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Post by LauraD on May 6, 2017 1:06:51 GMT
Here's the latest... I went to mow a couple of weeks ago, and discovered fresh cattle tracks on our property. Took a walk around the perimeter, and discovered a huge tree down. Had to call my neighbor, who came down with a chainsaw to clear it out. We then re-stretched the fence so his cattle couldn't get back in. The tree was in bad shape - it was long dead, there was basically nothing left of the roots, and the whole thing had just toppled over. You can see from the picture that the branches had fallen off long ago. I did my first work as a tree surgeon - or is it tree butcher? Before... ...and after. Those were 5 locust trees (the kind with the nasty thorns) that had grown out of the stump of one locust that had been cut down who-knows-how-many-years-ago. My own personal locust grove - and it now occupies the burn pile. This was a poison ivy vine on another locust tree. It was 1.5-2" in diameter - I had to cut it with a hatchet. This is the front stoop I made out of some extra treated plywood. It's amazing how much easier it is to get into and out of the cabin now. And we're less likely to track in mud. The property was pretty waterlogged - and that was BEFORE the rain that caused all the flooding in the area! The hill down to the creek is pretty steep, so we shouldn't have had any problems on the property itself (hopefully), but I AM worried about the condition of the dirt roads into the place and certain spots on the road into town... My homemade foot pump set-up isn't working so well, so I've planned a redesign. You can take a look and let me know your thought on this thread in the Construction subforum. And finally, a picture of our future venison steaks - still on the hoof!
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Post by dustawaits on May 6, 2017 15:00:55 GMT
LauraD,congratulations on your improvements! Leaving poison ivy , Virginia creeper, five leaf, grape or any vine that climbs trees is death on the tree. Putting a rabon block out for the deer might help keep the ticks down.......
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Post by LauraD on May 8, 2017 1:04:13 GMT
dustawaits, What is rabon, and where might I get it?
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Post by dustawaits on May 8, 2017 15:27:35 GMT
Rabon blocks can be found at the feed stores, not all of them but they are at Weaubleau MFA. Stockton might have them, not familiar with what they have in farm stores as they are a more recreational area. People drive a good ways to this MFA store, very well stocked.
The blocks cost about $12.
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Post by LauraD on Jun 9, 2017 1:03:39 GMT
Been to the property lately. No sign of flooding, which is good. I know the town got flooded some. I'm mainly just mowing and cutting down saplings these days. The ticks are pretty bad this year: last trip I must have pulled a half-dozen ticks off the dog - who is on K9 Advantix! - and even more off me. Time to go buy a rabon block... Only one pic this time - looks like momma had her babies. Anyone ever seen this kind of haircut on a coyote before?
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Post by wildhorseluvr on Jun 9, 2017 6:05:33 GMT
Been to the property lately. No sign of flooding, which is good. I know the town got flooded some. I'm mainly just mowing and cutting down saplings these days. The ticks are pretty bad this year: last trip I must have pulled a half-dozen ticks off the dog - who is on K9 Advantix! - and even more off me. Time to go buy a rabon block... Only one pic this time - looks like momma had her babies. Anyone ever seen this kind of haircut on a coyote before? My guess is mange.
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Post by shellymay on Jun 9, 2017 12:06:07 GMT
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Post by dustawaits on Jun 9, 2017 14:05:47 GMT
Most of the coyotes I saw south of here were that way and never had good hair coats. Around here they have beautiful lush coats. I am guessing it is partly at least what they are consuming.
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Post by merks on Nov 18, 2017 14:24:38 GMT
LauraD, You haven't been on in 2 months and I was just wondering how you are and how things are going. Hope you are well.
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Post by LauraD on Dec 4, 2017 15:03:22 GMT
Hi merks, Sorry I haven't been on lately. This summer/fall went WAY too quickly. We spent a lot of time at the property keeping the one cleared acre and the paths mowed down. While a pain to do, the continual mowing seems to have eliminated the lespedeza from that part of the land. We haven't done much of anything else this year; just a little brush clearing along a couple short sections of the fence line - and three separate cases of poison ivy. We DID get the fencing done along the north boundary this fall - now we can finally access the acre+ that had been on the wrong side of the fence. The guy we hired to do it did a bang-up job; the fence looks just beautiful and is nearly straight, despite running down into a gully (hollow) and across a wet-weather stream. And of course the hollow had rock everywhere - this is southern Missouri, after all. I'll post a couple pictures after I figure out what to use for my new photo platform. I'd say what I think of Photobucket, but I don't want to be banned...
