Saturday, 09MAY, time to turn on the house A/C. Dan spends all morning try to get the 67yr
old Ferguson tractor going so he can bush-whack the back two acres. Tractor sits for over six months in barn
every year & fires up every time when spring arrives – this time not? First Dan makes sure entire fuel supply is ok;
then removes air filter to try starting w/full air flow; finally removes spark
plugs – all four fouled & gapped completely wrong – problem solvedJ!
Sunday (mom’s day) sunny with wind. Rebecca, Raymond & grandkids show up for
mom’s day. Great to see them but social
distancing not very enhancing to the gatheringL But still great to see them, even without
hugs & kisses.
Other than our friends Rich & Jan Formisano stopping by for
a nice visit on the 26th; the rest of May was spent staying home & doing
choirs, like:
>>>hooking up the old Ferguson tractor to our wood
chipper to get rid of some debris piles that we have accumulated on the
property over last ten years. These pile
consist of small trees & brush we have cleared, as well as windblown debris
from storms.
>>>battling the yearly infestation of seeds/spores from
the cottonwood treesL Cottonwoods
are a tree that grows like a weed & is impossible to kill (if you cut the
trunk down to the ground it will immediately regrow from the stump unless
poisoned with highly toxic herbicide injected into the stump). For those of you who have never dealt
w/cottonwoods the seeds are airborne on cottony structures that allow them to
be blown long distances in the air. Once
on the ground they will keep “floating” around until they cling to
something. Often times they form large
clumps when on the ground. You soon
learn to keep garage doors, workshop & shed doors closed for the several
weeks that the cottony seeds are in the air & will float into every nook
& cranny inside a building if a door or window is open. Biggest headache is when they are sucked up
by engine cooling fans & clog the radiator!
Then after all the seeds have fallen, the catkins the seeds were on fall
to the ground & lay there forever unless you rake then or mow over them. We have looked at cutting the trees down, but
they would fall on the neighbor’s property; & the cost to clean-up &
remove debris was too highL
>>>Dan started to build an outdoor potting workbench
for Corrie. For some reason not finished
& now on June’s to-do list?
>>>The old adage says April showers bring May
flowers. Well because of extra time
staying home we have repurposed the saying to – Corrie’s extra April garden
hours, have brought extra May flowers!
Although early May started as possible third driest on record;
ended being one of wettest May’s on record for Seattle. After almost three great summers, we are back
to the typical Pacific NW weather.
