A few days ago I went to town and bought a new shovel and garden rake; good tools with a lifetime warranty purchased from a local, old-school hardware store. I wanted to finish cleaning up where the wood was piled and get it into a pile to burn. There’s too much small broken stuff in the pile and it would be difficult to move.

It was a small pile with lots of leaves & bark (plus poison ivy/oak vines) so I burned it right there along with some branches I trimmed, some that fell in the wind last week, and two or three other small piles. It looks so much better already. It will heat up that area under the fire and kill any termites and other pests that might be in the ground. There’s gravel under it so extra parking if necessary.

I also shoveled hot coals onto the grass growing in the gravel driveway. Helps get rid of that as it burns down to ashes.

Whilst finishing up the removal of non-flammable materials, I came across a baby snake. About as big around as a pencil and about 4-5” long he seemed pretty harmless. I also had gloves on, but they were cloth and not leather. I figured he couldn’t bite me through them so I picked him up to relocate .

Then, I saw another one. He was much bigger – about 8-10” long and about as big in the middle as an average pinky finger. And he had a nasty attitude. I pinned his head down and grabbed behind his jaws to pick him up. He was trying to bite and was flailing about. I moved him to another spot as well.

Afterwards, I thought to myself “Crikey! Ya know, that wasn’t very bright; they could have been baby copperheads!”. I looked them up on the internet and yeah, I’ll be stopping to assess the situation in a bit more detail next time.

I have been bit by an adult snake before, but it wasn’t a venomous one. Just felt like needles but it does freak one out. A copperhead is not something to be bitten by since they are poisonous.

Next I will be starting to get rid of the junk so I go back & forth on renting a trailer and making a few trips to the transfer station, or renting a dumpster and just filling it up so someone else can take it away.

I guess I should call this week to price it out and see the best option financially and logistically. I believe that I could get more out faster & easier with a dumpster. Less fuel burned going to & fro, no stopping to make a dump run, no unloading, and I can keep it for a while and get more accomplished.

—————

I just received my payout email from my trailer this morning. It will take a day or two to post, but it’s a direct deposit so it may be faster. Then, I’ll be getting out looking at trailers to buy.

I’m a still not sure what I will get. I’ve kicked around various ideas but each have good and bad points. I’m used to how my Scotty was and I kinda liked most aspects of it. I have seen several with the same basic layout but organized differently (and better).

That’s about it for now. Time for a cold, delicious Guinness.

Shawn