Tales From the Woods

The weather has warmed, and we've been spending a lot of time at Wyndanwood. We continue to clear trails and keep the plant growth under control on the dike. I started cutting the wild grape vines out of the woods, a project that will never be finished. Dorothy has started some plants - water irises and Cana lillies - at water's edge around the dike.

I had some friends out last week and I spent quite a bit of time getting the place ready for their visit. I set up a tent, stuck some Tiki torches into the ground, filled two coolers with beer, water and soft drinks, and raised the official Wyndanwood flag. You can't see all of that in this picture, but you get the drift. The first guests arrived a little before noon, and the last arrived around 5 o'clock. In the meantime, we played with our paintball guns and did some fishing. We caught probably 50 fish among us, mostly large mouth bass, but there were also a few crappies and blue gills. (For those not familiar with crappies, it rhymes with poppies.) That was the first time I stayed overnight out there, and I left the tent up, assuming I'd be doing it again several times over the summer and fall.

We took a walk down the trail to the dike, where I showed off the new landscaping around the spillway. Nice, eh?







Dorothy had told me the story of a sign her mother had kept at the farm, and its modern replacement can be seen here. "Hither" points to the spot where a house will someday be built; "thither" points to the road; and "yon" points to the dike and the pond and the woods beyond. Appropriate, I think.

Then there was Saturday. I've been looking for the right boat to put on the pond, and we finally found one. We bought the boat and trailer from a nice couple from Seven Hills, Ohio, and got it back to the farm after a 7-hour round trip (including the time needed to negotiate the deal and take care of the paperwork). Although it is not yet in the water (waiting for the dock), I think it's going to be perfect for the pond. This picture doesn't show much of the boat, but I'll take a picture after we drop her in the water.