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I've mentioned in other threads that I haven't been able to do any mowing (other than up close to the house once or twice) for a couple of years, but I've finally been able to get it done, and (other than a couple of fenced back pastures that are currently vacant, and around the two ponds) I'm finally getting it done...and I'll get the rest of it done (as well as cutting up dead/standing trees and fallen-from-storms trees - which will keep us warm) over the next month or two - weather allowing.

It looks pretty nice around here in the fall (albeit suffering with these frigid 76° F. temps with this harsh 9 mph breeze in the latter part of November).

Since I've managed to mow some previously-neglected (yeah...for two years) areas down from (depending on the type of weed) 2-feet-high to 6-feet-high - DOWN TO about 1-inch high (with no thatch), I thought I'd take a few pics (on the way up) of the land surrounding the road into this place (after doing repair deliveries to some schools over in Mehfuss). The pictures are ONLY of the part of our property up most of the road that gets one up to the main part of the property (where it finally opens out into a huge poorly-drawn rectangle)...so what you're seeing are snapshots of only the c. three acres of land along our road to get up into here. Those of you who've brought us repairs have seen the place, so these are for anyone else curious - and/or who might visit us in the future.

I like it here...I would like to stay a few more years...but a place like this can easily get out of hand - even for a young man (which I ain't).

The free range tubas must be really happy and healthy there. Looks great.

Um, its snowing here.

The outside of the house needs some attention...but - for now - we're concentrating on both rebuilding savings and getting out of debt (after the economic shutdown, whereby I had to - more than ever - prop up two adult children who don't do very well for themselves, while - at the same time - income streams were shut down).

The school repairs - this year - are exploding. We keep thinking they're coming to a close, but we continue to receive more.

I really would like to do some house repairs and go out into the property, cut down/cut up the dead and blown-over-trees, repair a couple of fences, repair a couple of small barns that we built, repair some stuff on the house (etc., etc., etc...) and (yes) MOW the rest of the place...

...but (again) its just two of us, and - between us - around 140 years experience being humans.

Frankly, I'm becoming LESS interested in playing the tuba, and chose to not sign an offered contract (after fifteen years or so) to do a regular gig anymore (too many days away from blokeplace, and too many city cooties...I'd come home sick after a majority of the two-three-four days away.)

I loaded up a bunch of stuff to take back to two schools this morning, and it had been so long since the last time I had left the property that the battery isn't charged enough to turn over the engine.

I like Mrs. bloke, I like the cats, I like the dogs, I like the pasture animals, I like e-chatting with you folks. I like staying away from cities. Gigs are ok, but being away from home for three-or-more days sucks, picking up city cooties sucks, and driving home (dodging deer) at 11-12-1 at night in all weather...sucks.

That second picture is really nice. Postcard like even.


Anyone remember those things?

York-aholic wrote: Tue Nov 18, 2025 8:52 pm That second picture is really nice. Postcard like even.


Anyone remember those things?

I cut down horrid Bradford (ornamental/invasive) pear trees (sorta right where those two rows of oaks now stand) within a week of buying this place, brought those nuttall oak trees home (1" diameter) in the back of my old Ford truck and planted them. It was a very hot/dry summer, the ground was as hard as concrete, my friend was over here doing a few things for me with his backhoe, and I had him dig the holes for the roots (once I plotted them out)...50 feet spacing, 25 feet offset from one side to the other.

same picture to which you referred:
That IS a full highway size "STOP AHEAD" sign that you're seeing. When the big gates are closed (actually steel framed with cedar boards bolted to the steel frame...Mrs. bloke and I built that), it's got a full-sized STOP sign mounted on one of the gates (as well as two 1000 lumens motion-detecting light systems).

Beautiful grounds, @bloke. I like the Buda in the garden. Though, there is something to be said for our sagebrush. You don't have to mow it or water it. Beyond 150 feet from the house we don't do anything to it. Close to the house is gravel and pavers. Beyond 50 feet, we keep the bunch grass and other wild stuff mowed short out to 150 feet. Beyond that, the deer take care of it. They don't eat sagebrush but they do eat bitter brush which is even more flamable than sage and anything else that's not fenced to about 7 feet. All this activity is so we can get fire insurance AT ALL. And it ain't cheap.

