mow of the same

As it was a nice day and my birthday as well, I decided to start mowing the blackberry bushes, ant hills, tansey, hawthorne, and various and sundry other things that have made these fields an eyesore for too long. The neighbors have made comments that had to be answered. 

Proving that we can bottom feed with the best, the old 2010's clutch and my leg got a workout. The tractor smoked and complained, and there are sounds that seem to come from the transmission when going down grade that I would rather not hear . I think it had 40HP when it was new and it isn't now.  

We have some kind of ant here that builds a mound up to a foot or so high, which turns into concrete in the summer. One of them stalled my 4x4 truck last summer when I hit it in compound low. Now however, they are still soft enough that the bush hog slices them up nicely. 

Budde suggested I get a bigger tractor and I am beginning to see the wisdom in that suggestion.  I figure that another week and I will have it under control. Then maybe I can get it sprayed when the new stuff starts back up.  Some of the bushes may be too much for this machine. The one in the first photo was medium sized and is no longer there. 

I rescued two gopher snakes from the resident red tail hawk. One was pretty good sized and kept the hawk at bay until I got there. 

These boys were in the yard eating grape vines while I was mowing. Their tails aren't even black yet.