Year 6 - 2015

Spring Trip 2015

Well another successful trip to the farm this spring.

There was only one 2-plug outlet on the kitchen counter top so I had another one added to the left side of the sink.  This let me move the microwave to the corner of the counter top and free up some space.  Here's what the new outlet looks like.

I was able to get the first mowing of the 2015 season done on this trip. Here are a few pictures showing the results of that mowing.

I needed to get some of the bushes and a tree trimmed up on this trip. There is an Oregon Grape looking bush, a Firethorn or Pyracantha bush, and an Indian Bean tree on the right side of the house. Here are the results of those trimmings.

A few more pictures of the first mow for the 2015 season.

This wood bush has been dead for a few years. I finally got it dug it up. Moving it was another story. It ended up being a lot heavier than it looked. I decided to use the tub of an old wheel barrow to move it to the burn area. The tub acted like a sled on the sand and the lawn tractor moved it with ease.

The burning bush.

Mom was such a good host. Every night I took a trip to Pendleton to visit with her and she always had a 5 course meal prepared and ready to eat when I arrived. I truly appreciate everything she does for me.

Here are a few more pictures of the current state of the farm.

I had a visit with the Hermiston Irrigation District and decided it was time to begin filling up the old irrigation ditch in the back of the property. There won't be any more water traveling this old ditch.
I'm going to leave the small part of the ditch to the left of the foot bridge open for now.

Here are a few pictures from the trail camera.

The goats were back in Pendleton eating away at the Umatilla River levy. There seemed to be a lot of baby goats this year. This picture is from the East Oregonian newspaper.

I spotted this little critter on my last night at the farm. The first time I have ever saw an Opossum at the farm.
Here's Mom at the airport. After my first couple of trips we decided not to say Goodbye, but "I'll see you the next time around". 

Fall Trip 2015

Well I got a few things accomplished at the farm this fall. Everything is so dry this year.  I'm still figuring out the master plan with the property. I'm not sure, with the lack of water resources, that it's feasible to grow as much lawn as Grandpa did.

Had the heat pump serviced on this trip. I usually schedule it for the Spring trip, but since I don't run the cooler in the summer I figured it could wait until Fall.

Lonesome the cat came around while I was there.I have no idea where she lives but she always comes to greet me and beg for some attention.

I wanted to get a new roof on the Chicken coop. Here are the results of that task.

I decided to plant some tulip bulbs in the tree stumps that are all along the left side of the leach field. We'll see if anything grows in the Spring.

The puncture vine was terrible this year. Here are my boots and a couple of piles I pulled up from the leach field pasture area.

I'm trying to attract some barn owls to the property to help keep the rodent population down. The cats roaming the area don't seem interested in catching them. Maybe the owls will move in and take care of them.  Here's a barn owl nest box I installed on a tree at the farm. I think there's a good flight path over the leach field so maybe I'll get lucky.

The bean tree is doing well without a lot of water. I trimmed off the suckers at the bottom of the tree and it looks pretty good now.

I painted the living room on this trip.  I thought I picked out a really good color that would work well with the current trim/door color, but it ended up being very similar to the off white that was already on the walls and ceiling.  I patched up holes and painted the ceiling and walls, and when I was finished it looked pretty good even if it was the same color.

The exterior of the garage needed a good coat of paint. Here are before and after pictures of that job. I think it turned out pretty well. Some day I may need to take all the siding off the house and replace it, but until then I'll keep patching and painting.

Here are a few trail cam pictures from the summer months. You'll notice that the three major events are Mom's weekly visits, Baxter's Lawn Service mowing, and Lonesome triggering the motion camera at night. Dave also pops in there from time to time. There were many more of Mom's visits but I didn't post them all here.

Some strangers did appear inside the gate. A pair of men and a pair of women. It looks like the women approached when Mom was there and the gate was open. The men must have opened the gate to approach the front door. I'm not sure why anyone would do that.

 And then I arrived for the fall Trip :)