Another Windy Day

 This was the last day of the walking challenge that I have been doing this month.  The reason that I walked to Canterbury, NH on Monday was because this challenge was to emulate the Canterbury Pilgrimages.  My total step count for the month was more than enough to get from London to Canterbury and back.  Had I only used the mileage that added up by only my walks, I may not have made it.  My thanks to The Turnip of Terror and The Agincourt Soldier for putting this together.  Happy things for today:

• Amy and I met for a walk along the rail trail.  The wind was blowing and the clouds were moving in with more rain.  The company was bright and that makes all the difference!

• Along the trail there were some flowering plants/trees.  They were pretty, but I haven't tried to identify them yet.

Possibly a Box Elder.

• Keziah and I have just about a week to finish getting a piece of garb ready for me to wear.  Today that meant I made a coif mock up.  The one I made mostly fit.  It didn't take very long to make, but the next one will be embroidered.  
• Someone had a minor accident at the food place across the street that sent napkins flying on the wind and into our yard.  The owner came over and started picking them up and Zed and Giden went out to help.  Zed then went over to get a frappe for Keziah and Gideon.  He came back with a frappe for each of us that the owner let him have for free.  Peppermint stick frappe for me.

☮

Currently reading: The Backyard Homestead, by Carleen Madigan.

Currently listening to: Too Like the Lightning, by Ada Palmer.

    This was returned to the library today, not sure when I will try it again.

Currently listening to: The Canterbury Tales, by Geoffrey Chaucer.

Stay safe.

Deer

 Yesterday I walked for over fifteen miles.  Yesterday I remembered to stretch.  Today I only have minor aches from yesterday's escapade.  I went for a short (about 2 miles) walk today in the neighborhood and on the property.  For this I am happy.  

This is a garden row I prepared last week.
It should not look quite so crooked.
I didn't see footprints,
so I guess the wind moved the hay.

Peach blossoms and leaves opening
now on Marjorie.

Cherry blossoms and leaves
are now opening on Tucker.

Other happy things from today include:

• Keziah and I got more yard work done today before a company came and sprayed for ticks.  That was all the yard work today because the yard was sprayed for ticks.
• The burlap I ordered for the garden arrived today.  If it isn't raining tomorrow I hope to start using it.  There are a few more things I think I can plant and not have to worry about a frost now that I have the burlap.  Average last frost in my area is June.  
• I planted some more seeds today, in the house.  
• A few days ago I attached the wildlife camera to a tree on the property.  Zed and I checked for pictures this afternoon.  I learned that I need to check the settings.  The placement seems alright, there is a setting that should allow for video too, and apparently I didn't choose that one.  The SD card will go back in tomorrow and I'll try to figure that out.  The pictures either have no noticeable animal or have deer.  I've picked two of the better ones.  Someday, maybe this area will be cleaned up.

Day picture with two deer.

Night picture with a deer.

☮

Currently reading: The Backyard Homestead, by Carleen Madigan.

Stay safe.

No Tales.

 The wind was fierce, I occasionally had to fight it to keep going.  Perhaps that is just because I was so tired.  It took about six hours and fifteen miles, but I walked to Canterbury, NH.  That is my happy thing for today.   There were splendid views, wind, and more wind.  I gave up early on on trying to keep the rim of my hat from standing up straight in the wind.  I cut the walk about a mile shorter than I originally planned, but still about 2.5 miles into Canterbury.  I hope, reader, that you enjoy the pictures.  They are also happy things for today.

Water.

Moving water.

The only historical marker I saw along the way.

My finger and a flowering tree.

The sidewalk ended.

Beautiful homes with beautiful views.

Instead of my finger in the way,
I thought part of my face, hat and shoulder could block the view instead.  
🤣

Water down a hill.

Town line!

I enjoyed the streams I crossed.

Mary & Quentin Hutchins Forest.
This is one of a few different places I might like to
drive to and then hike another time.

My feet hurt...

Getting in the car for the ride home.
This was near Kimball Pond.

Perhaps tonight I will sleep well.

☮

Currently reading: The Backyard Homestead, by Carleen Madigan.

I was hoping to listen to The Canterbury Tales as I walked today but the wind was too loud.

Stay safe.

Bonus!  Full moon.

Happy Earth Day

 For Earth Day Keziah and I set to work outside in the cold and snow flurries (!) and started clearing out the dump part of the property.  Over the years, former residents have pulled things out to a section in the back and left it there.  This weekend we hope to get a bunch of the junk into a Bagster or somewhere to recycle, reuse, or repurpose.  

Keziah took this 'before' picture of the area.

This is after we were done for the day. 
The stuff in the back, we haven't gotten to yet.
The pile toward the front, has been pulled out.

Tents that we pulled out.
Very gross.

More of the pile from above that we pulled out.
There is less undergrowth now.

It is hard to tell, but there is a big pile of leaves that got raked out.
We also took down saplings, multiflora, bittersweet,
and other random invasive type weeds.

