We might need to start building an Ark

At this time of year it is always better to have rain than snow but come on now, this is day three of rain.  I'm not talking about sprinkles or on/off rain but constant steady rain.  All the ACE fetilizer/weed killer has dissolved and the grass is already dark green which is good.

We have been busy with spring clean up.  There were two 12 inch in diameter, box elder trees that needed to be cut down.  A lot people do not like box elder trees but we don't mind them.  The reason we had to remove them was two fold.  First there was something going on with them and the top of each tree would die back and then regrow the next year.  Since we knew that they would not last we purchased sugar maples last fall when they were on sale and planted three of them along the drive way.

R and I cut down one tree last week and have already cut it up and burned the branches and cubed up the trunk for our wood pile.  Once the tree was cut down we noticed the beginning of rot in the very center of the trunk.  That actually made of feel better about cutting it down.

Yesterday R dropped the other tree when it was just sprinkling.  It is so much easier to deal with the tree remains when there are no leaves on the branches.  This tree also had some slight rot in the center of the trunk.

Later on in the spring or summer we will rent a stump grinder and deal with all of the stumps in the yard. It's not difficult just noisy and monotonous.  If you rent late Friday afternoon around 5pm you can get it all weekend if you return by 9am on Monday and they only charge you for one day.

We have been to two Flint Firebirds playoff games.  Exciting games but I will be surprised if they win on Friday night's away game. They are without their leading scorer and the team that they are playing is one of the best in the league.  But we are still very happy that in only their second year they were able to make it to the playoffs.

The SOO Greyhound's head coach (Sault Saint Marie....Sault is pronounced SOO...here in Michigan it is just call The SOO) had on polka dotted socks.  Very snazzy.

I was at the local wild bird supply store this last week to buy Baltimore Oriole food.  I want to have it on hand so when they show up they can eat.  The lady at the store told me that based on their sightings, they should be here in two weeks.  Based on last year's bird count, they used two bottles of the grape jelly formulated just for birds and did not eat even one orange so I won't bother with that this year.  Also we tried our best to count and we think we had about 10 pairs which was double what we had the year before.

This year we are going to try to build up the blue bird population and try to lure in the crows/ravens.  I know it sound weird but we have quite the group of crows/ravens and I have read how smart they are and if you feed them they will leave behind gifts like stones or shiny bits.  I actually know someone who's grandmother had pet crows/ravens.  Several years ago I purchased a wood platform feeder with a mesh bottom so we need to set that up for them.  I know they love the small fruit that falls off of my fruit trees so I will probably feed them fruit at fruit and then go from there.

We brought out the new large black ceramic pot that I purchased at Ollie's Bargain Center a couple of weeks ago.  I purchased bunny rabbit pot feet off of eBay to keep the pot up off the porch.  Plus they are so dang cute I just couldn't resist.  Looks like I need to readjust the pot and the feet.

Reuse, Repurpose, Recycle

If a tree falls when the Detroit Lions are playing, will they still lose???

The Detroit Lions have broken more hearts than Carter has little pills. Some years they just plain suck from the very beginning. Then there are other years where they win their first game of the season and you have that fleeting thought..."could this be the year?" Then they win a second game and you think, "do I dare get my hopes up?"


But were optimists here in Michigan when it comes to our sports teams. We have the Red Wings that NEVER fail to deliver. They have spoiled us and anything less than a Division title and we're unhappy. We have the Pistons, who have consistently given us good teams since the late 80's and early 90's. The Detroit Tigers made us suffer for 2 decades before giving us that spectacular year last year. But the Lions are another story. They just keep on breaking our hearts. I can't imagine how Michigan would celebrate if they ever made it to the Super Bowl. We're not fair weather fans either. Week after week they sold out the Pontiac Silverdome (80,368). The Lions then moved to Ford Field (65,000) and continued to sell out every game. The fans are doing their part.


Last Sunday in between listening to the Lions on the radio, inching a hood riding boulder up a hill in our backyard, and periodically listening to the NASCAR race, we managed to cut down a leaning and half dead Box elder tree.




We have a very old, unused concrete swimming pool in our backyard. Our plan is to remove the pool and eventually replace it with a smaller fiberglass pool. But until that time comes, the pool is a perfect burning pit.

Fire in the hole!!!

After accessing the situation, we decided that the best plan was to drop the tree directly into the pool. That plan eliminated having to carry, drag, and haul the wood unsuitable for fireplace burning to the fire pit (swimming pool). The tree was leaning to the northwest. The pool was directly to the west and the majority of the tree limbs were on the south side of the tree. We talked about where we thought Roger should cut out the wedge and how far above the wedge cut should he make the back cut. Roger placed himself on the south side which we felt was the direction that the tree would least likely fall. I stood far enough back, that no matter which way it fell, I was safe. No need for both of us to get hurt, someone needs to call 911. I watched the very top of the tree for movement and yelled to Roger when it started to move. The tree slowly fell directly to the west and the Lions lost. Again.