Today we have some cause to celebrate –  the loggers officially finished clearing out the remaining trees to be felled.  This means that all that is left is for us to clean up a bit and fence it all in!

Paul and I walked all the way back to the very back edge of our property – something we have never been able to do in the summer before – and marveled at just how much more land we have than we thought we did and how nice it will be for the animals.  There’s plenty of trees left in the back portion for shade, and plenty of wide open space in the middle.  The landscaper expressed concern with all the underbrush that is left out there but I told him to leave it – the goats will make very short work of it.

This is standing at the back edge, looking toward the house.  See the grey in the very center of the photo?  That’s our roof.

I love that there are still some big old trees to provide shade on these hot days we’ve been getting, but there’s still enough sun filtering through that grass shouldn’t have any trouble growing.

Gully had fun running around like a mad dog and flying off the tree stumps.

The next step will be fencing, and hopefully that will go smoother than the clearing did!

To celebrate I made some peach jam from Marisa McClellans’ Food in Jars.

It tastes like the filling of a peach pie.

In other words, divine!