I've been here at Make-It-Do Farm for almost four months and I'm happy to say that we now have a fantastic observatory site. It took a bit of work but we got started a couple weeks ago cutting down a few trees. Most of them were cedars and not the healthiest trees so I don't feel too terrible for cutting them down. We've got a couple more on the north side to take down. As of now the view from the northwest all the way around to the northeast is pretty fantastic. We've got a great view of the southern horizon which allows for easy viewing of Sagitarius in the summer. When we're finished I expect that our view of the skies will be as clear as those I had at the lake but even better as the skies are even darker here! The observation deck is nearly finished and then I'll build the telescope shed.

In the few nights I had up on the hill before the moon and cloudy weather returned I had some fantastic views of the Ring Nebula, Andromeda, Perseus Double Cluster, Messier 2, Eagle Nebula and Lagoon Nebula. Quite a few others too but those are the highlights. Not only is the hill a great viewing site but it sits within just a hundred feet of the shut-ins of Tucker Creek. Just as the lake offered an amazing night-time symphony of geese and other life, so too does this site offer the sounds of frogs, insects and running water. The skyline is framed in trees and the rock bluffs all around are barely visible in the pale starlight. Beautiful. I didn't think I could have a better site than the lake but I think this is it.