Flotsam, Jetsam, & Detritus

I spent much of the longest day of the year working in the yard and, yes, mowed the lawn. We should have anticipated this but both Robbie and I were surprised at how much easier it is to steer a riding mower when the tires aren’t flopping around. 🙂

It would be nice, though, if I could figure out a way to monetize grass clippings. I don’t have a good place for a compost pile so I have to collect them every time and pass them on to the garbage men. They are, luckily, very willing to take them.

I also pruned a few bushes that were obstructing the view through the sun porch windows. Those branches also have to be sent away – but I only have two bins. I put the yard waste out in shifts every week.

There was another kind of harvest the other day – the rockweed boats were here. I’m really torn about this activity – on the one hand, ecosystem or no ecosystem, I’d love to have it all disappear. There are a trillion mosquitoes living in it and I wish them to another part of the galaxy.

Unfortunately the people collecting it (for use in cosmetics, paints, pet and livestock feed) leave the cuttings to float in the water. It’s a mess and full of really pissed off bugs. I don’t know how these men and women can tolerate the swarms of “skeeters” – I couldn’t do it.

We really need a zamboni-type of machine that could clean up the water. I’ll work on that.

There are still a lot of salmon nets in Otter Cove – in spite of the DFO-funded project to remove them. The person doing it seemed to think it would be a job he could finish in a couple of days – with equipment too light to lift most of them. He couldn’t see them in the mud and (for some reason) forgot that they were told that (conservatively) there were a hundred dumped in that area. Fishermen helped him out with their winches and by tagging the various nets he couldn’t see.

I guess he bid on the work based on his estimate not ours and has finished unless they decide to pay him more money. That isn’t going to happen.

I spent some time this week splitting wood – primarily logs that were too heavy for me to lift a couple of years ago. They’ve been drying out so I can manage more of them. This reminded me of all the reasons I prefer tamarack to alder or spruce. The latter two are dirty (bits of bark everywhere) and full of bugs – particularly the soft wood.

The good news is that I have more of the former sitting in a pile at the edge of the property. It’s one more thing that has to be cleaned up – once a young friend arrives to finish the job of bucking the 10 foot sections. He says it’s at the back of his mind – I’m working to move it to the front.

Today I’m going to try and repair the back porch and pick up the mess from the splitting I did. Summer only exists to give us time to get ready for next winter. It’s a good life. 🙂