Life On The Hill

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Re: Life On The Hill

Postby pa_friendly_guy » Tue Jul 21, 2015 5:04 pm

The garden is in full swing now. I picked my 1st tomato today, we have been picking beans, cukes, zucchini, garden geens, onions etc. Pulled the garlic the other day, the hard neck was nice well formed heads, the soft neck was small and mis-shappened. I will save the largest heads of the soft neck to use for seed, if next years crop is no better I think I will stop growing it. The soft neck is said to last longer, but my hard neck seems to last pretty well for me, so I think the larger well shaped heads are the ticket.
Never doubt that a small group of dedicated people can change the world, indeed it is the only thing that ever has.
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Re: Life On The Hill

Postby pa_friendly_guy » Fri Sep 04, 2015 12:43 am

I had a dead oak tree taken down the other day. It had died and was 10 feet from my frame garage, and over hanging another tree in the yard I wanted to save. So I felt it was worth paying a guy with a bucket truck to take it down piece by piece so there was no damage. I went in on a log splitter with 3 other guys a year or two ago, so I brought it over and got all the tree split . There were some very large pieces, some logs I got 12 to 13 pieces of split fire wood from each log. I had some trouble rolling them to the splitter, I didn't try to lift them. I got better than a cord of split fire wood. When I was done with that I had some large stuff that had been sitting on the ground for the last 2 or 3 years so I decided to spit that as well. Much of it had turned to mush and was pretty well rotted away. I had split a few logs when I went to grab the next log to be split, it turn out to be full of BEES. HOLY MOLY, I took off a running, swatting bees, through off my gloves, hat, ear protecting, and just ran. They got me about 9 times, both hands, right above the left eye, left arm sort of under the arm. The 6 stings under the arm are bothering me the most. The hands swelled a bit and hurt some, the one over the eye itches, but the ones under the arm are in a soft place and hurt the most. I went into the house to treat my self, and 6 or 7 bees came in with me. I got the fly swatter and wacked at them until I had gotten them all. Since I have been keeping bees I have not been stung much [ other than the 1st day, and the one time I worked them with out equipment ] So I sort of forgot what a bee sting feels like, Its sore as heck and it is itchy too, lol :lol: That was sort of my excitement for the day.
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Re: Life On The Hill

Postby TruGrit » Fri Sep 04, 2015 12:00 pm

... dang Guy, sorry to here of your bee encounter .. those li'l stinkers can be painful .. when I had my encounter, it was the second nite that kept me awake with every small cut or bump all of a sudden extra sensitive .. hope you heal up quick!
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Re: Life On The Hill

Postby Lollykoko » Sat Sep 05, 2015 3:00 am

The bees in the old logs aren't bees from your hive, are they Guy? I'm not a beekeeper, but have run afoul of wood borer bees in an old woodpile. :roll: Baking soda poultice helps the stings stop hurting, with benedryl used to deal with itchy allergy reactions, if you have any.
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Re: Life On The Hill

Postby pa_friendly_guy » Sat Sep 05, 2015 12:59 pm

They are definitely not the bees from my hive. They are a different type of bee entirely. I took some Benadryl and put dome cortisone cream on the stings. Last night I was reading about Vicks Vapo Rub to stop bug bites from itching, so I tried some, and it worked! I was shocked, but it really helped, I was able to get a good nights sleep and it really stopped the itching. Now this morning the bites are itching again and the soreness has returned, so it is just a temporary fix, but it did really help stop the itching and the soreness. I would recommend it to everyone. [ And Baking Soda does work if applied quickly ]
Never doubt that a small group of dedicated people can change the world, indeed it is the only thing that ever has.
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Re: Life On The Hill

Postby pa_friendly_guy » Tue Nov 17, 2015 6:03 pm

Its been awhile since I last posted, I have been busy. :D Been sucking up leaves, have 40 cart loads done, all the fruit trees and nut trees have been mulched, as well as the flower beds, and the garden has a large pile ready to be put in my new huglebed. I went to Kansas City for the wedding of an old friend, made a little vacation out of the trip. Visited Lincoln's museum in Springfield, Mark Twains cave, visited Hannibal Mo, went to Independence and saw Harry Truman's home and museum, and saw some old college friends at the wedding. It was a lovely trip. When I got home I really needed to suck up leaves, I got a good many loads done, and was mowing on the bank out front sucking leaves, something I have done for 30 years, got into some soft dirt on the low side and the 18hp tractor rolled over, throwing me onto the road and pinning my right leg under the machine. The mower blades were still on, and the tractor started to smoke badly from the oil going places it didn't belong. The mower shut off by itself, It took some time to free my leg, No one came by while I was on the road. When I got free I started to take a look and see how bad things were, as I did that I noticed some red spots on the road. I wondered at 1st what they could be, but then I looked down at my leg and saw that my sock and shoe was covered in blood. Went to the house and hollered for my wife to come [ I didn't want to drip blood all over the house ] turns out she was busy, so I called her again and this time she begrudging came to see what I wanted. I told her what had happened, she got me some paper towels, and asked several questions about the tractor etc, about her 3rd question was about my condition, :lol: :lol: I guess that she could see that I was mobile. Got the mower turned upright with my big tractor and got it back to the garage to see what damage I had. Put the vac system back together and tried to straighten the carts hitch. It broke of from metal fatigue. Got my neighbor to weld it for me so I could finish the day. His welding lasted about 13 loads before it broke again and the cart up set again. This time I had a guy I know well make me a new part and re-weld the hitch. It should work well now. I am almost done with the leaves now, we have had a lot of wind here so I will get about 10 loads less than normal, and that is alright with me, lol. My leg is healing OK , it still hurts some. I should have gone and gotten a stitch or 2, it was a pretty deep cut, but I was in a hurry. Oh well, it will heal.
I have most of the dirt out of the hole for my next huglebed, its a little over 10' X 10" and I am getting a lot of rocks out of the garden. I will put down the logs next and get a load of horse poop to put down deep in the hole. Always something to do when you have property. lol
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Re: Life On The Hill

Postby Lollykoko » Wed Nov 18, 2015 3:17 am

Glad to hear that you're going to heal! Horrible luck rolling down the slope like that and getting stuck under the machine. Glad to know that the road didn't have any traffic, except for the idea that there was no one to help you out.
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Re: Life On The Hill

Postby TruGrit » Wed Nov 18, 2015 5:34 am

.. good lord Guy, be careful out there .. glad it wasn't too bad .. easy to get into some scary situations in this business .. stay safe!
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Re: Life On The Hill

Postby pa_friendly_guy » Wed Nov 18, 2015 12:55 pm

I have mowed that bank for 35 years, it is a little steep, but only 2 mowers wide, so I am not on it all that long. The fact that the Township had come along and burmed the road [ I had tried to replace what they had scraped off with what they had brought me for fill, but it was soft and not packed in ] The cart was 1/2 full of leaves which contributed to my problem, I think the cart is what rolled over and brought the mower with it. I sit on the fender when I mow the bank, my mower is old enough that I can get off the seat to do that, but it was not enough to keep me from ending up out in the street pinned under the tractor this time. I guess it only takes once :o
Never doubt that a small group of dedicated people can change the world, indeed it is the only thing that ever has.
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Re: Life On The Hill

Postby matt walker » Thu Nov 19, 2015 4:01 pm

Holy cow Guy! I'm so glad you are okay!
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