Well Thursday was a work day until I finally managed to remove the stump, whew what a job that turned out to be and I think I will pass on removing the Maple tree this year and really I may leave it after all as the leaves turn beautiful in Fall. This gum tree nearly did me in as it took 4 days to finally remove it, dig out the stump and fill the hole in and sow grass seed. Neighbor Gerald pulled it the remaining way out of the hole and carried it with his front end bucket up into the woods and deposited it in the bushes away from my sight. I was having nightmares over this stump.
The morning started much the usual with a 6'ish wake up and roll out. I had that blasted stump on my mine and knew without a doubt this morning would be my last chance to use Gerald's tractor for extracting that monster from the hole I had dug around it, so that caused to me to speed up my morning routines. I did my quiet time and posted this ramble then ate a breakfast of eggs, grits, tomato and jalapeno pepper and was in the hole with that stump before 8.
I rested or took it easy the rest of the day except for a hike after supper and a little garden work. I harvested more cucumbers, peppers and the last of the lettuce as well as some beet greens, kale and Swiss chard to add to our salads. I resowed some lettuce seeds for a fall patch. I'm really disappointed in the tomatoes this year as well as the 1/2 runner beans. I did pick enough for a mess for us but not enough to give away and some of the beans still have a some evidence of the rust spots. This is the best year ever for peppers, cucumbers, beets, Swiss chard, lettuces, kale, sugar peas and the bird egg beans(also called Cranberry or October) are filling out in their hulls and showing some red streaks in the hulls which is how they got their name. They are my favorite all time bean that is hulled and cooked without the hull.
We took a golf cart ride to the mailbox after a lunch of sliced tomatoes and cucumbers with some cream cheese on crackers then headed up on top of the mountain where we visited with the Browning's for nearly an hour. It was nice to sit and relax after meeting the challenge of the gum tree and to see the sun that is now shining on that shaded section of the yard. Hopefully that extra sunlight will help thwart the growth of the moss in that area plus its one less tree I have to mow around. Those were the main reasons to take out the tree as well. I did take off the gas tank and fuel filter on the riding mower as for the first time ever it acted like it wasn't getting fuel to the carburetor while mowing. Since I had the gas tank off I greased the steering mechanism as well which is accessible under the gas tank. I blew some fine dirt like debris from the filter and cleaned out the tank. Hopefully that was the cause of the engine to shut down momentarily.
Well I fried up some bass fillets I had caught a month or so ago and had frozen in water and they were just as tasty as the day I caught them and along with garden grown cooked and buttered beets and some canned blackeyed peas for our supper. I added a jalapeno pepper to mine which really added some life to the peas as well as a few drops of sweat on my brow but they were so good. After the cleanup we took off on our hike to the top and noticed the Carmichael Cabin has a new realtor sign. We noticed some folks looking to buy it a couple weeks ago and the old sign was gone so we decided they must have sold it but today the new sign changed our way of thinking and noticed in the weekly paper it was listed with another reduced selling price. It is a beautiful place and immaculate on the inside and the views are just breathtaking but the land is barely walkable with a steep slope except for on top and it is right across from two cell phone towers which takes away from the ambiance.
We tuned into the Fox news channel and watched the news shows until I began to doze around 9:30. We did notice the evening darkness is coming much quicker now and it was pitch black at a little after 8, whereas a couple weeks ago it was still light out after 9:30. The morning are chilly with temps down into the high 50's and we have to close the windows at night due to the damp chill in the mornings. The Morning Glory vines have stopped producing blooms as they gradually reduced their morning blooms from a couple dozen to just one bloom last week. The Zinnias are still showing their splendor with the different colors on one plant which amazes me. Lots of the other flowers are starting to lose some luster as well which is a sign summer is about over. The Fall Daisies will be blooming shortly which is a real sign that colder weather is coming soon, LATER