Living out of town does have its advantages but in early '20 I wasn't careful enough about crowds and caught Covid. That was no fun at all. With the long-covid I lost my ability to read music and had to have the other trumpet player play my part while I memorized it. I couldn't play the first parts or I'd break into fits of coughing. This went on for a year or more. I might have picked it up at the Christmas bazar, so now I'm more cautious about going out. I'm even a bit concerned about playing symphony concerts in a hall of 500 people with 50 singers and a dozen or more wind players. They have to shut the antique HVAC system down during the concert because of the noise. And I've all but quit going to the pub for the same reason. The one I do frequent has good ventilation and isn't too crowded. I do like a jam session but those and the open mics don't usually fill the place to the point I worry about bugs. When ski season starts up I limit my exposure and go to Arizona for a couple of months on the theory that there's not a lot of cooties in Arizona. Maybe I'll get to Tucson this year. How many folks on this forum are in Arizona or the California desert?

1 Ton Tommy wrote: Wed Nov 19, 2025 4:03 pm Living out of town does have its advantages but in early '20 I wasn't careful enough about crowds and caught Covid. That was no fun at all. With the long-covid I lost my ability to read music and had to have the other trumpet player play my part while I memorized it. I couldn't play the first parts or I'd break into fits of coughing. This went on for a year or more. I might have picked it up at the Christmas bazar, so now I'm more cautious about going out. I'm even a bit concerned about playing symphony concerts in a hall of 500 people with 50 singers and a dozen or more wind players. They have to shut the antique HVAC system down during the concert because of the noise. And I've all but quit going to the pub for the same reason. The one I do frequent has good ventilation and isn't too crowded. I do like a jam session but those and the open mics don't usually fill the place to the point I worry about bugs. When ski season starts up I limit my exposure and go to Arizona for a couple of months on the theory that there's not a lot of cooties in Arizona. Maybe I'll get to Tucson this year. How many folks on this forum are in Arizona or the California desert?

wishing only the best for you...

I certainly don't water any of this turf (other than the garden, when we actually plant stuff...or part of one of the pastures - where we were trying to get the bermudagrass to fill on it). EVEN THOUGH our water is well water, and our electric rates are some of the nation's lowest.

I just don't need this stuff growing any faster than it already does (particularly - as stated - with the last two years (Oct. - June) being rain-rain-rain).

In case of a (rare) dry winter (whereby there are a few small "wildfires" here and there mostly next to the highways in the adjacent woods - usually due to trucks-pulling-trailers dragging their safety chains and generating sparks), I go out (in the winter) and cut turf (within a few hundred feet of the house) down to "the quick" (as low as the mower will go without cutting dirt). I also have a Honda pump (which can pull water from the ponds (and keep the house from catching on fire...though it's pretty hard to catch solid 8" horizontal logs on fire...particularly when the house is built on a tall crawl space.

bloke, you have a beautiful property! The open space between the trees is beautiful.

Do you have feral pigs around?

Would love to make the 19 hour drive down at some point soon!

leaves:
We don't rake any leaves.
A few end up in the drive-thru carport...but not many...and - we'll be doing a major carport cleaning with a 6/4 BB-flat push broom (and an electric leaf blower which is built into our old Ridgid shop vac, whereby the vacuum motor unclips and coverts).

As the JD 777 can plow through 6-feet-tall weeds (and - though I probably shouldn't) up to 5/8" trees, anyone should understand that it easily chops up leaves into "mulch", and (as I continue to work mowed thatch over into the edge of the woods (other than some areas where this isn't an option) the leaved all end up being tiny particles.

(Between 18 - 19 years ago, I paid more for this thing - USED - than I've ever paid for any car...72" cut, and radiator-cooled)

1 Ton Tommy wrote: Wed Nov 19, 2025 4:03 pm Though, there is something to be said for our sagebrush. You don't have to mow it or water it. Beyond 150 feet from the house we don't do anything to it. Close to the house is gravel and pavers. Beyond 50 feet, we keep the bunch grass and other wild stuff mowed short out to 150 feet. Beyond that, the deer take care of it. They don't eat sagebrush but they do eat bitter brush which is even more flamable than sage and anything else that's not fenced to about 7 feet. All this activity is so we can get fire insurance AT ALL. And it ain't cheap.

When I retire I’m seriously considering starting a landscaping company that focuses on wildland fire defensible space. Certainly earned enough certifications on both the wildland and structural side to call myself an “expert” but in reality it’s all common sense that anyone thinking critically about it could come up with on their own.

It's Beautiful, Joe!

Thank you for posting! Such terrific pictures!