November 2006
Monthly Archive
Major Step Forward
Posted by Bob on 19 Nov 2006 | Tagged as: chronicle
On Friday we signed on board with Lithic Construction for the building of our house.
At this exact moment, the schedule remains somewhat vague, but once the bank clears the building loan, stuff will start happening.
More as it happens.
More Trees Downed
Posted by Bob on 02 Nov 2006 | Tagged as: chronicle
I conducted another logging expedition yesterday. The pines in the corner came down, as did several along our prospective “path to the creek” and a couple of hardwoods that were angling across the driveway (and prime candidates for falling and blocking the driveway when least desired). I sectioned most of the fallen trees but ran out of steam before dragging them all clear.
I learned something new about felling trees. Last time, I learned that wonky treees have strange centers of gravity. You can compensate somewhat by careful cutting when trying to get them to fall where you want them to go. I was trying to do that to one of the trees when i discovered that greenery, even pine needles, act as a sail. There was a wind blowing in the opposite direction from that in which I wanted the tree to fall, so guess what? It didn’t go that way. Instead, it sat down on the chainsaw and leaned against its neighbors, remaining almost upright and in firm grip of the chainsaw. So the problem became: how to separate one chainsaw from one tree while getting the tree falling in the right place and leaving one Bob intact?
Lacking a second saw, I couldn’t re-cut the tree. The saw was too close to the edge of the tree to allow a wedge in to tip the tree. A few judicious whacks with an ax made it clear that modifying the felling notch wasn’t going to work, or would damage the saw, or ax, or all three. I finally realized that Archimedes was right. Not that he ever said much about felling trees, but a general principle is, well, general. So I found myself a lever and a place to stand. It was far more work wrestling the small tree into place through the brush than it was to tilt the cut tree and start it falling in the correct direction. It moved with such stately grace that I was able to step in and collect the chainsaw as the tree freed it and before it crashed to the ground. You have to love it when a plan works.
No new wildlife pictures this time, but I did watch a turkey buzzard and a hawk of some kind riding the same thermal over our property.
Plus I met our neighbors from accross the street. They’ve been moved in for three weeks and are loving it.