Dec 31, 2010 - Jan 1, 2011

Weather

It was 60 degrees Friday afternoon, 22 Saturday morning, and didn't get out of the 30s the rest of the day. We had received some hard rain (much needed) Thursday night and I noticed some road erosion just below the house heading toward the pond (some future maintenance required). Water was coming out of both culverts at the pond.

Power Cut

When we arrived we were surprised to see the chain down. I noticed the Carroll Electric pad lock hanging open, so I knew it was them and assumed they were in at the time -- but nobody was there.

We then immediately noticed they had mechanically cleared under the power lines. Several years back they had sprayed to kill the vegetation, but this time everything was cut down over a wide swath under the lines. I didn't like seeing it, but know it is necessary. They covered everywhere the power lines went: along the fence to the south, angled over the hill and down the bluff to the bottom, east along the valley, the tie in going back up the hill to the house, and even the tie in going over to Jeff's. This last run goes right over the confluence of our creeks where they left a mess of willow limbs. I cleared those because I don't want the culvert under the road to clog -- it'll overflow even when not clogged up.

I was wondering how they had done the clearing – whether any of it was done by hand. The limb cuts up the side of some of the tall trees along the side was very rough. On the way back home I found my answer. At the Rock House Road intersection there was a large 4WD tractor parked. It had what looked similar to a brush hog on the back of it, but sat lower and seemed much heavier. It must have one heck of a blade to cut through the brush they ran it over. I had also noticed where they had obviously driven it outside the power cut lane but turned off the blade (but still laying down some of my trees it ran over). Further down the road next to the Fire Station, I noticed another strange piece of equipment. It sat very high with all 4 tractor wheels the same size. It had a long boom on it that could be extended and a small circular blade on the end. I think that is what they used for the high limb cuts.

Bed Swap

We're getting a new bed at home, moving our old queen to the guest room, and therefore decided to move that double bed to the farm to replace two twins in one of the spare bedrooms. (The two twins we passed on to Lisa and CJ.) It was a lot of loading, unloading, reloading, cleaning, and setting up -- but it looks nice and leaves much more room in the little bedroom. I hope our guests will like it.

Fence Down

A section of the fence had apparently blown down in the storm. It was never attached very well -- just scabbed up on both ends, not really being long enough for the span. (This is the area that was occupied by the McDaniel's hot tub.) I'm thinking about adding a post next to the garage in order to shorten the span and better secure this section. There are always plenty of projects to choose between.

Cracked Walnuts

Friday afternoon I cracked more walnuts, finishing up the first bag I had started on back in December and then did all the ones I had hand hulled. Only 20% of the hand hulled ones were good. I hand hulled them because they had come through the huller with hulls intact. Makes me think it knew they were bad and weren't worth hulling. I am anxious to get into the next bag and see what the percentage of bad nuts is there. It's not looking like a good year for black walnuts.

Creek Clearing

Saturday morning I took the Stihl down to Plume creek to continue the ice storm clearing I had started last spring. The first picture is the mess of cedar, hickory, and maple all tied together with wild grape vines. I'd cut what I could reach and then drag those up the hill to either side, and then start again. Dragging this stuff on the slippery slopes is quite a work out -- I was sore. I felt good about what I got done (second pic), but there is more to do further up the creek -- maybe another hundred feet. I don't believe there is another mess as big as this one though. It was nice to hear the water running in the creek when the saw was shut off.

Sharpen/Split

With just a little time before leaving, I got the Stihl chain sharpened and split a few more of the logs I have stashed at the barn.