Fogbow

Power’s back, and one of our outdoor cats, Ivy, has returned. Still waiting to see if White Mike makes his way back here.

White Mike is back! But we might have to call him Grey Mike for awhile yet.

So sorry to hear of your loss, but so happy for you that it wasn’t worse!

On the critters

Frater I*I wrote: ↑Fri Mar 22, 2024 12:02 pm

Maybenaut wrote: ↑Fri Mar 22, 2024 11:59 am Talked to the insurance company yesterday. Everything will be covered. I’m supposed to hear from the adjuster today. We need to make a list of everything that was in the barn. There was quite a bit of stuff, but we’ll be able to do that.

Don't forget to include the Picasso...

And of course your one of a kind antique Lamborghini tractor!

Now that it’s dark we can see that there are still a few hot spots on the property - mostly glowing coals but a few small flames. The rain is supposed to start soon.

Maybenaut wrote: ↑Fri Mar 22, 2024 2:06 pm

It’s going to start raining here at 10:00 pm, and we’re expecting an inch in the next 24 hours. That ought to help.

Doan wanna be 'that guy' , but...

The rain will hopefully help knock down a lot of the embers and internally burning stumps, but now you gotta pay attention to erosion and landslips caused by the rain since your ground cover is gone. You are already complaining about slides of loose rock held in place by the now gone kudzu.

Don’t worry, I was already ‘that guy.’ We’re very concerned about landslides. Much as I hate the kudzu, it did its job. And it’ll be back.

It’s nice to hear the rain on the roof.

Yeah, kudzu is pretty indestructible, and will be back. Keith is right, though, the rain will help with hotspots but might wash away a bit of uncovered soil.

Ol' Wifehorn and I are keeping our fingers crossed.

We saw a snowplow drive by here a bit ago

Kudzu control.

https://www.srs.fs.usda.gov/pubs/ja/ja_miller006.pdf

Yikes, it's still spreading. Oregon was mentioned...

I wonder if there's a native ground cover that could be planted now that would keep the kudzu from coming back, or compete with it.

pipistrelle wrote: ↑Sat Mar 23, 2024 9:47 am Kudzu control.

https://www.srs.fs.usda.gov/pubs/ja/ja_miller006.pdf

Yikes, it's still spreading. Oregon was mentioned...

I wonder if there's a native ground cover that could be planted now that would keep the kudzu from coming back, or compete with it.

Nothing can compete with kudzu, including ground covers and huge trees. It's illegal to plant in several states because it's so destructive. Almost half the vine is underground and even after being burned off or sprayed, one little tiny root or node left in the soil will result in a new takeover of the land. There's a reason it's known as "the vine that ate the South."
Thanks, Japan!

We had the septic guy here this morning. The septic system and the underground fresh water cistern were damaged. The septic tank is plastic and needs to be completely replaced. The cistern is concrete. The guy said it can probably be sanitized and repaired. The plastic riser coming up out of the tank and the plastic manhole cover burned off, but the tank is otherwise OK, just full of dirty water.

The barn needs to be torn down and rebuilt. We might relocate it to a different part of the property.

Now the whole place smells like yesterday’s campfire.

If I could just get the insurance company (USAA) to return my calls. I was assigned an adjuster, who has me on ignore. I have yet to speak to her. The intake person said she would return my call within 24 hours. That was Thursday. I left a message Monday and yesterday. Crickets. Her voicemail has the name and extension of her supervisor. That will be my next call.

Maybenaut wrote: ↑Fri Mar 22, 2024 8:27 pm White Mike is back! But we might have to call him Grey Mike for awhile yet.

IMG_8740.jpeg

We’re slowly bouncing back from the fire. Still waiting to get the septic repaired. Got the barn pulled down yesterday. Spent many thousands of dollars clearing out the dead trees.

Since the undergrowth was gone we could see the terrain a little better, so we cut some new roads that will mostly be walking trails. We chipped up a lot of the wood we cut down, and we’ll use those wood chips on the trails.

The charred logs that were too big for the wood chipper went to a local guy who has an outdoor wood-fired boiler he uses for hot water and radiators. He doesn’t mind getting covered in soot, apparently. We separated the non-charred wood and we’ll split that for ourselves.

Meanwhile, the deer are returning. A very pregnant doe passed by our security camera last night. And my husband found this little dude this morning.

Ah!

We once had a doe give birth right at the bottom of our back deck steps. Cute.