Ashes and mud

The long anticipated rain finally arrived about 5 a.m. We got about a 1/2 inch in the first three hours. I went out to check the fire, expecting to see a watery mess, but the smoke was still billowing from the hot hole.

The small mound of dirt/mud is about all that is left of the large pile you can see in the previous day's post.

At last, the fall 2008 land-clearing exercise is almost complete.

On February 10 I posted this picture of one of my brush piles. It was about the size of a 2,000 square foot house. The fire has been burning now for 96 hours and the brush pile seems to be about 90 percent consumed.

I will be glad when the fire goes out. The smoke is starting to give us headaches, and no matter how many showers I take, I smell like wet ashes.

I will spread the ashes and charcoal over the lower garden area. American Indians used charcoal for fertilizer. Hope it works.