November Hill farm journal, 40

I’m home after a wonderful writing retreat weekend in Hertford, NC. It was lovely to drive in through the November Hill gates and see the rich warm color after I applied dark tung oil last week. I got the insides of both gates done and the outside of one gate, so when I drove up it was clear to see the difference between bare treated wood and newly tung-oiled wood.

I’ve also done the insides of the gate posts and that wood looks terrific too. I’ll take photos when it stops raining.

Yes, it is raining. I made a big pronouncement yesterday that today was the “get back into the arena with Keil Bay” day and woke up to rain. We need the rain so badly I can’t complain and I’m sure Keil is okay to start tomorrow, but I was looking forward to getting him tacked up and riding in the autumn landscape.

The pollinator garden plants are doing well so far. About half of them are either already dormant or going that direction but the asters have blooms and one of the coneflowers bloomed. The beautyberry is on its second set of berries - the birds loved them!

We bought two pawpaw trees - native to NC and produce fruit that is said to be like a cross between banana and mango. They do not last long once picked and don’t travel well, so aren’t often seen in commercial markets, but they’ve gotten a lot of attention in our county as good trees to have and good fruit to harvest, eat, and even bake with. I’m looking forward to trying them out.

Our clearing project is nearly done thanks to our wonderful farm helper. On Thursday when I left for Hertford he had completely cleared the front pasture of manure, fallen branches and twigs, and he even cut the remaining trunk of the red oak that Salina and company killed by girdling its bark years back and made a pile of firewood. We are so lucky to have him.

The rain should dry out tomorrow and I should be able to finish the first tung oil coat on the gates and posts by Thursday. I’ll give it a week or so and then apply a second coat. After another week or so for that to cure, I’ll get straight dark tung oil (no citrus solvent mix) and finish with a good coat of that. I think that should do it for the winter, though the way to tell is to apply it until it stops soaking in. I’ll gauge that when I get to the third coat and if needed, will do a fourth.

It’s also nearly time to start searching for some 6-foot American holly trees. I need them for the side property line and for the back property line. Once the fencing is done we will plant the hollies. I’m very very excited about getting these two things done. It’s going to make living with energetic dogs easier and also living beside neighbors I really don’t want to have daily visual contact with. And of course, we will FINALLY be rid of dogs coming through the fence on that side.

Although I wanted to ride today, I have to stop and note here that this is about a perfect fall day for me. The beginnings of color, a cool breeze, gray sky, intermittent rain, and leaves falling. I love the ambiance of this kind of day. Right now cats are napping, Corgis too, and the horses and pony and donkeys are in the barn relaxing. I’m puttering inside with the doors open and it’s just perfect.

In a side note, as I almost always do, I checked real estate in Hertford during my visit and found 327 acres bounded 3/4 of the way around by the Perquimans River with bottomlands, uplands, producing hay fields, and abundant wildlife, all for $249,900. I am so tempted - an inner banks getaway spot!

I have stopped myself from researching cabin styles and open barn layouts, etc. I’ve been back to the website twice and won’t let myself dive into that rabbit hole today! My hands are full here on this much much smaller parcel of land.