Storm damage

Cleaning up after the storm and restoring safety

Last week we had a storm. This storm was called Zeynep and damaged the play tent of our children, also a big tree just outside our property lost some branches. So when the storm calmed down it was time to clean up and restore safety.

With the play tent of the children one corner broke out and in the roof one metal framing broke and another one bended. So we forbid our children to play in there and after the storm calmed down we first started tearing down the tent. Of course after almost 3 years the tent tarp was not the best anymore anyhow, but the storm was so heavy that it also broke the metal frame. We had not expected this to happen, because it was a very sturdy frame.

The tent was 4 x 6 meter and did not take that long to take down. We first took of the entire tent tarp section by section and disposed of it by putting it into our car trailer to take to the garbage company at a later date.

Next thing was to screw the frame apart and put it into storage. You never know when you can use some metal pipes. Last thing to do was to pull the metal pins out of the ground we had the tent secured with, so it would not be blown over with a storm. In one corner we had to use the tractor, because we could not reach there with the wheel loader.

Now everything is cleared out, safety is restored and the children have there playground back. The only thing missing is rain protection.

The other thing to do was collecting all of the branches to clear that part of the property again. This was a quick and easy job with the tractor and collecting the smaller branches by hand.

The big tree where the branches came out of is full with beautiful big mistletoe; some came down with the branches. The mistletoe makes the tree sick, but it looks beautiful.

Checking on my Potatoes

A number of potatoes are rotting

When I went to get some potatoes for a meal I noticed some are rotting, so I took some time to check on all of the potatoes I had harvested and stored last year.

It took some time to really take every potato in my hand and sort all of the bad ones out. I ended up with half a bucked full of rotting potatoes.

I know it is normal that some potatoes in storage turn bad over time and I know my storage is not ideal. Therefore I am very happy that I still have potatoes to eat from and did not have to trough everything out jet. This is what we still have in storage.

We had a very cold period with up to -20°C and it became almost to freezing point in our barn, which is not very good for the potatoes. What I am noticing when I prepare the potatoes for a meal that many are somewhat gray on the inside. They should be a nice yellow colour. The first time I noticed this I did not think anything of it, but then my children and husband hardly ate from the potatoes. The potatoes had a dirty taste, as if you are eating the soil it self. Ever since I trough away such potatoes, but I do not know what causes the potatoes to turn like this. Maybe the cold, but then I would expect all of the potatoes to have turned bad. If anyone has an idea what could have caused this, I would be happy for a comment.

Signs of the coming spring

Nature wants to wake up

The days are getting longer again and the birds are getting active. Nature wants to wake up out of the winter sleep, so I went around on our property and made pictures of the different signs of nature just waiting to burst into spring.

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