Last Friday was a heck of a day. A wonderful day. Crisp and cool but sunshiney and bright and with some good friends, hard work and willing hands, we got a whole lot done that was kicking our butts!
We had fell several trees around the homestead… most were dead or damaged. The last was this spring when an old tree at our most southeastern point of the property was damaged in an ice storm and half of it cracked off. Jr and Wayne cut it down and got it safe for us then. But we just haven’t had the time or the equipment to get it all taken care of properly.
Until now! Our new friend John and his nephews and his wife came over to lend us a hand in exchange for some banjo lessons and good times! (I love these kinds of arrangements! Everyone wins!)
That big old tree up front didn’t stand a chance after John got done with it!
And we had left over stumps from the three that were cut a couple years ago and are ready to become firewood!
Sure, we could have probably carried some of them, and we did. And use the wheelbarrow, but it was just so awesome to have our favorite little pony man Cody help us out! And he did! He made about 20 trips from the back to the front where the log splitter was! And each was one or two large stumps… whatever would fit on his little dragging sled.
Shadow was so interested and surprised at what Cody was doing! He would follow behind and keep an eye on the log in the sled with each load. I hope someday to work with Shadow as well, learning the harness and to be a help on the homestead now and then.
John also cut down two small dead trees for us, one by the garden gate and another small crab apple by the pig pen that we learned was invested by ants! I wondered why it died… I thought the sheep had killed it and they might have, but the ants surely finished the job. It’s a shame that fruit trees really don’t have long long livespans. Still, it was a huge blessing and help that he and his kinfolks brought to the table!
The clean up crew! They love to help when we are doing things around the ranch.
Good strong little Cody man! Those stumps were nothing for him. I think he would have done the job on automatic with one leg tied behind his back.
I love working with the ponies. Especially when we can accomplish something like pulling this timber out of the back. It’s a great thing and I just love that my little man is eager and helpful on this task. I never have to use anything but my voice to get him to help. The first trip or two he might be a little confused as to exactly what I want him to do, but after that, he could do it blindfolded. I’m just there to make sure nothing goes wrong.
We figure that he pulled about 600 to 700 pounds of firewood up to the front of the house. He could have easily pulled larger loads but our sled was a little limited. Still trying to make and find various drawn carts and sleds that fit our ponies! That is the challenge. This sled did work wonderfully though. Maggie waxed the bottom and it slides easily over the ground. It’s awesome in the snow, of course, but works well on the grass, too.
Goofy Daisy was being very involved in the cleanup at the firepit. A bunch of the stumps were in our wood pile. And Jessy was staged there to drag them out and onto Cody’s sled. Daisy kept her entertained! Jess shot these photos with her ipod… handy little things those little dudes are!
The little piggies are doing fantastic! We just love them! They are three weeks old now. They are like puppies really, eight weeks and they can go to their new homes. I believe we have most of them spoken for! We intend to keep one or two of them for future breeding sows.
John’s log splitter was the star tool of the day! How fascinating. You know, I’ve never seen one work. I thought they slammed into the wood but actually, they are just slow and forceful. The pressure just cracks that wood in half easily! I suppose that slow is much more safe than a crazy slamming thing!
We do need a chainsaw and I hope to get one soon, but there are other priorities ahead of it a bit. Still, since John was willing, we had him trim up a few other trees that needed a little help while he was here. We’ve been using a hand saw when needed and of course, Jr. has been a wonderful help here and there when we had storm damage or the likes, but a chainsaw is a wonderful thing!
We’re going to need one for the wood lot fencing project in the spring for sure. Maybe Santa will bring us one! (We also need a .22 rifle, but well, that’s another Santa wish list!)
How funny we are now! A chainsaw and a rifle on our Christmas list!
Everyone loves to eat leaves around here. A favorite snack! They always crowd around when we trim up stuff! John helped to trim up a bit on the wind chime tree! What was good because we love that tree. We want it to be healthy and safe for all our little friends that love to climb that old tree.
Aw…. Shadow is becoming such a sweetheart! He’s really a pocket pony, always curious and friendly. He’s really becoming part of the Windhaven critter collection, for sure. He and Cody are very good pals.
As you can see, Cody is off grazing in this picture. He’s such a funny boy. He will work hard and without any issue, seems to enjoy helping out in harness. However, when you are done and turn him loose, he will go off and be done. No calling him back to work after he’s finished up! Haha… you’re on your own!
The sheepies helping out. We got a nice little bit of firewood for next year from some of the tree trimming. It’s too green right now to burn.
Doesn’t look a whole lot different but it’s nicer having that nearly dead tree gone by the gate. It was about 95% gone, just one straggly branch with leaves. I hope to mulch that area in eventually, make it look nice and paint that fence up! Plans, plans and more plans! That’s what we have!!!
John brought us an ax! And Maggie was enjoying trying it out on the dead tree like some ancient Scot warrior. Since we’ve got a wood burner now, as well as a furnace… we need to learn to do a little log splitting and cutting of our own! How nice of him… what a sweetie! Maggie sure enjoys it. He spent some time educating and teaching us on splitting and cutting wood too! Great lessons!
It’s hard to tell, but there are TWO stacks of wood here. We think close to a full cord, certainly more than a face cord! It should help our heat bill considerably and that is a good thing! Since all the wood was here, it’s like free heat! Well…. after the work of about seven good folks and a couple of stout ponies! Just a great day…
Pin It