Today was a fairly productive day. I got up early and worked on some final clearing along the edge of the yard. There were just a few saplings that needed to be cut and some tree roots to be pulled up. Then Andrea helped me come up with a plan for what needs to be done before we can plant the bushes that we have planned for there. The major thing needing to be done is to cut one tree, which we decided we would do as soon as the weather permitted.
The forecast was calling for some much needed rain, which thankfully came in the early afternoon. It didn't rain for a long time, but when it was finished the rain gauge showed four-tenths of an inch, which I was very glad to see. Rain barrel #1 is now full, and the second barrel is nearly full.
It had stopped raining by the time I took off from work, although was still very wet. We decided to go ahead and cut that tree, while we had a chance. I always forget how terrible I am at using a chainsaw, until I actually do it. The cutting of the tree itself actually went fairly well. Andrea used the winch on the RTV to make sure the tree fell in the direction we wanted, and it came down without incident. Cutting the stump down to ground level, however, was a totally different story. I don't know if the wood is just harder the closer you get to the roots, if the chain is just dull, or if its something I do wrong, but it took me much longer than it should have to get through that stump, which wasn't even very big. While I was working on that Andrea loaded up the limbs I had cut from the tree, so we could haul those off. We managed to get everything moved except for the log itself, which I'm considering cutting into lengths and drying, for eventual use in the cordwood garden shed we have planned.
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