New Skills

Look who found the bird feeder!! I am able to sneak quite close to them. They are wary but not super timid.
Would be nice if they got really used to us.

Jeff was the motivated one today and got out to work on the tree. I eventually followed! We just got the chainsaw back from being sharpened so Jeff got into all those bigger logs at the top of the yard.
I dug out two barrow loads of ash from the fire and dumped it down a handy hole 😀
Unfortunately the wind was blowing the wrong way today… it didn’t seem too strong, but it blew it onto the highway and over Jeff, so gave up on that.

I concentrated on stacking.

Jeff taught me how to split wood today!! I hadn’t done it before… I harbor some worries about taking a foot off (this is me so entirely possible) and sometimes its good NOT to know how to do everything – if you get my drift.
However…

So here’s me in my super flattering sexy garden clothes having a whack at the logs

Actually its a nice relaxing process once you get into it! Jeff showed me clearly how to swing and where my hands should be etc… so I am set!
(I am hoping one of my readers, Elizabeth, will be a little impressed that I have finally had a go at this!! 🙂 haha)

I handed the axe back to Jeff and continued stacking.
I also put a couple of loads into the duck yard garden along with more of the tree that Jeff cut, ready to create another Hugelkultur. I was just using all the really small, weird or impractical pieces that were too hard to stack or cut. Lets be honest. We don’t have to be picky. 🙂

The log piles are growing! The scary thing is…this is only scratching the surface. There is SO much more tree to come down. Just got to work out what on earth we are going to do with it all!

Isn’t the grain of this wood gorgeous? And it smells divine!

I am going to need a 4wheel drive wheel barrow soon! Pesty chickens are trying to dig to China or something!

Since we don’t have any decent square bits, I cheated and went with the steel droppers at the ends.
Anyway, since you can have too much of a good thing, I quit for the day, brought up a load of wood for the evening fire and went and picked tomatoes. I am hoping to barter these for some home made sausage rolls…

Cheers!