I feel like we have maybe pulled stuff out of about one third of the area.  It was probably only about one fourth of the junk though.  I found some good sized pots that I might clean up to plant things in later.  Other happy things for today:

• Next week I am going to try to take a long walk on either Monday or Tuesday.  The walking challenge I am participating in this month is themed around doing a pilgrimage to Canterbury, as in The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer.  In New Hampshire there is a town called Canterbury that is about fifteen miles from here.  Ideally I will walk there next week.  Anyhow, I drove there today to get an idea of what the roads will be like.  There didn't seem to be any huge obstacles and only a few miles that were more narrow and winding as the roads got closer to town and away from the city.  I learned some things I will need to do to prepare that I may not have thought of had I not driven it first.  
• Flowers, along with the bluets there are some violets coming up.  

• For Boy Scouts, Gideon is working towards earning a thing for cleaning up trash.  He needs to collect 200 pieces of trash.  Gideon, Zed, and I walked around the property to begin the process of fulfilling this requirement.  Gideon counted 54 pieces before we came in for dinner.   He and Zed have the mechanical grabber things to pick things up with.  Gideon pretended to be a robot or Dalek and had a lot of fun.  

A whole bag!

☮

Currently listening to: Too Like the Lightning, by Ada Palmer.

Stay safe.

National Tea Day (Britain)

 It has been just over a month since I purchased the external hard drive and was able to backup my photos from my phone (other than the cloud).  I know this because my phone is full again and I have just backed up more photos.  There are so very many pictures that I take that never make it here or anywhere else.  I am so glad that I got that hard drive.  Other happy things for today:

• I noticed that my tax refund was in my bank account.
• Keziah and I went shopping today and I found shoes.  My sneakers and hiking shoes have both been falling apart.  I have new sneakers that I will start wearing tomorrow.  I also got a pair of sandals that I hope are made for walking.  I still need to replace the hiking shoes.  I'm planning on a trip to REI for those next week.  
• There were trees blossoming in the store parking lot.

• I took the day off of major gardening and yard work.  Hopefully my body has healed a little from all the bending, raking, etc that I have been subjecting it to.
• There was a thunder storm followed by the sun appearing lower on the horizon as evening drew near.  I went out and saw a rainbow.  I tried to take a picture but the camera phone didn't quite capture it.

There was a rainbow, really.

• Between the rains, I went for a walk.  The air was fresh and cool.
• The cats are getting along.

☮

Currently reading: The Burgess Book of Nature Lore, by Thornton W. Burgess.

Stay safe.

Garden Stuff

 According to Map My Run, I worked in the yard and garden for six hours and 46 minutes today.  I turned on the app to get an idea of how much moving I really do when I am working outside.  It turns out that was 3.7 miles this time.  Some of that time I was sitting and pulling weeds.  But I also raked, shoveled, used the pitchfork, cut branches and small trees, moved branches and small trees, used the wheel barrow to remove weeds and leaves and branches and possibly more things.  It was a busy day.  Here are other things I am happy for today:

• Keziah and I worked together part of the day with the trees and branches.  We maybe enjoy pulling and cutting bittersweet too much.
• Some of the buds on trees are getting bigger and opening.

Tucker, the cherry tree.

Okay, these 'leaves' are out all year.
The little pine cones aren't though.

From a Norway maple tree.

• While in the garden I tried to identify a plant using two different apps on my phone.  The apps failed.  Tonight, sitting here I tried again and this time I think it is correct.  Much of this plant was pulled from the garden.

Ground ivy.  It is kind of pretty, but very invasive
according to the internet.

• What was most likely a night crawler came out of the soil I was pulling weeds from.  It was probably eight inches or longer.  I'm really loving the amount of worms I am seeing this year.
• There were some passing sprinkles today which meant the sky had some pretty cloud formations.

• Zed was nice and made a quick dinner tonight after Boy Scouts.  It should have been my night to cook but I forgot and was too tired to think about food by the time I came in.
• There was left-over peppermint stick ice cream for me in the freezer for dessert.

☮

Currently reading: The Backyard Homestead Seasonal Planner, by Ann Larkin Hansen.

Stay safe.

Staghorn

 It was a chill, overcast day with occasional sprinkles.  Most of my day was spent outside working in the yard.  Plants are starting to turn green, daffodils are blooming, and forsythia are bright yellow.  I saw robins, blue jays, mockingbirds, a morning dove, a woodpecker, and sparrows throughout the day.  Other happy things for today:

• Last year I tripped over staghorn sumac stumps in the garden.  Today Zed and I removed many of these stumps and some of the attached roots.  The battle to defeat the unwanted plants in the garden has begun!  But seriously, I made room for the zucchini.  It will be a bit longer before I put the zucchini into the ground that I prepared today.

This is not a gopher problem but a 
staghorn sumac root problem.

These are roots that will no longer
 be a problem in the garden.

• The section next to the garden that we are hoping to make into a pathway with grape arbors is a little bit more cleaned up.  Progress!

Before: The sumac wants to take over.

After: I'm doing what I can to keep it
under control.

• I went for a short walk out back before cleaning up from gardening.  One time around the back of the property is only half a mile.  It was just what my body needed after all the bending in the garden.

• My second vaccination against the Covid 19 virus was administered late this afternoon.  So far, I just have a sore arm at the injection site.  

☮

Currently reading: The Backyard Homestead, by Carleen Madigan

Stay safe.