Wow, been a while!

It has been quite a while since I updated this series or been out to the woods. A new addition to the family in the form of a little girl will do that to a person. I had to make time to get out and check on the pond and property. A few items on the to do list had to be taken care of also. The pond was very high when I first pulled in the gate; so a walk around was the first order of business. I shortly found out it was to be a slosh around. Water was pouring into the pond with only 1/2" of rain for the month. The ground was visibly saturated with lots of ponding everywhere a low spot occured. In the back of the property, the culvert leading into the pond had water flowing over it. The culvert for the pond dam end letting the spillway lead into the creek was practically washed out. A large pond has formed where the overflow pipe emptied behind the dam. Drainage needs to be deepened for it as the picture shows.l The standing water there explained the stressed trees in that area. Lots of dirt work is going to be needed in the future, probably to tear out the culverts and add small bridges instead.

I was able to work on realeasing a small area of saplings near the sawmill area. There was a funky post oak and some gnarly, bent cedar elms over topping them. I was able to take down most of them, but time constraints meant I had to leave 2-3 for the next time. I also cut some problem trees that were to close to more desireable trees on the way back. The wet ground prevented me from picking up any of the wood; so I stacked it neatly on the side of the path. I hope to accomplish more the next time I am, barring anymore water damage. I need to finish releasing rhw incomplete area and cutting that wood into firewood. I then need to mark and cut any other bad form trees leading up to that area. I have the property blocked out into 5 areas, and I never really worked on area 1 last year. Twice the work, but twice the fun!