New Fence, Day Two

Day two of the new fencing saw the return of the Bobcat, this time with a giant fuck-off auger to dig postholes.  Take THAT, rocks!

Not to say that they didn't put up one Hell of a fight--that Bobcat twisted and bucked and sometimes didn't have all of it's wheels on the ground.  But the postholes got dug!

Another advantage to the Bobcat running around was it's ability to grind any die-hard weeds into bits.

The section on the right will be my future raised-bed vegetable garden.

The yard, just to be polite, obligingly barfed up some yardgarbage for us.

It's a hubcap!

The garden area again, looking towards the chicken yard and house.  We'd like to run electrical out to the chicken coop for lights and heat in winter, plus an outdoor electrical outlet back here would be spiffy.

Another look at the garden area.  We will still have to run pipe for a hose bib or two out here (winter weather/water pressure permitting), right now the only one is by the back door of the house, and that's a loooong stretch to get out here.

It's gettin' there!

What A Drag!

Literally!

Today was 'Drag the Yard' day, so we got some chain, grabbed one of the huge old railroad ties out back and strapped it to the Jeep.  Now that the Hell-begotten junipers and their stumps are gone, we are down to things like tumbleweeds, nettles, bullheads, etc.  Plus the requisite half a cubic ton of trash, some of which continues to surface after every hard rain like a gift from Satan.

So, around and around we went.

The weeds laughed and merely looked well-groomed.

Hmmm...OK, a few more rounds of dragging, doing our best to avoid the little orange cable TV flag markers.

Better...but we still had lots to contend with.

Not to mention the crap in the corners that the drag couldn't reach.

We also tried to avoid the white marker paint the fence guys had put down.  This is where the divider fence for my raised bed vegetable garden will go.

The railroad tie could only do so much, so we switched to a chunk of scrap chain link weighted with cinder blocks to try and rip the weeds out. 

The bag of chicken food in the back of the Jeep just gave it more traction.

The chain link finishes what the railroad tie started.  Kind of.

Round and round we go.

Vroomy vroom vroom!

MORE WEIGHT!  Time for some of those damned rocks to earn their keep.

The chickens were going insane because here we were scratching with another big autochicken and they couldn't join in.

BAWK BAWK BAWK!

Pretty soon we went full bore and used chain link, cinder blocks, rocks AND railroad ties.  This did the trick!

...except those damned corners.  I see some hand clearing in my future. But hey, at least the bulk of the ground is cleared enough so that the fence guys won't kill themselves.

What won't I not miss about the back part of the old field fence.  One stiff breeze and the thing is toast.

Especially the gate.  The gate is like the crowning joke.  Held kinda-shut by rusty baling wire, the rocks help hold it in place and we pray they keep the larger critters out.

Niiiiccee.....I especially like how the latch doesn't come within 4 inches of the gate.  Helpful!

The yard did it's requisite weird shit barfing.  This damned thing was ridiculously sharp.  Husband says it's a chunk of spiky metal that acts as a roofing cap.

 
It looks like someone's rototiller got ahold of it.  The kid said she could wear it on her fist as defense against bullies.  While I agree that high school can be tough, that might be taking things a *bit* too far.

RAWR...

The weather has warmed enough during the days to melt the ice flow out back and sufficiently thaw the ground for digging.  Mostly.

So today we went out and attacked the dead juniper stumps and other assorted stupid yard-leavings-from-Hell from previous owners.  One juniper stump--a small one, to be sure, but it counts, dammit--is out.

Also, current score is Junipers: 1, Yard Tools:  0

Oddly enough,it was the other end of the tool that was being used to pummel at the ground when the blade broke off and tried to kill my husband.  The good news is, True Temper has a lifetime guarantee on their tools, which may be bad news for them depending on how much digging we do.  At any rate, the thing took one for the team against our rocky soil.  'Soil', ahaha.  Like there's any actual dirt in our dirt.

Onward to just one of the messes left behind by the previous homeowners, may they rot in He--anyway, today's other project was trying to pry out the two old concrete and rotted 4x4 wood post footings.  I assume they were a hitching post.  Happily, rather than remove them when they were no longer useful, the previous homeowners instead planted %$#@! juniper bushes right next to them to just cover them over so they'd lurk for 20 years just for us so WE could scream with delight when we found them.

After diligently digging away at the things while quietly sobbing over the summer to no effect, we borrowed two tools from my mom--huge, fuck-off steel pikes.  One is about 6 feet long and weighs around 10-15 pounds, the other is 8 feet and must weigh 20-25 pounds.  These are the tools of freakin' champions and get the job done, although the small one is deemed 'cute' and pretty quickly set aside in favor of the big boss.

A toehold is all we need!

Although Dusty is doubtful as to the outcome.

Dig, Dusty, dig!

The dog is no help and wanders off.

RAWR.  Stubborness FTW!

The concrete pad is loosened and flipped out, unfortunately the wooden post obstinately remains and will require more digging.  Going by the other half-assed 'homeowner repairs' we've found around here, we're banking on this chunk of concrete being the only one in this hole, but on the other hand I would put it past Fate to have a second one lurking down there, the miserable asshole.

On to concrete wad #2! Prybar in action...

DOUBLE RAWR.

Again, though, the post stays behind and isn't appear to be in any hurry to vacate.  Here's how both lined up.

