Friday, December 15, 2006

hateful grudge

someone in the upper management of missouri forestry has a hateful grudge against cedar trees. i admit that they are invasive in the worst of introduced fashion. ben has asked me to cut cedars again this year for roaring river state park. i must decline because the drive is too far. if i stay overnight with the rest of the crew, then tabitha and the kids are lonely. i really liked cutting trees last year. i must have cut down several thousand cedars in the few weeks that we were on the job.

today i got a taste of what it was like last year. bob needed to clear a cedar grove to afford the forest the opportunity to regain health. his guineas will like the new clearing too. guineas are from the savannahs in africa i assume that they don't care for the closeness of the forest by his house. they spend their days in the neighbors expansive yard. i only fell fifty or so trees today and i am whooped. i'd do that much in an hour last year at roaring river. i did have to haul them to a big pile which is the real work. bob would drive his skid steer and crush down the pile occasionally. i enjoy felling trees. when i first started i was scared and didn't enjoy it. now i am fairly proficient and really enjoy myself.

things on my list for the weekend and beyond.. (h&b2 those two periods are for you)
-duct work in attic
-insulation in attic
-finish cutting wood for barnifactor
-start cutting wood for us for next winter
-work on barn
-finish birdhouse present
-start a few fires (too bad you aren't around for this matt)
-build stanchion
-get feed for nimue

the barnifactor (aka the guy who got us our little barn in trade for wood) came by the other day and was measuring his partial wood pile and was writing in a little pad of paper. hum, do you thing he might be anxious for his wood? i only have a third cord of wood left to go. i can do that in a few hours if given the chance.

i saved a few really great pieces of cedar today and plan to make a bed from some of them. i am off to design the bed in adobe illustrator.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I've cut a few trees and they always scare me. Afraid of where they may fall.
Don't forget to take some time for fun on the weekend..

Anonymous said...

Oh how lovely a cedar bed will be for Tabitha and when you guys are ready bunk beds for the older ones. And while you are at it, you could make Kassi a cedar chest for her specials!

I think it is sweet of you to turn down the cedar job and stay and keep your wife emotionally protected. I don't suppose Rosie would be a good stand in while you are away?

Danielle

Anonymous said...

Some years ago when my sons attended Scout camp in Missouri, the groundskeeper there began an eradication program to remove all of the cedars on the camp. He confidently announced to us that they were "toxic."

I'm pretty sure what he misunderstood was that they were considered a "noxious week" and in his mind the word came through as "toxic."

At Roundrock, I am slowly removing cedars (mostly new ones that are easy to cut) as a way to allow more diversity in my forest to develop. I have nothing against cedars in particular, though.

Ed said...

We cut the more mature red cedars for Christmas trees. The rest we normally leave provided they are in areas that are better wildlife habitat than farming. In the ground we would rather farm, we typically eradicate them (as long as they aren't too big) through controlled burning methods. As long as the fire gets hot, they kill them quite well.

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