August 1-2, 2014

I was very pleased to see an inch and half of rain in the gauge, and we received almost another tenth of an inch overnight. Though we slept with the windows open, I never heard it rain. It did make for low clouds Saturday morning, and very unusual for us to not be able to see across the valley. Saturday started off nice and cloudy and cool, but by early afternoon it was in the low 90s with high humidity. I really worked up a sweat working our Walnut logs (see below).

Blue Bird Babies

I checked our bird house out back and, as expected, the eggs had hatched and there were little babies with their mouths gaping open. I took a couple of pictures, but both were blurry. I probably didn't give it time to focus, sticking my phone into the top of the box to get the shot.

Mowing

The grass was not very high in spite of not being mowed in weeks. With the recent rain, that will change. I did go ahead and mow the front yard, down to the pond, and around the spring.

I couldn't resist stopping to get this picture of the walnuts on the tree down by the confluence of the creeks. Its limbs are drooping down with the weight of the nuts. I just hope they don't break.

Walnut Logs

This was the big project for the weekend, and boy did I feel it. After procrastinating for so long, I finally cut our Walnut that has been laid over since the 2009 ice storm. – and it was solid! Even though it was up off the ground, I was afraid it might be hollow. It lay pointing down hill just below the spring. I had scouted how to drive my truck up there and swing it around so I was heading down hill. Sally wanted to come along for this project, and I was glad she did. She not only got some great pictures, but offered some good advice and took care of painting the ends of the logs (to prevent checking).

I ended up being able to cut four logs 7' 2" each. Their diameter was greater than I had estimated (I allowed to much for the bark): 10", 12", 13" at the small end of the upper logs (the ones I got loaded), and 15" at the butt of the base log. Being larger in diameter than I had estimated, and cutting them to longer lengths than I thought I would be able to, all meant they weighed more than I thought they would. I was planning on being able to lift one end up onto the tailgate. The bigger ones I could not even get off the ground. I thought I was stuck.

Sally suggested rolling them down the hill and getting our miller to come pick them up. That gave me the idea to drive the truck down the hill into the ditch that drains the spring so that the tailgate would be lower to the ground. Then I thought of getting the ramps I built to load the mower.

Just getting the logs down the hill turned out to be quite a challenge. While Sally painted the ends, I went back to the house to get the ramps, Papa's come-a-long, what little chain I had, and a crow bar. With the crow bar I could lift one end just enough for Sally to get a short limb under it, and then I could roll the log over the limb by cranking on the other end with the crow bar. I was able to spin one around parallel to the hill while sitting up on a limb, but mostly I just inched them around with the crow bar. I had to use other limbs as stops so that the log wouldn't run away down the hill (and over me). Using the crow bar I would pry it off the stop limb, move the stop a foot or so down the hill, and then let the log roll. I adjusted the direction as I neared the truck. A couple of times the log grabbed the crow bar and I had to let the log roll over it.

When I got to the ramps, I let the logs roll up as far as possible on to them. I was worried about the ramps breaking with the weight, and used a big limb to provide some added support on the down hill ramp. Once on the ramps I could just barely spin the logs around to a 45 degree angle to the bed of the truck. That's where the come-a-long came in, I had to crank them on up into the bed. It was all a very slow and exhausting process. Sally was worried about the weight of the three logs and feared we wouldn't be able to get up the hill or might even burn up the engine, but with low 4WD I knew it wouldn't be an issue.

I had talked to a miller a couple of months back that would saw our logs, and figured I would touch base with him Monday and take them out then. But Sally suggested seeing if we could drop the logs off on the way back to town. So I put in a call to Ryan to see if that would be possible. After the exchange of a few phone messages we got the okay, and then his wife provided me with directions. He is outside Wesley at the other end of Madison county, at the end of his own dirt road. He has a nice place, and is very nice young man with a young family. He used his front end loader and a chain and just drug the logs out of the truck. I was somewhat surprised the tailgate closed without a problem after all the stress I had put it through.

Now I just need to get the last, and largest, log loaded and out to him. That will have to wait until the following weekend. Once cut, I have to find a place to stack and dry the lumber for six months. This is going to be a long term, and expensive, project. I fully expect enough wood for a nice table, a bench, and plenty of left overs.

Garden

Sally picked a bunch of green beans, more dragon beans, a few peppers, and enough basil for more pesto. She watered and I weeded. With her permission I pulled up a bunch of the mint on the far side.

Weedeat

I did just a bit around the house, and cleaned up the hill below the house.