 

 
This should make digging that one dead juniper stump out easier--the roots had gone under and all around the concrete wad so getting the concrete out first was necessary.  Plus we have to get the wood posts out and bust up the old concrete with a sledge.  Once we get the pick replaced I can whale away at them.  But having the accursed things out is a huge step forward.

To heck with things like jewelry and $600 pairs of shoes--I dream of new tools like a sledgehammer, a heavy-duty pick, a splitting maul, a good ax and woodsplitting wedges.

The cool giant rocks will be rolled into one spot and become part of the small water feature I want to put in in the future.  Meanwhile, getting the back yard cleared and ready for my Arbor Day Foundation trees that are incoming in about 2-3 months, plus getting the yard ready and safe for the chickens, is progressing.

Latest Yard Barf

Latest thing I pulled from the ground in the back yard...

 

A gigantic snaffle bit worthy of a freakin' Clydesdale. Also another horseshoe for a total of 3 so far.  I'm thinkin' the final one will be attached to a hoof...attached to a leg...attached to a shoulder...

Wait, Wait, WAAAIIT!

I have to admit, when I found the FIRST piece of rebar driven into the ground like freakin' Excalibur, I growled imprecations at the previous tenants.

Last night when I found the second, I whimpered.

There is no doubt in my mind that each of these is at least 6 feet long and was meticulously and maliciously painstakingly hammered into the ground just to screw over the future homeowner. They aren't in line with the sprinklers so I doubt they are marking out anything to do with them. I also fully expect to find more of the things.

Nearby these two chunks of ankle-breakers are the two wads-of-concrete-with-rotted-wood posts postholes I uncovered. None of them line up so it's pretty clear they are unrelated. Now I have to figure out WHY they hammered rebar into the ground with such malevolent enthusiasim.

Whatever the answer is...lord, it can't be good.

Marching Forward...

Rounding the far turn and entering the home stretch with the back yard! We're down to the last bank of juniper/cypress plants. This batch is harboring more big rocks than the others, and just as much trash. But be gone they eventually will be, although we're trying to salvage some of the cypress plants as cover for the chickens for now.

The ones on the left have been partially cleaned up and shaped. Today we found more rotting dog toys, several balls, a large yellow plastic dish and a child's sweatshirt, plus a metric ton of trash.

Also, I made a fertile egg trade with a local lady and got these lovelies!

I gave her some Belgian d'Uccle, Americauna, Giant Cochin, Brahma, Barred Rock and New Hampshire eggs. She has a mixed flock like ours, with Light Brahma and Golden Polish roos running with Sicilian Buttercup, Silver Laced Wyandotte, Rhode Island Red, Leghorn, Golden Polish, Light Brahma and Orpington hens. They go into the incubator along with our hen's eggs on Saturday!

Yay for more chickens with silly doodads on their heads!

Juniper Removal Blearily Continues...

I'm starting to think that this job, like painting the den, will never be done, despite me knowing for a fact that work is done on it every single day.

But at any rate, two juniper stumps are now out and one more is most of the way out, leaving one more after it in this area. After they are gone, this is where the pond, a drawf weeping maple and a big white rose bush will go, incorporating lots of the rocks from the back yard. The good news is I unearthed a sprinkler head near here today, so the water pipes are already in place.

The fun part of the half-dug-out stump in the foreground is that RIGHT next to it, in the area between the stump and shovel, is another huge wad of concrete and the remains of a 6x6 redwood post--just like the OTHER one we found the other day on the other side of the chain link, way over in front of the chicken run.

Neither of these two match up along the same lines, so whatever the Hell used to be here, these two posts & concrete are unconnected. Who the Hell plants a plant RIGHT next to an old concrete posthole?!

Which means we'll very, very likely find even more of these, like big crappy land mines.

Juniper Removal Continues, Now With More Tools!

So now the back yard is juniper free! Today was more branch hauling to the monsterously huge brush pile in the back of the property, which the local quail have decided is peachy keen and are living in. Guess clearing away the pile will wait until after baby quail season...

The trash lasagna plant by the back door is cleared except for it's stump, the remaining cypress plants may stay if we can get them under control and cleaned out. The cypresses got into the fun by yakking up another 6 foot metal fence post. The pointless tripping hazard of old bender board half frost-heaved from the ground was removed.

We even got the stump of the dead juniper pried out, thanks to a huge freakin' rock and a spare chain link post we found in the yard. Thanks Archimedes, yay for fulcrums/levers!

We're now trying to figure out where to logically put the fence to connect the chicken run and back yard, and plan ahead for future projects like the raised bed garden I want at the back of the property. I only want to place fence ONCE. On the plus side, the two metal fence posts the junipers & cypresses gifted us with can be resused for the new fence. I spent yesterday repairing holes in the chain link from the previous tenant's horses and moving cut branches, so my arms look like I thrust them into a bag of angry pumas. Today's weird trash yield included the cap for the chain link gate post, a screwdriver and a small sledgehammer in pretty fair condition, also a huge chunk of concrete that obviously held a 6x6 redwood post. This means either a gate or hitching post, which means sooner or later the other shoe will drop and we'll find a matching wad of concrete half-buried nearby. Next I expect the junipers to cough up a prison shiv and try to shank me.