19 July …

 

Well, the deal about the Brewfest was they want us to do an eleven hour security watch gig in return for a donation to the club and free admission to the fest.

I’ll be presenting the deal to the club at the meeting this evening.

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Weather continues to be warm.  We are thankful for the fact that the humidity is low, although that isn’t really good for fire hazard.  The local CDF has responded to more than 150 fires this week, mostly grass fires and none too damaging … so far.

                                  Of course, the garden is doing very well.

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A controversy has risen over the identification of some roads on Hammond Ranch.  All the roads here are privately owned and maintained,  BUT Google has been directing travelers over them to access points not part of Hammond Ranch.

A local has taken on the job of getting Google to change its posting, but there is not (so far) a consensus on which roads to change.

Roads have always been a sore spot here.  Newcomers assume that since they own property on the Ranch, they have access to ALL Ranch roads to use however they please.  The original plot maps showed the roads as access to driveways which would preclude their general use. 

So far, those of us who bought here as rural country property are losing to the transplanted city folks moving here and wanting it to change.  Some people just up High Meadow from us are mansion building and so far they have had at least three or four loads of sod trucked in.

Oh well …

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Last Monday George and Mark dropped one of the tall pines near the barn.  It will be firewood.  But in the process of dropping it, an interesting thing happened.  The wedge on the drop side had been cut and the opposite side was being levered to break the hinge.  At the last minute a wind came up, the tree twisted, and dropped 180° away from the planned area.  We have never heard of this phenomena.

If you know about dropping trees, you can look closely and see the way the cuts were made, where the fall intent was, and how the tree twisted and fell in the wrong direction.

They are good lumbermen and no one was hurt.  Only problem is the limbing and moving of the trunk since it fell across the fenceline and is partially on the neighbors’ property.

Not exactly the way it had been planned.

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The resettling of Mark and family is going slowly, but that is not unexpected.  George and I did it nearly 41 years ago and it wasn’t any easier then.  However, things are beginning to settle.

Today my morning begins as soon as this is posted.  I am due at a neighbor’s to pick up a load of horse manure for the garden.

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As I know from many situations such as knitting and/or trying a new recipe …

 

“All beginnings are difficult.”

 

So … ‘til next week …