14 acres & a 60th bday

johnny and i just got home from dry pond where my mom is probably still belting out korean karaoke songs. it's her 60th bday and a bunch of her friends came over to eat and sing. unfortunately, my poor mom has a very bad ear infection and she is in quite a bit of pain. but nothing can stop my mom from having a party. when i was a kid, she used to invite all her friends to my birthday party and it always ended up being more her party than mine but i got used to it; i liked to see my mom having a good time. i can only take so much karaoke, though. she loved the digital picture frame - everyone was oohing and aahhing over it. i also gave her the shiitake mushroom log all wrapped up. i think her friends were jealous at all the awesome gifts she got.....



before the party, johnny and i went to 14 acres and surveyed the land. we let louie run around (we left syrus and bibi at home) and we hiked along the creek as far back as we dared to go with the daylight fading. i am falling in love with this land - it's pretty wild. there's little to no evidence of people being there - i found a really old rusted soda can and someone long ago carved their name on a tree by the banks of the creek. the ground is completely covered in a thick blanket of leaves, which made walking the land treacherous. i almost broke my legs when i stepped into a deep hole that had been filled with leaves. i fell as though the ground gave away beneath me, like in a cartoon, up to my knees. for a split second i panicked but it was no big deal.



i totally love the creek - it winds between our land and the neighbors - everything to the right of the creek is ours and everything to the left belongs to another farm. they have cows. the creek has some small waterfalls - and even beavers! we saw at least 3 beaver dams - so cute. we saw evidence of busy beavers all around the banks of the creek - all the trees had been chewed about a foot from the ground in a perfect conical shape. the creek is definitely the highlight of the property - but most of it just looks like this:



....lots and lots of leaves and tall scraggly trees. i don't recall seeing any pines - a blessing! i hate pines! i have enough of them at my house. occasionally we come across big hardwood trees that grow in a clump. i think they are birch trees? i love them. see the carving? we are going to bush hog all of the small brush but leave the bigger trees. the land will look very different after that.