I get some more racks built we can start making these into stove size pieces.

Just a few more to go.

Loaded

We were a little worried about getting Nike on the trailer. He was healthy and looked good but let's just say his driveway doesn't quite reach the road. Lisa got him in the catch pen and had him moved to the back of the trailer when I got down there. He got turned around a couple of times but when he was facing the right way I zapped him with the cattle prod a few times and he jumped in. He actually loaded pretty fast compared to some. We got to the meat packers before noon and they don't accept delivery until after 1:00 pm. We had given ourselves plenty of time.

Nike in the trailer before we left.

Flemingsburg Meat Packers, his final destination. He weighed in at 1500 pounds.

When we got back from Flemingsburg I mowed the pond pasture. The battery in the zero turn was dead so I put it on the charger while we ate lunch. 

I stopped for a selfie behind the pond. I like the view from up there.

About 2/3 done.

Fully mowed. I did the front yard too. It still needs some trimming.

Baby cherries. If they don't fall off we'll have a good batch this year. 

The Cat

The cat made an appearance today during daylight hours. He usually comes around at night and eats Betty's food and drinks her water. We don't mind having an extra cat around too much. He doesn't seem to beat up on her. I did see him marking the sheep table so we may have a problem eventually.

I think we should give him a name. Suggestions?

I got back from Florida yesterday. The direct flight from Orlando to Louisville was much nicer than having a stop in Charlotte. I had a good time down there and it was great visiting with Dad and Kathy and Bill. I'm still on vacation until Wednesday so I have a couple of days to do some stuff around here.

I looked in on the lambs. There were a few in the shed.

Poppy was sticking to me today. I think she missed me. 

I worked on the raised beds for the garden. 

We did some work on them over the winter. We moved them farther apart and finished the four small planters with fresh compost and weed cloth.

I pulled out the weeds and turned all the existing soil. It was still in good condition so I just added some new compost down the middle and mixed it in. 

They usually lose volume over the year. Sometimes I remove some of the old material and replace it but it still looked good so I left it in there. 

The vegetables love the compost.

The weed cloth makes a lot of difference. We'll need to pull it up because we're planting some seeds but it will keep the weeds down until planting. Also, these look like cat boxes to cats so it keeps them from using it as a toilet.

The second one was really bad. It's close to the bamboo and the runners like the compost soil too.

The bamboo is pretty but it is quite invasive.

Ready for weed cloth.

The garden is ready for planting.

I also changed the oil in the generators and the log splitter. 

I did the Generac first. It's up on blocks because my shallow pan wasn't shallow enough to fit under the frame.

The Husky went second. I did the zero turn before vacation. I'll do the tractors next.

I couldn't find my 14mm socket to do the Husky so I walked down to get the set out of the truck. It's parked down the hill with the stock trailer attached. We're taking Nike to the meat packers tomorrow. 

Fun Bobby was down there. He's doing pretty good. He got his tails and testicles treatment today. He'll be feeling better tomorrow.

Ivy got herself locked in the catch pen. The gate had been open and she managed to drop the latch and bump the gate closed. I let her out. It's good I needed the 14mm socket.

Poppy went, of course.

Luna too.

There were llamas

There were sheep

SpaceX Crew 2

I was lucky enough to see the launch of the SpaceX rocket this morning. The weather was beautiful and the launch was spectacular. 

Brevard Zoo

 Kathy and I went to the Brevard County Zoo this morning.  It was nice. I liked seeing the animals and how they did the exhibits.

It's a dragon. 

I liked the paths they had for the animals to travel between the cages.