Bob & Ellen's Excellent Adventure

Black Sheep Tower House

Trees & Bees

August 17, 2020 Lots of chainsawing happening, hoping the neighbors aren’t TOO annoyed. The felled big hemlock had to be cut up and removed, another dead tree on the side of the garage had to come down, and there were a lot of cut logs to be removed, not to mention a growing pile of branches to be chipped in the future. It was looking a little like a war zone out there.

Several really large stumps had to come out too, this one was the dead oak. Just beyond all this dirt, dust, noise and chaos I found a sweet antidote, in the small sunny clearing. Wild strawberries!

So, you will notice a white pipe alongside the stump hole in the photo above. Well, unfortunately, when Randy was cleaning up tree limbs, he accidentally snagged the septic pipe, which to be fair was only shallowly covered with a few inches of dirt. He was very apologetic and promised to fix it pronto.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, the carpenters had discovered an infestation of CARPENTER BEES. We knew all about them from our Maryland house, but had not seen what they could do unchecked by the convenience of modern pesticides. Bob was dismayed when he saw the photo of all the carpenter bee holes, as we had seen a bee or two flying around when we looked at the house, but were hopeful they were just honey bees, haha (as is, baby). We both knew that once carpenter bees have chewed their way in, they keep chewing and chewing tunnels, destroying the wood from within, and they don’t leave home voluntarily. The good news is that this trim was being replaced, and the siding is happening. The bad news is that we are sure to find more bees and nests around soon.

Overall, today was not great, but there’s always tomorrow….

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