Senile Texas Aggie - comic relief for the rest of you

No, we have no fireplace that will burn wood. The fireplace we have is made only for the propane stove. We MAY one day put in an outside wood stove as Miss @farmerjan once suggested. I guess for now I will continue to nibble at it with the tractor and grapple -- one bite at a time.

This morning I went back to eating the elephant -- gradually clearing out the overgrowth on the western end of my north pasture. Before I got started, I took some pictures to give you folks some ideas of what it looks like:


Here is a view of the overgrown area from point A looking west:


Here is a closeup of the northern part of the elephant, point B, looking west. The weeds are above my head. You can see some of the burned trees still standing:


Here is a closeup of the southern half of the elephant, point C, looking west:


Here are the logs, limbs, etc., that I picked up off the ground in the small area that I managed to mow:


I worked for about 3 hours today, picking up logs and limbs, and mowing weeds and small trees. At point C you may see where I mowed a tractor-wide lane through the saplings and weeds. Today I started widening that lane to gradually clear it out. I had the tractor in the second lowest gear as I mowed through there, taking out maybe 2 feet at a time for each pass. There were several stumps in there that I had to go around, as I didn't want the shredder to hit them. Around 11AM I decided to try to cut some on the northern end of the elephant, gradually cutting a 2 foot wide swath out with each pass. I was doing OK until I hit either a yellow jacket nest or a honeybee nest (I think the latter). They started swarming and one of the buggers stung me on my right middle finger next to the knuckle. I decided right then that it was time to call it a day!

Senile Texas Aggie

It is easy to tell the difference between a yellow jacket and a bee....a bee leaves the stinger in ya and a jacket don't...jackets are in the ground and bees in a tree or limb, off the ground....hope it doesn't swell too bad on ya....the burned wood could've been from a lightning strike...if it was a forestry fire there might be some info in the archives of the local news or newspaper on it....that is how I found out the trees on this place that are leaning against others is storm damage from Irma....

Senile_Texas_Aggie said:

Well, it's been awhile since I last mentioned the books that we have read recently, so I will do that now.

Click to expand...

Dear STA the books that you read are sure very interesting. I just wish I'm interested in reading non fiction books...

Lots of good work there STA, glad you are doing it with a brush hog, a stump will do a number on a flail even with hammers. Sorry about the sting, did you get some benadryl on it?

I can so identify with what you are doing! We only have 8 acres, nowhere near what you have. As far as clearing, we are on the downswing, you are on the upswing. If that was a yellow jacket nest in the ground, hope a skunk comes along and eats them for you. A skunk will clean out bees or yellow jackets.

Senile_Texas_Aggie said:

This morning I went back to eating the elephant -- gradually clearing out the overgrowth on the western end of my north pasture. Before I got started, I took some pictures to give you folks some ideas of what it looks like:
View attachment 65333

Here is a view of the overgrown area from point A looking west:
View attachment 65334

Here is a closeup of the northern part of the elephant, point B, looking west. The weeds are above my head. You can see some of the burned trees still standing:
View attachment 65335

Here is a closeup of the southern half of the elephant, point C, looking west:
View attachment 65337

Here are the logs, limbs, etc., that I picked up off the ground in the small area that I managed to mow:
View attachment 65336

I worked for about 3 hours today, picking up logs and limbs, and mowing weeds and small trees. At point C you may see where I mowed a tractor-wide lane through the saplings and weeds. Today I started widening that lane to gradually clear it out. I had the tractor in the second lowest gear as I mowed through there, taking out maybe 2 feet at a time for each pass. There were several stumps in there that I had to go around, as I didn't want the shredder to hit them. Around 11AM I decided to try to cut some on the northern end of the elephant, gradually cutting a 2 foot wide swath out with each pass. I was doing OK until I hit either a yellow jacket nest or a honeybee nest (I think the latter). They started swarming and one of the buggers stung me on my right middle finger next to the knuckle. I decided right then that it was time to call it a day!

Senile Texas Aggie

Click to expand...

When I got stung by that bald-faced hornet I made a paste of baking soda and water...it really helps. That and some alcohol on the sting makes a world of difference Just make sure if it was bee that you got the stinger out...

I had on gloves when the bee or yellow jacket stung. Once I felt the sting, I brushed off the bee/yellow jacket with my other hand. I saw where the bees/yellow jackets were swarming on the ground. It looked as if they were coming out of some rotten cedar logs in the ground. While they looked like bees, and the sting felt like that of a bee rather than a yellow jacket, I have never known bees to build a hive in the ground, but maybe with the cedar it was big enough to make a hive in it. I didn't put anything on the sting, as it didn't hurt bad enough to do so. I certainly would have put something on it had it been worse, as I am a wimp when it comes to wasp/yellow jacket stings.

This morning I decided to spray again, as it seemed that the areas we sprayed last week weren't dying very fast. This time I used the chemical, PastureGard I think, that Bob the Quail Guy left us to spray the sumac bushes in quail area. That stuff worked great out there, so we'll see how well it works on where I sprayed.

While I am on the subject of pesticides and herbicides, I know that in Texas (and probably in Arkansas, Florida, Tennessee, Vermont, etc.) a person could obtain a license that permitted him/her to spray more potent chemicals. Do any of you know anything about that?

Senile Texas Aggie

I don't know...sorry i can't be of more help

Call your extension service. They often will hold or know of a group that will hold a class for getting certified for pesticide applications. Or call a local farm store that sells chemicals. We get notices for recertification of pesticide liscense regularly.
Think several times about using very many strong chemicals. There are lawsuits now for Roundup which was supposed to be a very "safe" chemical.......
If the nest was in rotten cedar or other logs it could have been either although I don't think honey bees like cedar which has an odor naturally. Yellow Jackets and the various different hybrids that have sprung up prefer to nest in rotten dead material, or in holes in the ground. White tailed hornets are bigger, honey bees normally won't chase after you although some that have been "africanized" are said to be meaner. I would assume you got into yellow jackets.