quiet evening on the back 40

[majorcatfish]

yesterday after dinner decided to have a little campfire so grabbed the junk mail box since it was over flowing tossed a couple pallets on top. instant bonfire.

played around with shutter speed

tossed a couple more pallets on and well there goes my last pair of reading glasses into the fire,
well could have not done that again if i tried a true duh moment...dw and had a good laugh. being blind as a bat there goes playing around with the other settings all i could make out was the auto setting, was trying to get the flames clearly stopped.

after a hour fumbled around a bit got these interesting photos.

after this round of pallets here comes the fire dept sirens screaming down the driveway,we first thought it was for our neighbour, but no somebody called in a house fire. will say it was a very intense fire and lite up the sky.anyway we all had a good talk they liked the fire, was told to be careful off they went... wanted more photos but battery died guess you need to recharge it once in a while.

figure it was one of the homeowners in the sub-division behind us..oh just wait till next week when i bring home bigger pallets
anyway did go to walgreens and picked up a 3 pack of reading glasses this afternoon good to be able to see again...

 

[thistlebloom]

Nice photos Major! I liked them all, there's something about fire that is so photogenic.

Good thing you got a 3 pack of glasses, that's about 3 more nights worth of burning.

 

[Smart Red]

I would have enjoyed the fire as well. I don't like to play with fire, but I do love to watch it burn.

Around here, if the fire department is called to your house, they assess a charge for the run. I am the official fire reporter. I have two numbers to call to report that we are having a fire -- local and county -- so even if someone calls it in as a house fire, we won't be charged for anything.

With all the cleaning out of the woods and over-grown gully he's been doing, we have plenty of brush fires here. Even with the 20 ft. tall row of arborvitae growing along the road so it's unlikely anyone would see a fire, I make sure I call every time.

 

[Smart Red]

My quiet evening wasn't on the back 40, it was in the back 40 (years) in the house going through years and years of papers, records, and check books. Even after I had the info (1976 - 2012) I need for Court, I couldn't stop reading the check books -- a record of our 44 years together. Sometimes happy -- I found when our first dog had her first Vet visit, sometimes sad -- I found 3-4 Christmas letters from a beloved family friend who died at an early age of a heart attack; sometimes irritated with myself for wasting money on (now) senseless things I once thought we needed; sometimes exciting -- I found an un-cashed check for $1322.00 from the Department of Agriculture; sometimes frustrating -- the check is useless after 22 years of hiding in my records. So many memories. . . all from mementos that most people would say should have been tossed away many years ago.

It has been a real walk down memory lane. Buying daughters wedding dress in 1994; selecting the master bedroom carpeting for our first house as newly-weds in 1971; bringing home my horse, Contessa, in 1978 from the woman who had raised her from birth; sending for 100 fryers in 1985 that I raised so Dad and I could process them -- some here and the rest at his house in town; records of beating the IRS (1983-1985) at their own game when they audited us for under-paying and ended up sending us a check -- twice; picking out the wood from a mill for our trim and cabinets in 1980; anonymous cash gift to a neighbor whose house burned to the ground in 1988. And nursery orders, nursery orders, and more nursery orders for plants -- some reaching higher into the sky than advertised and too, too many others long since dead and forgotten until yesterday.

Some day I will have to throw out these (now tidy and organized) bills, checks, receipts, and memories. I don't want my children to wonder what should be saved and waste time going through them when I'm gone. Still, this 40+ year old mess will insure we keep our property so it was valuable for a short while again in 2014.

 

[Wishin']

..oh just wait till next week when i bring home bigger pallets .

Around here you have to call in for a burn permit.

 

[baymule]

I love a good bonfire! Haha about your glasses Major! Maybe you should have tied them to your BRICK!

 

[journey11]

My quiet evening wasn't on the back 40, it was in the back 40 (years) in the house going through years and years of papers, records, and check books. Even after I had the info (1976 - 2012) I need for Court, I couldn't stop reading the check books -- a record of our 44 years together. Sometimes happy -- I found when our first dog had her first Vet visit, sometimes sad -- I found 3-4 Christmas letters from a beloved family friend who died at an early age of a heart attack; sometimes irritated with myself for wasting money on (now) senseless things I once thought we needed; sometimes exciting -- I found an un-cashed check for $1322.00 from the Department of Agriculture; sometimes frustrating -- the check is useless after 22 years of hiding in my records. So many memories. . . all from mementos that most people would say should have been tossed away many years ago.

I wonder if that money might still be available to you through your state's treasury dept for unclaimed property. Since it was a gov't organization that issued the check, maybe the money is still there? Here's a link I found for WI where you can check. http://www.statetreasury.wisconsin.gov/

 

[canesisters]

Oh MY!! Good story - and GREAT pictures!


(By the way, using an air hammer to work on a chicken tractor around dawn will bring the police to your house........)

 

[majorcatfish]

it has been awhile since we had a weekend campfire, the weather has not cooperated for this, last night was the first one in many weekends ,so we celebrated the passing of my mother only a month late plus bring in the wonderful spring we our having......

@ducks4you you asked about vegetation killer's heres one of my favorites... plus it works as a great campfire starter.

we are talking 1+ mil btu's wide open.. it will incinerate anything in a heartbeat. not bad for 49.00

while we were enjoying the evening caught this photo...

 

[Carol Dee]

it has been awhile since we had a weekend campfire, the weather has not cooperated for this, last night was the first one in many weekends ,so we celebrated the passing of my mother only a month late plus bring in the wonderful spring we our having......

@ducks4you you asked about vegetation killer's heres one of my favorites... plus it works as a great campfire starter.
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we are talking 1+ mil btu's wide open.. it will incinerate anything in a heartbeat. not bad for 49.00
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while we were enjoying the evening caught this photo...
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O.. @majorcatfish you can confess... you just like playing with fire!
AND a belated sympathy on the passing of your Mom. It has been 4 1/2 month for Dad and less than a month for my Brother. We plan to do a celebration of life for them this summer. Doing what they liked to do.