Author: Diana Blakney

Julius came on the Methodist tour, armed with a magnifying glass. Bianca is amused.

The tour consisted of about 20 folks, not counting Sid, Sandra, Rossana, Diana, Bill and Julius. Kay and Anna Maria waited at the farmhouse for the return of the group.

At the turnaround point, approximately .6 miles into the forest.

Two of the three cords we ordered arrived today.

We didn’t do it all at once, that’s for sure.

As we do from time to time, we are having a forest tour for 23 on Friday, June 20. We have been working hard to get everything ready. See Sid, Sandra and Bill carrying wood planks.

Sid has been working hard to get septic tank #1 functioning properly. First a consult with Kevin, then a DIY cleaning, new parts ordered and installed … but something is wrong!

One more consult with Keven and the system works like a charm. Sadly, now the Ranger won’t start and the weather report predicts rain for the tour. Sigh!

See the black dot? A bear … he or she was seen a couple of days later in the same spot!

Machine used to lay the fiber optic cable. The process so far has cut the telephone line and the water line. All repaired.

Cable is bright orange.

Mike the woodcutter cut a nice swath through some tall grass.

Before the grass was cut.

A lovely patch of native flowers: mule ears. Good for butterflies and bees!

Sid mowed a nice path where our tour group is going to go. Bill and Diana added to the effort.

Resting spot at the turn-around spot for the tour group.

Another resting spot – by the bridge.

The folks who pruned the trees also trimmed the bushes.

Diana went on a retreat for women owning woodlands. I was three days of lectures, demonstrations, and practice on many woodland topics.

Me and three of the board members from Benton County.

Three of us stayed in this tiny house. The event was held at an 80-acre former scout camp.

A little wine break on the porch of the tiny house.

Materials to finish the area between the big garage/barn and the mobile home.

Those suckers are heavy!

But they look great.

These extenders are for Septic System #2. Sid, always on the lookout to save us money, serviced Septic System #1 himself! Now it is good for another 5 years.

Next comes the dirt to fill and level.

A nice flat place for a garden.

A blast from the past. We kids used to pick wild blackcaps with Mother. We now have two plants in one of the farm gardens. Keep your fingers crossed!

The fiberoptic contractors cut the telephone line to the farm. The telephone company ran a line from the mobile to the farmhouse as a temporary fix. Ultimately the line will be made intact and will share the fiberoptic cable tube when it is finally placed underground.

Sandra dug out the tangled mess that occupied this corner. Sadly, some of the mess was poison oak and yes, Sandra’s arms got the brunt of it.

While making sure the forest road up Rock Creek is clear enough for a tour, we found a blooming Scotch broom. Grrrrr…..

Placed the game camera. Hope it catches some wildlife.

Bianca’s bark woke Sid in time to see six elk crossing our field!

Heading into the farm to do some Scotch broom eradication and we spotted a committee of turkey buzzards (five of them!) lurking … why? Were they mad at Sid?

Well, Sid was working on repairs to the hydrant, so he was available for an attack.

The honeybees were ready to help, if needed. Who were they going to help? Good question.

This little spot off the lower field is notorious for Scotch broom.

We got quite a few in an hour of work with two people.

Our leasing agreement looks as if it will work out. Look how great the northern field looks mowed!

Also, the work leveling the ground is proceeding as planned.

The hydrant broke and the water came spewing out! Luckily Sid was there to install a new one.

Mike the woodcutter cleared more of the forest roads AND he did it very quickly compared to Bill and my efforts

The crowd at the Fenders Blue Butterfly tour Bill and I attended on Saturday.

This OSU prof showed us how to count the elusive little rascals.

A way to kill weeds so native flowers can be planted and have a chance of surviving.

Sid is making lots of progress on creating a level path and level ground between the mobile home and the big garage/barn.

The barrier will allow for dirt to fill in and level the ground to its right where the wheelbarrow is resting.

Slab of manufactured marble will be glued to the side of the shower to fix the leak.

Our old picnic tables were aging, so we bought two strong new ones that …. needed to be assembled.

The instructions said two people could do it … Sid did most of the first one by himself. The second one took three of us.

I really did help.

They look nice … and they collapse for storing.

In the meantime, Sandra had her own project.

Sid had another project as well.

Bianca was busy guarding.