Getting ready for the Spring!

We've been consumed with so many projects lately! I haven't had much time for so many things I had planned for October! We have been doing a lot of clearing of our woods! We are so excited every time we manage to dispose of a nasty Mesquite tree! These pictures don't really do justice to the process since you can't see how thick it was "before." We still have a long way to go, but the burn ban was only lifted yesterday. Finally! We can now start burning the large piles of trees and brush, burning the nasty Mesquite stumps, and cooking out and roasting marshmallows! Yae! Because of the drought, even cooking with a charcoal grill has been outlawed around here since June or July, so we are so excited!

We're preparing our garden area for Spring. I sure hate to lose those cedar trees that have turned orange. Cedar trees don't really do that unless they are dead, but I'm still holding out hope that these babies will recover. We have about 5 of them turning orange at the perimeter of our property. They provide a lot of privacy and I sure hope they rebound. We are dumping lots of horse manure on the garden plot. Byron loves to play on that tractor. He had visions of working the soil with the tractor all winter to get it nice and ready for spring planting, but you have to think back before machines, chemicals, and science. God planned for things to grow - he made the leaves fall and the earth lay dormant during winter. All this serves a purpose. Microbes and pathogens and bugs and decay all need to do their thing in the winter. So, really the best way to prepare for spring planting is to do nothing. We'll cover the dirt with horse manure, dead leaves, and some mulchy stuff before winter. And... I am hoping to build some great compost bins. From what I have read, once we have planted we only need to use horse manure that has been properly composted. I worry about using Saxie's manure since one of her very favorite foods seems to be - Mesquite beans. I sure hope I am not fighting Mesquites out of the garden too!

And this nasty looking disaster is our pool. Yep. It's a mess! Best advice I could find on the Internet and pool store said that this is what you have to do to winterize your pool. Byron never liked the idea, but I pushed for it because, cover it up, and I am done till May. Done with all the chemicals and vacuuming and expense. Then we started talking to people around here who have pools. Nobody in our area really does this. Some do if they have a $300 water pump on the top of the cover, but most just keep chemicaling and vacuuming. So I guess we are going to scrap the pool cover fiasco and get back to it. Oh well, maybe I can plan a youth group polar plunge in January, float some candles in it at Christmas - get SOME use out of it.