Cemetery work

This is the west side where the Riddle stones are, before.

This is that same corner, after George cut all the trees close to the fence.  The stones are still there, but they are to the left of the post on the left and out of the picture.

These are on the East side before, looking north in this picture.  The North East corner was a real mess as you can see in the first of these, with briers and grape vines all over the corner.

This is that corner now.  No briers.

And the same East side looking North. That is brother's house way in the back up next to the trees in the distance.

I call this cemetery Leathers Farm Cemetery, but I do not know if it has a real name.  The first people buried here were of the McNiel family and died in  the 1860 to 1880 time frame.  None of the McNiel family stones have dates and all are sandstone rocks with hand carved names. There is a stone by these graves with a hand carved date of 1853.  I do not know if that is supposed to be a death date or a birth date, and there is no name on the stone.  The last person buried here was a Riddle in 1912.

And for the dead

We returned to the cemetery for a couple of hours this afternoon after I got off work.  This is John V. Leathers stone, before.

This is the same stone, in the back against the big tree.  That is Jacob Shank's grave in the middle, and a Cox child in the foreground.

Another after.  I guess we have about a fourth of it cleared now.  We have to get out this big dead tree, and there are 2 more dead trees George says he is going to cut.  After we get the brush and trees cleared out, we have to fill in some of the graves including Jacob's.  And, I am going to dig out all the stones that look like they might be grave markers even if there are no markings on them.  After it is all cleaned up, I think I may plant some iris and daffodils around the stones.  But that will have to wait a while because we are going to use weed and brush killer to help keep down the growth.  I am planning on keeping it clean.  We are going to take a stock panel down and make a gate as now there is no gate except for the hole where the tree fell on the fence.  I am planning on having it completed by April first. 

For the Birds!

Robert and Papa use the new toy to dig a hole.

Then Papa planted a new house for the Purple Martins.  I hope they like the new apartments and move in soon.

We have been seeing 5 or 6 deer almost every day in the pasture across from us.

Millions of people in need...

So, what about me?

That is what i think of when the talking heads on TV start asking questions about how does what is happening in Japan effect the USA.  This is the ultimate me, me, me country, where so many think I am the most important center of the universe.

How can anyone be so self centered as to ask how will this huge disaster on the other side of the world effect my day to day life?  If someone says millions are starving in Africa, these people must immediately think, 'will I have plenty to fill my greedy stomach tonight.'

And, I guess all the doomsday nuclear naysayers were just making all that scary stuff up to scare everyone into accepting nuclear waste machines.

And, we did not return to the cemetery yesterday.  Wednesday is supposed to be a pretty day, so I am planning on either going down after work, or playing hooky.