Fresh Cuts!

 I needed a change well actually I need a bunch of change lol!! So I chopped off my locks. Feels great!! Sometimes change is a much needed thing... and it can feel really good. 

Some of you might remember me being sick last summer with the allergic reaction and dermatitis. We think we may have finally found the culprit.

Let me introduce you to Laurel Sumac. This plant contains the same oils as found in the poisonous oak.  The magic word Urushiol. Now there seems to be a lot of misleading information about this plant. I read somewhere that this is not as toxic as poisonous oak because it lacks the same amount of urushiol. Here is my stance on this plant if you are walking by this plant and brush into it chances are it is not going to bother you. But if you decide to chop this plant down and then pick up the branches with your bare arms to pile in the yard(yes I may have done this) I would say watch out. 

It is possible that I am just allergic to this plant and so any contact would bother me. But for a plant that lacks urushiol?  I am not so sure about the person who stated this. Maybe they have read about the plant but have not studied it hands on.  When you cut it you can see the urushiol literally rush to the end of the piece you cut off. 

Thankfully we only have a few spots of this left. We recently hired someone to clear our land for the horses and get rid of this sumac.  Adrian is working on getting rid of the last few bits of it around where the horses will be.  

Just my opinion if you know you are sensitive or allergic to ivy, and oak I would say avoid the Laurel Sumac you find here in Southern California as well. 

Here are some snapshots of our land that we just cleared. Now we are looking for a company that sells corrals and roofs. 

 This is where the corrals are going to go. And behind all this a tack shed. 

 Down there in the dirt area will be the round pen and then straight through that brush we are going to have someone cut a trail that leads to our dirt road so we have another loop for riding. You can't really tell in the picture but this is a really steep drop down to the dirt.

 This area slopes down and then levels out this will be the pasture once we dig out all those stumps and fence it. 

That flat area out there Adrian is going to lay out big patio stones and he wants to build a pergola for a nice place to eat outside. And see that tall tree that is that sumac see how big it can get. Adrian is going to chop that down. We will have to plant a more skin friendly tree for shade. 

Next time I show pictures of the yard Moose will be there!! 

~Happy Monday!!

If you do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ve always gotten

~Anthony Robbins