Ladder and rigging work

A twenty-four foot ladder.  Falling from fifteen feet is not on my agenda.

Lots of good stems to graft on once I get up there.

Ladder work is not my favorite thing.  But sometimes it must be done. 

I am top-working this persimmon tree.  It is currently "Morris Burton", a variety named after a pig farmer from Indiana.  He noticed that his pigs raced to a particular tree every time the wind shook it.  He tasted the persimmons and decided they were the best tasting ones he had ever wrapped a lip around.

It is a delicious persimmon.  It is not a very heavy bearer under my conditions and I think I can do better.  This tree got scion wood of "I-115", "K-6", "Szukis" (pronounced "Suitcase" in my mid-Western ignorance).  It may also get some scions from "Lena" before I am done.

I stopped after "Szukis" because I had to tie-off the top of the ladder due to the wind picking up.  That is not much fun.  The other thing about top working trees from a ladder is that the grafter must work from some unorthodox ladder positions.  My thighs are talking to me.

Dog house

The dog house sat on four cinder blocks, one is each corner.  The dogs tunneled beneath the house and undermined two of the blocks,  one in the southwest corner and one in the northeast corner.  I rolled the house off the two remaining blocks so I could work on the foundation.  The house is top-heavy so it was easy to roll.

While I was at it, Mrs ERJ wanted me to do some drainage work.  I ran a drain tile beneath the kennel fence and up to the basin they excavated around the house.

I did not anticipate how difficult it would be to roll the house back into position.  The last time I did this I had Belladonna and Kubota to help me roll it back.  They were in school.  Fortunately, I was able to recruit Mr Tow Strap and Mrs Come-Along.

A quick check was made to ensure the house was rolling and not sliding.  Looking good.

Hmmmm!  Not very square on the blocks but I can drift things around and shim to make everything happy.

That should last them another year.  I threw a bunch of Black Locust cribbing beneath the house as I back-filled their cave.  I hope that slows down their tunneling.

Does anybody know how to block WWII movies on Netflix?  Damned German Shepherds.