Cutting & Chopping~

This is December?  It was really cold this morning, after yesterday's winds, I'll take the cold.  The sun came out & even though - it didn't make it to 30 until late in the afternoon.  I was going to ride, but instead put on my new boots, gloves & grabbed the pruners.

Now that the weeds are down, it makes it so much easier to see what needs to be cleared & where I want to put in a trail.  I've spent several days in the last few weeks working away & it's starting to show.  I didn't get enough photos of the area last year, not really thinking yet about anything besides getting the fence in.

NW Corner~

This is my favorite corner of the place, close to the creek & low on the hill.  Shady in the summer too & a nice view back up at the yard & house.  The brush pile is growing.  Butch started cutting it up & burning pieces in our little fire pit last Sunday evening.

Same corner - 12-28-2016

About the only way you can tell it's the same place, is from the trees.  They're happier now, since one of the first things I did was to cut & pull down the greenbrier.  I bought our first bottle of Tordon & am told that painting the stems after they're cut off will kill it!  I sure hope so.

Nika helping~

I ended up cutting myself in far enough to start hauling out some of the trash.  This is further up the hill, behind where we park the horse trailer.  It's been a very abused area.  The stories vary, but either one or two old houses were torn down several years ago.  What was left was bulldozed & covered with dirt.  Then - I think people took advantage of the empty lot & threw things over the edge.

My pile of trash~

Since we're still waiting on a survey - I think this will still be a part of the property.  Either way - it's in my sights now & I'm sure we'll be making several trips to clean it all out.  I found old fence that had been wrapped around a tree.  Now the tree is so big it's being girdled by the wire.  I'm hoping that Butch will help me to get it all cut out.

Trail site?

Somewhere near this area is where I want to get the trail put in.  It's actually pretty clear along this section of the creek & there's a nice spot for a bench.

Tinkle Branch Creek~

Just this month an article appeared in the Opinion-Tribune regarding our County waterways.  Twenty bridges in Mills County will now have stream signs at each end giving the name of the creek or river.  This was coordinated by the Mills County Soil and Water Conservation District.

Certainly a step in the right direction - increasing the public's awareness of these rivers & their importance to the state.