A man, a mower and a plan!

This past weekend we were lucky enough to have a couple days of 60F sunny weather. Determined to make the most of it Marc and I decided we would take the opportunity to spend some time outside and tackle our upper pasture. Ever since we moved in we've been eyeing the hill just past the pond and dreaming about what we can do with it. During the summer nature took over and it was a chore just to walk a few feet up the hill and through all the brush and grasses. So this fall we have been working on taking back our land from nature and taking the first steps in our grand plan. 

Lower Pasture Path - arrow indicates top of path
by the bridge and apple trees 

Lower Pasture Path - arrow indicates path from the
driveway down a hill towards the stream

As pictured above, Marc cut a few paths through the brush earlier this fall with the help of the ride-on lawn mower and weed whacker. The plan was to make it easy for us to go for a walk on our land. I added arrows to the pictures above because I realized after taking them that if you don't know what you are looking for, it's kinda hard to see the paths. These paths are the beginning of our grand plan which is to create paths throughout our 40+ acres.

Upper Pasture Path - you can see just how thick the brush and grasses were

Marc almost disappears in the brush in our lower pasture. 

Turning our attention to the upper pasture, Marc once again used the mower to start clearing the land. He quickly realized he had to be very careful as he was driving around not just to avoid rocks and small trees but to also avoid some hidden treasures. By the time he was done Marc had uncovered two tarps, a shovel, a pile of wood and a plastic storage container. 

The pile on the right is going to be our bonfire area for this winter. To give you an idea of how big that pile is, here's Marc (6'3") standing next to it. 

By the time Marc was done mowing, our upper pasture was definitely looking more pasture-like. Not only can we wander and day dream on the land but we're also hoping that with shorter grass we'll be able to draw some of the deer out of the woods. 

View of the upper pasture from Marc's bridge. 

View from the upper pasture towards the pond and house.
(Future view from the barn?)

In the future we'd love to build a barn up here to store our mower and other toys we may purchase (utility vehicle, tractor, or whatever else we dream up). We also see it as a place where we would eventually like to keep some animals. Right now there has been talk of chickens and maybe a goat or a donkey but you never know what we might end up with.