To take advantage of the nice weather I got busy. To the river I took the small branches that had broken off when I was trimming the willow tree. I found that many live willow branches will grow a root and start a new tree. I took a armful of branches to the river and stuck them in the ground near the river. Hopefully they will grow. Having vegetation along the river bank helps stabilize it so it doesn't erode away.
This is the first time I have been out in the "back 40" since my return to Montana this Spring. The river level is rising as it is now higher than it has been since last July.
I found that a pine tree blew over (snapped off) over the winter. Another tree to cut up for firewood. Good thing my uncle is coming to visit me in May!
Those two dead end branches at the top of the willow tree weighed on my mind. Today I climbed to the peak of my steep garage roof, and with a foot on each side of the peak, I tossed a rope with a weight on it over the dead ends of the branches. It took several attempts to get the rope over the branches as they were still way higher than me and hard to reach. Unfortunately it was easier to toss the rope over the power line between the house and the power pole by the garage. One time the rope missed the branches and the rest of the rope slid off the roof. *sigh*
It was a long climb up and down the ladder as the extension ladder was fully extended to reach the roof's peak. The roof is so steep that is the only safe way is to put the ladder to the peak.The rope was long enough that I could stand on the ground, and holding onto both ends of the rope, I could pull on the branch. *unnnghh...* The branches, while dead, still had strength to them. They would bend but not break. That explains how they tossed the large dead branch I cut last week through the garage roof. With more effort on my part the branches finally snapped off. I ran away and the branches missed me.
See the two branches on the top right? The second photo gives you an idea how high they are from the ground. In the second photo the two branches are on the top left.
Well, that's done. All the dead branches are off the willow tree. Now it can begin to grow again.
I also finished cutting up the dead branch that had fallen through the garage roof. I used a hand saw and got my exercise. I left the cut pieces in a pile for my uncle to split when he visits me. (He said he didn't want to go on long hikes...)
While I planned to do other things today, I decided to take a minute and burn the old hay in the corral the cattle never completely ate. The weather was perfect for burning as the wind was but a light breeze and was variable.
Since the burning went well, I ended up burning much of two of the three sections of the corral. Then I burnt in the northeast pasture along the corral fence. then along the loafing shed, then along the pole shed, then along the garage. Then I burnt the garden and fruit tree area, then the ditch between the road and the fruit tree area, before burning the ditch along the front yard.
The burning took time as I have the fire go against the wind as it is harder to burn and less likely to get out of control. I also don't let large areas burn at once. All this takes time.
I smell of smoke.
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