August 20, 2018 Rose Camp Looks So Very Different!

150+ rounds

Our smaller grove.

View from the north ridge.

Saturday 8/18. The men who came up to fell the trees on Wednesday had all six trees cut and were back down on the pavement before noon!  JB and I started limbing and rounding the three trees from the grove.

JB's brother and nephew arrived at 8:30 am on Thursday, raring to go.  We continued on the three grove trees, rounding and limbing.  JB and his brother did the rounding, while his nephew and I moved rounds to the splitter, large branches to the wood cradle, and kindling to the shed.

Larry arrived at 9:00 am on Friday and began rounding, with the rest of us pulling cut branches out of the way.  By noon he had finished four trees.  All limbed and rounded.  He made it look so easy!

Larry didn't stay for lunch, and after that the four of us moved the rounds from four trees to the splitter.  JB's brother and nephew left for their home on the west side of the mountains around 3:00 pm.  JB and I just sat and stared at our "new" yard.  It looks so very different, but we really like it and feel more comfortable with such a larger fire break.

On Saturday, JB and I moved the rounds from the last two trees to the splitter.  There are at least 150 rounds!  Probably two years worth of fire wood, and five years worth of shavings for the outhouse.  I sincerely doubt that I will get all the rounds split before winter, but don't have to worry about that.  Five of the trees are fir and one pine, so we are set.

It was very smokey with a high of 80 today.  Since our DVD player died, JB's brother brought us the one his Mom had, so we watched The Notebook this evening.  Just as it ended (and we had tears in our eyes) Larry and Elsie drove up so she could see how Rose Camp looks now.  We had a nice visit, as usual, and Larry was impressed that we had done so much more work since he left on Friday.

Sunday 8/19. It was 64 this morning and we were really smoked in.  I think this was the worst day yet, with the strongest smell.  Not really healthy for working outside, but JB made several trips with the tractor to dump the huge mistletoe balls over the west ridge.  Those balls are where the yellow jackets build their nests.

I went outside off and on during the day to gather kindling, and continue cutting the large branches into kindling and pieces for the wood cradle, then stacked the kindling in the shed.  The three trees in the grove were very brittle from the mistletoe, so it is easy to break even 3" branches into the lengths we need.

I am going Down There tomorrow for a few errands and groceries.  A new cold front is supposed to move in, which will clear out the smoke but probably whip up the fires again.

Monday 8/20. It is 64 this morning and we are still smoked in.

Thought for the day: Not to brag, but I can forget what I am doing while I am doing it.