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Post by Rustaholic on Dec 4, 2017 15:35:47 GMT
Hi merks , Sorry I haven't been on lately. This summer/fall went WAY too quickly. We spent a lot of time at the property keeping the one cleared acre and the paths mowed down. While a pain to do, the continual mowing seems to have eliminated the lespedeza from that part of the land. We haven't done much of anything else this year; just a little brush clearing along a couple short sections of the fence line - and three separate cases of poison ivy. We DID get the fencing done along the north boundary this fall - now we can finally access the acre+ that had been on the wrong side of the fence. The guy we hired to do it did a bang-up job; the fence looks just beautiful and is nearly straight, despite running down into a gully (hollow) and across a wet-weather stream. And of course the hollow had rock everywhere - this is southern Missouri, after all. I'll post a couple pictures after I figure out what to use for my new photo platform. I'd say what I think of Photobucket, but I don't want to be banned...
LauraD, When you find a new hosting site please post the info here. I really need one too.
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Post by Ken on Dec 4, 2017 16:16:48 GMT
We spent a lot of time at the property keeping the one cleared acre and the paths mowed down. While a pain to do, the continual mowing seems to have eliminated the lespedeza from that part of the land. I'm dealing with the same. That stuff is a pain! We had our property mowed and baled several times this year and that seems to be helping considerably. I seem to be the exception. When I trenched 250' for our electric line, I only hit 1 rock!! I was quite happy about it though, hehe. I switched to imgur. It seems to work pretty well. I chose them because they allow 'hidden' albums. I use those albums to host pictures for posting here, but I don't particularly want them public for anyone to see. Thanks for the update!
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Post by Rustaholic on Dec 4, 2017 23:45:23 GMT
I switched to imgur. It seems to work pretty well. I chose them because they allow 'hidden' albums. I use those albums to host pictures for posting here, but I don't particularly want them public for anyone to see.
Ken, Will you please post here a link to Imgur?
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Post by Ken on Dec 5, 2017 3:40:38 GMT
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Post by merks on Dec 5, 2017 12:29:54 GMT
Hi LauraD, Good to hear from you and that all is going well. I'm sure owning land like that is quite the chore. Looking forward to hearing more and seeing pics. Ken,that link just takes me right to this page.
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Post by LauraD on Dec 5, 2017 14:18:03 GMT
I like the idea of hidden albums, as I'm cautious (my hubby would say paranoid) about what information I put online. I'll have to check imgur out... I can't believe you only hit one rock, Ken,! Was your place by chance a cow pasture in a former life? Once I get goats, I'm sure the lespedeza will disappear from the rest of the pasture pretty quick - along with the poison ivy! Merks, I'll get the photos posted as soon as I can!
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Post by Ken on Dec 5, 2017 14:49:13 GMT
Ken ,that link just takes me right to this page. Haha, oops. Fixed now.
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Post by Ken on Dec 5, 2017 15:00:47 GMT
I like the idea of hidden albums, as I'm cautious (my hubby would say paranoid) about what information I put online. I'll have to check imgur out... Same here. Anyone can still see the images, but they have to know the link to do so. It's very sandy. I'll be seeing how well a garden grows next year. The Sericea has no problem growing in it though.
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Post by LauraD on Dec 8, 2017 0:13:24 GMT
As you can see, I finally went with a new image hosting site (Imgur.com) and got my photos reloaded. Yeah! Here's a couple of things that we did this year. We set up a proper platform for a fire pit and a turkey fryer; we're using the latter (at really low temps) and a cast-iron pan for cooking. It was great to actually be able to make a real meal! Here's the initial work to figure out the perimeter... ...cutting the sod... ...clearing it away... ...and the final product. While out for a stroll this past fall, we found lots of these beauties on our place: And here are pictures of the long-awaited new fence! SO glad to have it installed. Here's the first part of the fenceline. He wasn't quite done when these pictures were taken; you can see the new gate laying on the ground by the steer skid, and the hedge posts where it would be installed. That pinkish thing above those posts is a surveyor flag marking the property line. Down into the hollar (gully, ravine)... You can see the far bank of the wet-weather creek on the left side of the picture. ...and up the other side. The fence posts that head off to the right are the "old" fence line. Now that the new one is up, we'll eventually take down the old one and use the posts & wire to fence the woods off from the cleared area - can't have our future goats killing off all our trees! I am so glad that this is finally done! The neighbor even agreed to daisy-chain padlocks on the new gate so we can access each other's property if necessary, e.g. stock gets loose or the water gap goes out. That really pleased me, as it shows he trusts us to do the right thing when it comes to his land & livestock.
