The saga of the wood

I've stacked some new wood. This is what I have stacked so far. I moved most of the smaller stuff.

This was a bit much. It needed to be split. My newest wood pile was waiting to be stacked. A friend offered to help, but Joe was worried the two of us couldn't handle it. The logs were big.

The Aussie came and split it for me on Thursday, Nov. 14th. They'd moved it to the shed Nov. 13. 

I'm whittling away at it... 😏 This I stacked while he was splitting it.

This was Thursday afternoon.

A beautiful day to be outdoors. 

I went back at it Friday morning, but took breaks, and photos. But first I found the heavy metal wheelbarrow wobbly. 

Note To Self: check your equipment. The tire was flat. Hah!

Joe was out walking, and brought me some water. He cannot lift the wood. I'm happier if he doesn't. He has terrible back issues. He certainly helped my dad stack wood back in the day in Muskoka.

The dead elms were hosts to termites. This is amazing. 

We had termites in Muskoka. They are creepy little things, and strong!

After some time I realized I should brought me a chair from the house.  Then I really looked around... DUH! It is both decorative and useful.

I kept at it. Progress Friday afternoon! We decided to go out to Merrickville for lunch. It was Joe's birthday. (More on that later!) I needed the break. 

 

The moon rose over the wood pile. I couldn't manage a decent photo. I couldn't remember the settings, nor find them. You get the picture, though. We bloggers are nothing if not imaginative!

Another look at bug patterns. Very interesting. (Joe said to take breaks!)

Saturday I kept at it, and we are done! 

The arborists were here!

We booked them a couple of weeks ago. Manager Jamie came by, a gracious, personable young man and I led him around the garden path 😁 to show him what I wanted taken down and cut up. The quote was very specific and well done.

BEFORE: This is the view out the bathroom window. The maple is getting taller, which is fine, but it's going to rub up against the roof soon. We had to have a tree removed that was broken and leaning on the roof a couple of years ago. This is a prudent, proactive decision. 

This is the view out the bathroom window. The trees are slowly growing towards the house. With the storms we've had, it was worrisome. This will give the sumac more sunshine, too! They are a lovely spot of colour.

Before and after! 

It was a beautiful morning, the sunrise was lovely! 

BEFORE

during...

AFTER - from the opposite direction!

I've clean up on aisle 2 to do! The branches will be left for critter shelter. 

 

Some of the logs are too big for me to carry. I moved three lots of wood. I'll whittle away at it over the week. 😉

I managed a couple loads the first afternoon. Tuesday, 3 more loads. I'm going to hire someone to help split the stuff I cannot lift. 

Their first area was to remove the dead sumac tree trunks and lay them flat. You can see the snow on them before they arrived. 

The snow melted, and the sumacs laid flat. The previous owners used to cut all these down. This was an area with a lovely forest of sumacs. When that happened, there wasn't enough moisture and they lost the integrity of the forest. Now it is full of milkweed. We don't need an English-style lawn here!

It looks much tidier without all those dead elms. I haven't been able to cut the weeds and wildflowers for Joe's walking path. Where we walk, I keep down the grasses, since the ticks like that habitat. I literally ran into a dead tree trunk and had to back up. That problem is solved!

🌲 Tree clean up, at last!

 Dec. 17th, 2022, that was a storm. I had to look back and see what the trees looked like. The limbs simply broke off under the weight of the snow.

Jan. 14, 2023, more snow! This is Caitlin in her Polar Trek coat. JL brought it back to her after his trip to Antarctica. 

Jan. 2nd – I'm whittling away at it! 

The snow came and went. And still the branches mocked me. Jan. 2nd - 6th, I got on my horse, and used the reciprocal saw as much as I could. Every good morning, out whacking away. The bigger branches were too much for me. 

March 12th, more snow, the branches still kept calling for me. The broken limbs look like human broken limbs.

Everyone liked the branches. The deer would sit in amongst the branches, nibbling the greens. Even the turkeys liked it as shelter.

 

I had had enough. I Googled 'tree services near me,' and found someone from down the road. I gave Robin and Steve a site tour explaining what I needed done. Robin then emailed a quote. We had a plan. April 3rd, 2023, the troops arrived late morning, as anticipated. The tractor, chipper, truck and 4 humans.

They paired up with the two large white pine trees. The stacked the branches in piles, which they picked up with that cool machine. Alexis was wearing the same Polar Trek coat as Caitlin. I didn't have a chance to ask her about it. They wore headsets embedded in their ear protectors and communicated with one another. 

Jamie attacked this tree in the wind. We've a big storm coming today, thunder and lightning is crossing the province, and I am glad they got all this done. It was worth every penny.

 

tree climbing from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

I love this machine! They clamped a tree prior to chopping it. It was so safe. They can change the clamps for a scoop. 

Aussie Tree Care from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

The young lady is Alexis. She is a new grad from Algonquin College! She was up the tree, with a helper. They had harnesses, and all sorts of safety equipment.

Steve is a great teacher, with years of experience in the UK and Australia. 

tree clean up from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

The cats weren't too happy. Nutmeg was just antsy. Cinnamon watched from the office window. He's a little more relaxed than she is!

They kept on working. Jamie chopped the limbs into 16" pieces for the wood stove insert. 

They'd been gone about a half hour when Clover deer showed up! Everything looks good again, aside from the branches they'd lost.