Testing and drying this thing. Nobody was quite sure what it's for. One of the old man's tenants built it. I guess it's a small shashlik grill, because there were some bent swords nearby.
Needs some repairing before making a bigger fire, a few refractory bricks are loose and one fell right out. Drafts well enough though. And need to fix the chimney cap.
Got some shashlik swords so we can hopefully test it soon! :)
Not quite sure what this bush identifies as, but it seems to grow well when fertilized* with a disintegrating sack of used aluminium profiles.
Picked them up anyways. Like the bush, not quite sure what the alu profiles are either. Probably some kind of fastening strips for putting tiles or wood siding on?
#Homestead #Bush #Flower #PlantIdentification #Aluminium #Trash #Scrap #Plant
* Actually it grows well because this is where the old man would piss when he stepped outside to do so.
With the freshly sharpened blade, I went about making some grass cry.
Mostly to get mulchings to pour onto the bald spots from the mud party last spring. Uncovered earth just dries out too fast.
This is our designated mowing area for now, the rest can grow. Hopefully we can think of something more useful to plant other than grass at some point.
The area on the road side will be all trees and a little path through them.
Inherited lawn mower. Runs, but somewhat neglected and the blade is as sharp as the current joke of a US president.
Can't get the bolt open even at the 300 Nm setting, so I'm leaving it to soak in letgo spray while having food and coffee :)
Hoʻopulapula == rehabilitate; ʻĀina Hoʻopulapula == Homestead Lands #hwotd #hawaiianWordOfTheDay #rehabilitate #rehabilitation #hawaiianHomestead #homestead #HPR #HawaiianPublicRadio #LeilaniPoliʻahu #hawaiian
https://www.hawaiipublicradio.org/hawaiian-word-of-the-day-april-21st
I spent 4 hours today wood chipping fallen branches from the winter. I'm 75% done with one pile collected from 1/4 of the area around the house. 
The chips added up to 2 bags that weighed around 100lbs (45.3 kg) each and paved a path through the little garden area from the peach tree, past the grapes, and over to the back patio.
It looks nice, but I'm out of shape from a relatively lazy winter. Very sore.
The the donkey broke out when we were bringing the equines in and dodged us for 20 minutes while grabbing all of the fresh green grass that she could. Eventually we chased her into a paddock and closed the gate behind her. She immediately knew she was beat and came over to get her halter on. Not even a little sorry. 🫏
Washed and parked until next time. Still can't find any instructions for it, so not sure what maintenance to do.
The chain case has oil in it, smells like API GL-5 hypoid gear oil, looks fresh and there's a bolt that is probably the fill level one. Looks good for now.
Otherwise just some grease on the PTO shaft. Didn't find any other grease nipples.
That's the spot where I removed the pointless concrete from last autumn. Looks like the grass seeds I threw in there when filling it have woken up and are sprouting.
There's also some old transplanted grass mixed with lots of tiny new blades.
Nothing growing yet on the well trodden footpath next to it!
All but one of the buckets are off the taps, maple season ends tomorrow for us. We may just squeak out 10 gallons of syrup, but either way it was a decent season.
Sheep are on the little strip of grass that abuts the barnyard so they can still go inside. Almost a full month later than last year. Yearling ewes aren't showing much so we may be done with lambing for the season.
Reports are that the potato ditches are 45% dug. Thank you for joining us for this #homestead report. Here's an #asstodon of Rosie trying to steal grain as a treat.
Cherry tree behind the house.
Yes, I forgot to prune that one and it is totally in the power line. Luckily that last leg of power line is insulated cable.
Discovered we had more cherry trees than we thought - there's another big one behind the barn.
In 8 days we've gone from snow and heating to 27°C and sweating.
Feels like we skipped spring and went straight from winter to summer.
Not complaining! :)
Iseki finally got that well deserved wash. Also a new alternator belt, so no more screeching.
Love the engine access here. Top hinges up, side panels just lift out to get access to everything. Nobody appreciates good engine access like a former sailboat owner!
Drying off now, then time for some fresh grease.
Hooked up a pump with reservoir and pressure switch and threw a hose weighed with a brick down the well.
Now I can finally pressure wash all the things!
Made some garden paths. Middle is wheelbarrow width, because we have space and that's useful.
Going to sprinkle woodchips on the paths later, plenty of branch piles I can collect and shred from last winters tree cleanup.
Left back is a giant apple tree so there'll be shade and nutrient sharing. We'll see what grows there.
Right side will be mostly potatoes.
Adebar striding around outside.
They're not very bothered by humans. They keep an eye on us and that's it.
I've seen them hunt directly next to the motorway.
And when the neighbour plowed his field, they swarmed after the tractor, pecking up the freshly exposed snacks.
Evening entertainment: This collection of logs that got rejected last winter because they don't fit through the burner door.
Of course the reason nobody split them before is because they're all gnarly, knotty bastards. Or worse, double trunk branching points.
Hacked and wedged my way through the load. Good sport. Am thoroughly knackered, which usually makes for better sleep after! 
Making more clones of the two condemned trees damaging our foundation. I think it's a blue spruce.
Last winter I did two pots of these, in an experiment. The ones with torn off twigs didn't seem to root so well, the cut ones did.
This time I got some rooting hormone to try and see if that accelerates things a little. Of course it's now also spring.
That way the trees can live on, planted anew, further out in the garden.
Dragged this tub that goes on top of the feed cart out of the forest yesterday*.
The first one of these I found was rusted to pieces, but I found another in the forest during winter. Frozen to the ground so couldn't inspect it.
Did that now. Seems in better shape, the fold on the bottom needs repair, but it holds together.
Fits the cart perfectly!
#Farm #Cart #Treasure #Homestead
* I seem to have done a lot yesterday. No wonder I'm absolutely knackered today! 