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Post by merks on Dec 8, 2017 12:36:27 GMT
The platform looks great! Wow that's a lot of fencing. It's always so nice to have good neighbors. Thanks for the updates.
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Post by LauraD on Dec 12, 2017 1:21:04 GMT
Did a day trip to the property yesterday. My hubby got to see the new fence for the first time. He was really impressed. We worked a little on insulating the shed, had a stroll around the place, and then headed home. We're using blown insulation behind a radiant barrier, but doing it by hand. Takes a while to break up that packed insulation before you can put it in the cavity. One wall section down, and a lot left to go. One of the views on our walk... ...and a second view. We can see a lot farther than I suspected.
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Post by merks on Dec 12, 2017 12:46:54 GMT
Between the insulation and the radiant barrier, your shed should maintain a nice temp. your property is so pretty, it must be really hard to being there full time yet.
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Post by ceresone on Dec 12, 2017 15:44:04 GMT
beautiful flowers, but when you get the little stickers we called devils darning needles, remember how pretty they were,
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Post by LauraD on Dec 12, 2017 23:21:47 GMT
Merks, I can hardly wait to be out there permanently! Ceresone, are you sure those are devil's darning needles? When I looked up pictures of them, the flowers didn't seem to match. Here's a closer view:
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Post by ceresone on Dec 13, 2017 15:07:52 GMT
might not be, there is another native flower similar, but this one looks like the one i cultivated by my garage--and it decided to pay me back. drats--can i blame my age for not being able to think of the name of the other one?--brown eyes susan---had to find my wild flower book, and--the one i thought it was is offically called tick seed-- orbeggar-ticks the tickseed is a coreopsis. the black eyes susan is another missouri wildflowers is a book to have handy for us old--er women !!
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Post by ceresone on Dec 13, 2017 15:14:45 GMT
looks closest to coreopsis ianceolata--or tick seed--the others i mentioned all have a dark center--but--it is a beautiful flower--if in the fall you find it is--from then on, just cut it after it flowers and before it seeds--best of both worlds. hope i havent talked too muck--love your place--we are in howell county
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Post by LauraD on Dec 13, 2017 19:51:53 GMT
Ceresone,
I agree that tick seed looks closer than devil's darning needle. I may have to do some more research on it. Whatever it is, it's really pretty...
(Added later) I think I found it: bidens aristosa, aka Tickseed Sunflower, Ozark Tickseed Sunflower, Bearded Beggartick, Bur Marigold, or Swamp Marigold. Considered invasive in some states, but native to Missouri. Apparently it grows aggressively, so I'll have to keep my eye on it to make sure it doesn't get out of hand.
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Post by LauraD on Feb 5, 2018 1:59:06 GMT
Finally got down to the property. Didn't do much, but enjoyed walking the fence line and paths. Everything seemed to be snug & secure. We've had issues over the past several months with something digging holes in the yard. I figured it was either an armadillo or a skunk. Now I know... ...that sure isn't a skunk! (Thank goodness!!!) Ends up things weren't quite as secure as I believed... The fences are woven wire and the dog's not small, so the only way I figure he got is would be through one of the water gaps. The only other alternative would be through the gate in the new fence line (not goat-proofed yet), but that would require it getting into the neighbor's field, which is also fenced with woven wire. Hmmmmm...
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Post by Ken on Feb 5, 2018 14:33:43 GMT
... something digging holes in the yard. I figured it was either an armadillo or a skunk. Yea, I have LOTS of armadillo holes. I'm hoping when I get a dog, it will help with that.
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Post by LauraD on Feb 5, 2018 14:48:10 GMT
Ken, I'm thinking a .22 might do a better job than a dog. After all, we have coyotes in the area, and *they* haven't taken care of it yet. I'll need to check into the state regs on shooting varmints first, though.
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