Burn Pile Is Set on Fire

August 6, 2026 On August 5, Bruce decided to set the burn pile on fire. He was dragging the hose to the burn pile, while I was heading to the blueberry circle to weed. I only weeded for a couple of hours. This time I understood just how much work weeding the blueberry circle is. […]

Almost Done Taming the Flower Bed Jungle

August 4, 2026 On August 1, 2026, in the morning and afternoon, Bruce and I did a lot of outdoor work. In the evening, I saw this bird on the feeder. Using the picture, the Merlin app wasn’t able to identify the bird. When I used the step by step, I was able to find […]

And the Jungle Is Less Wild

August 1, 2026 On July 30, in the late afternoon and early evening, Bruce used the leaf sweeper mower attachment for sweeping the hay from mowing. Bruce used his soaked water vest to keep cool. While Bruce was sweeping the yard, he saw a mouse. He said the mouse ran away from him and stuck […]

And Now, Back to the Present

July 30, 2026 On July 26, we started to try to tame jungle Blackberry Homestead had become. We had an overnight thunderstorm that knocked down an old branch from the oak. Bruce mowed at the highest setting on the mower deck. There was no speed mowing that Bruce normally enjoys. It was slow going and […]

Tractor Used to Move More Dirt and Attack the Grassy Knoll

June 9, 2026 On June 26, while I was out in the garden, Bruce was playing using the tractor to move dirt. He put more dirt in the holes left in the south side yard from digging out roots. See https://retirementrvdream.com/2026/05/23/watching-bruce-enjoy-the-new-toy-tractor/ for the removal of the roots. Bruce smoothed out the dirt with the front […]

And Now, Back to Our Regular Work

July 2, 2026 On June 18, with our friends, Larry and Jeanne, from the blog ajeanneinthekitchen.com, driving towards the sunset, oh wait, they headed away from the sunrise. It was way to early to even think about sunset. I digress. Bruce and I felt the need to check the gardens and orchard and get to […]

Getting Ready for Friends to Visit

June 22, 2026 On June 13 and 14, Bruce and I focused on getting Blackberry Homestead ready for our friends to see. Jeanne from ajeanneinthekitchen.com and her husband, Larry were coming all the way from Westminster, Colorado to visit. We were meeting them in Nashville, Tennessee on Monday, June 15. After seeing some famous spots […]

More Clean Up on Pine Tree Three with Chainsaw and Tractor

June 21, 2026 While I was out in the garden twisting the tomatoes around strings hanging down from the trellis frame, Bruce was playing working with his chainsaw and tractor. After I finished up with the tomatoes, I went over to see what Bruce was up to. He had chainsawed most of the way through […]

Flood Damage to Driveway

June 21, 2026 After the flood we had on June 7, on June 8, we took a look at the damage to the driveway. The flood water caused the gravel to wash from the driveway into the grass. The grass caught in the cage from the flood water was 20 to 26 inches high on […]

More Fun with the Tractor

June 21, 2026 On June 2, Bruce decided to do more playing work with the tractor. He moved dirt from the pile of dirt at the bottom of the driveway to the holes around the grassy knoll. He also used the tractor’s backhoe to work at breaking apart the root ball of Pine Tree Three. […]