56 bar falls 29.73 4mph dew-point 29 Beltane, sunny and cool
Full Hare Moon
Cut down three blooming buckthorns before they could fruit. This radically changes the seed distribution pattern. My goal is to get to each one just before it blooms and whack it down, paint it with brush-b-gone and monitor the site for the next 3-4 years. Also finally cut down the rather large green ash that had long prevented the truck gate from opening all the way. The tree came down more easily than I had imagined. It had grown into the chain link and I thought I might only be able to cut part way through the base due to the imbedded chain link. Not so. It cracked and split, after I used the steel wedge to free my stuck chainsaw, leaving a clean stump inside the fence line and a fallen tree outside. Progress.
Kate, meanwhile, has taken the pruning charge seriously. She’s whacked, sawed, pulled, torn and lopped limbs and canes off Amur maples, red twig and grey ossier dogwood. When she gets going, get outta the way. An impressive pile of branches have mounted over the fence line. They need to go to the Habitat for Furry Animals site.
A glorious Sunday.
Watched Big Brown win Pimlico yesterday afternoon. Amazing. On the outside, running third at the final turn, I saw the jockey loose the reins a bit. It was a signal for a downshift, then accleration that took him past the others by the beginning of the straightaway. As Big Brown pulled away, the jockey rose up in the saddle and checked between his legs to see the rest of the field. They were way behind. Fun to watch run.
