November 29, 2024
In September the Bray family cemetery had been struck again by a fallen tree. Ironically, it fell in exactly the same spot as the last dead tree that decided the cemetery should be its final resting place.
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| Maybe they were husband and wife trees? |
Our calendar was peppered with appointments and commitments and before we knew it November had arrived. By the time we could get away the month November was half gone.
Seeing a window of good weather and nothing on our calendar, Larry and I loaded tools in the truck, hooked up the RV and motored up to Martinsville Virginia.
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| Takes us five hours pulling the RV. |
November 16, 2024
On Saturday afternoon after parking the RV at Indian Heritage RV Park we drove out to Axton and surveyed the job and made a list of supplies we would need. On the way back to the RV we stopped at Food Lion for groceries, we had left home on such short notice we didn’t bother loading food in the RV.
November 17, 2024
We didn’t work on Sunday; we drove out 58 west skipping the bypasses and driving through several of the small towns and villages along the way. Our destination was the pottery at Fancy Gap, where we had hoped to purchase a new bird bath for our backyard.
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| The Sunday drive to Fancy Gap |
Unfortunately, it was closed on Sundays, I’m not sure if it is a seasonal closing or if it is year-round. For our return route we took the Blue Ridge Parkway back to Meadows of Dan where we enjoyed lunch at the small diner there.
We picked up the supplies we would need tomorrow at Rural King in Martinsville, watched TV in the RV and had pizza from Jerry’s in the afternoon.
November 18, 2024
Bright and early on Monday morning we to the cemetery and started our workday. Besides the tree cutting and fence repair we planned on doing some general landscape maintenance while there. This turned into 13 hours of hard labor spread over two days.
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| Trimming back on the Gauldin's side |
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| Cutting the fallen tree |
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| Raking where the tree fell |
The tree, a dead pine had fallen from the property to the rear of the cemetery, On the woodland side of the fence it had fallen on the trunk of the tree that had fallen several years ago. This probably kept it from crushing the fence all the way to the ground.
After cutting and removing the half of the tree that was on the cemetery land we repaired the fence. We were able to replace a section of top rail and stretch the wire fabric back into shape, making the fence repair almost unnoticeable.
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| Clearing out behind the fence |
Next, we cleaned all the vegetation that was growing on the fence. This was a daunting task because of all the sticker vines, at one point I was behind the fence tangled in briers when Millie told me she thought she smelled a skunk. At that point there was nothing I could do but keep cutting my way out, fortunately no skunk appeared.
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| Fence repair |
Many of the trees along the Gauldin boundary had branches growing horizontally over our cemetery as they reached for sun light. Besides being unsightly, they were blocking the sun and rain from the grass along that side, and it was dying back. We cut many branches, some as large as trees. We only cut to the property line as we hadn’t discussed this with the Gauldin family. I used an 18-inch electric chainsaw and Millie used a battery saw with a 10-inch landscape blade, but even with these power tools we were reminded that we are not as young as we like to think. The hardest part was dragging the debris to the back and disposing of it in the rear woods.
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| There was lots of raking |
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| More raking |
With the exception of the battery saw all our tools were electric and powered by the 4K generator that we keep in the truck. We brought the following electric garden tools, 18-inch chainsaw, two hedge clippers, 9-inch pole chain saw, and a rototiller. We also had every conceivable garden hand tool packed in the truck. Besides the battery reciprocating saw I had a a battery angle grinder that came in handy during the fence repair.
After seven hours of hard labor with only a break for lunch we decided to quit for the day. We didn’t get everything accomplished that we had planned but as senior citizens we decided prudence was the better part of valor. We decided to come back tomorrow and finish the job. The weather was holding, it has been dipping to around 40 degrees at night, but the days are perfect for working outside.
November 19, 2024
The main task today (Tuesday) was to reseed the rear corner where the grass has been struggling under the shade of the overhanging tree branches. We rototilled the barren soil and mixed in a clay breaker product and soil conditioner. Both these products looked like finely ground mulch to me. We then raked in a ten-pound mixture of Shade and Fescue grass seed. It’s all up to mother nature now.
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| Breaking up the hard red dirt |
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| Racking in the seed |
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| Couldn't have done it without her. |
We had noticed that two of the older headstones in the back were loose from their bases and we reseated them with butyl rubber caulk. We raked all the leaves in our cemetery and added them to the giant pile of branches we had built over the last two days. But alas, the gigantic oak in the corner still has many leaves waiting to fall. One final thing we did was move the concrete bench from the tree line and placed it next to the one in the front corner. It will be easier for the lawn guy to maneuver, and we get a nicer looking lawn.
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| Getting them together and level was harder than I thought it would be. |
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| New seating area |
We ate dinner at Caption Tom’s Seafood restaurant, then made a quick stop at the dollar store for some snacks, I can’t watch TV or drive back to Myrtle Beach without snacks! Lol
Millie and I don’t mind taking care of the cemetery and would do more if we lived closer. We just hope the younger generations will keep it up in future years. It’s a rare privilege to have a private family resting place, I hope they realize that.
November 20, 2024
On Wednesday morning we hitched up the RV and drove home, a journey of five ours. We don’t pass through Greensboro anymore (RIP Lucille) Our new route may be a few miles longer, but it doesn’t seem to be as hectic as going through the city.
From Martinsville; Hwy 220 south to I-73 to HWY 68 to I-74 south. South of Rockingham we exit onto Hwy 38 we take this past Bennettsville and across I-95 where it becomes Hwy 501, then right on 544 south of Conway and we’re almost home.
Closing notes; Millie and I survived the two days of manual labor and have been motivated to start going to the gym again. The Silver bullet performed flawlessly, as did the RV. The dollar store Good and Plenty candy was old and hard, about halfway home I broke my bridge, back to the dentist, fun fun fun!
