May 29 2014

This morning I went out a tried for turkey #2.  I nearly got him!  He came right in again from Johns and I thought he was going to walk right in front of my stand but alas...He went on the back side where I cant see but he was within 20 yards. He was gobbling and drumming but I couldnt get him to come out in the open.  I tired for an hour and a half but he wouldnt come back up the hill.

I have 2 more days to get him so Im not panicking yet.

After that my project for the day was to put down rust inhibitor on the rusty spots of the roof.  Which ended up being all the lower roofs and the backside of the garage.  So now the roof is ready to be painted some time next week. It was the perfect day to do this but boy am I tired!

Ralph let me know the windows will be in mid next week and they will install late next week or the following week.  Cant wait!

Other than that the only thing I did was get the final rocks up on the lot since the road had a nice day to dry and I also cleaned up from the apple tree I took down.

Bill had a great day and the only things left are a clump on the top right, the big tree on the property line that Jed came over and asked if Bill could take down.  But Im going to talk to Bill now because thats going to leave a big hole looking over to Jeds and Im not sure I want to do that.  Bill also has some hitches to bring down as well as some chopping.

 Looking up from the bank edge with the house at my back.  This is the last of the trees to cut down.

Looking towards Jeds line with my back to the  birches in the previous pix.

Looking south from the top northern edge.

Looking down from the southern line.  Nice view!

Looking up the southern line.  The leaning over maple in front tip over once Bill cut all the pines away from it.  It literally was being supported by the pines.

Looking up the southern line from the bottom of the hill.

Looking north from the top.

Near final view!

The log driver is holding us up right now and may not be here till Tues.  Bill has a huge pile of pulp to make room for the remaining stuff.

Brad stopped by today and said he would come and do test digs to see what was there.  Now that Bill was done with the north ridge he didnt realize how big it really was so looks like this may be a go.  He dropped his excavator off tonight and will dig Friday or Saturday.

May 28 2014

I was busy today as usual but dont feel like I got a lot accomplished.

I was up at 4am to go and sit for turkeys down on the flats.  Complete bust.  Couldnt even get one to gobble.  Now I only have 2 days left to get the last bird since Ill be going out early Sat morning to see the grand-kids.  Sorry for the change in plans but I guess Beck had a rough week and asked if I could come out there.

About 8am I walked back to the house and Bill already had a truck there taking the big pines.  Filled that baby up!  Bill had to help crane the big logs up on the truck.  Looks like he will have a pulp truck in tomorrow and then maybe another full log load which will give me a total of 6.

I spent the next 4 hours doing my security stuff while Bill worked on the hill side bringing down hitches as well as cutting more trees.  With any luck, as long as he doesnt get any interruptions he plans to be done by Friday.  The logs may not be off the lot but they will be down to the header and chopped ready to ship.  Wooohooo!

Looking up from the garage.

Looking towards Jeds line.  The only thing left is that loner pine behind the skidder and then about 8 more behind it.  Bill also has to do the remaining 8 on the little bank near the apple trees.

Looking up north-west near Jeds line.

The only thing left on the north side of the ridge is about 6 trees just behind the house. 

While he finished that I went down back and York raked for the final time the log roads.  I just need to walk it and push the big rocks off the shoulders but other then that, that road should be good for some time to come until we get Bill in to log again and then he will fix and maintain the roads as he did before.

I did not hear back from Brad yet so I left a message asking him to contact me by Friday if he was still interested in the sand.  Doesnt appear like he is but thats fine.  I have Don Lambert, Eddie Bennett, Bernie Bolton.  Or Ill go right to the source up at Chester Farms.  Chester himself.  He needs a lot of sand for his pastures and I have all he needs.

Thats it for today.  Another 8pm dinner and then a shower and bed to get up at 4am.  Gobble!  Gobble!  Ill be on the power line the last 2 days.

May 27 2014

I got a lot acconplished today.

I started by taking all the shades and trim off the wondows that will be replaced in the next week or so.  I did end up throwing away 2 shades because they were si brittle thy were falling apart in my hand.

 I then went up to the lot and made 3 passes on the road with the York rake.  Im hoping if the weather holds I should be done in the next few days.

When I came back Bill helped me with the splitter.  He showed me how to clean the carberator suspecting the float inside was stuck.  Got it back together and she runs like a charm!

I then trimmed the trees on the bank taking down all the little stuff and it does look much better.

I then went and cut down the closest apple tree near the road.  All I have to do it get the brush pulled away and that will be done.

Lastly I started to dig up the pipe near the house.  Bill agreed that it doesnt serve much purpose and it would be ok to get rid of it. 

As I was up raking the road I got my trailcamea film and I got my 1st picture of the lillte fella that I caught sight of a week ago or so.

It also looks like there is a bear around.  Both my salt block and apple block were on the ground but surprisingly I got no pictures of what put them there...lol

May 25 2014

Another busy day.  I had the mini excavator today to help clean up some of the hillsides.  I really needed it for about a week.

Had a small issue with the track falling off around noon and had to wait for someone to come and fix it so I lost 4 hours of time but still got quite a bit done.  The rest will just have to be done by hand.

But 1st here are the 2 diameters of the pines.

This was the pine by the house.

This was the roadside pine.

My toy for the day.

Looking from the log road south along Stock Farm.

Looking up along the northern property line.

Opposite side of the last picture.

More of the northern property line.

Opposite of the last picture.  I pushed the piles back and then reached the boom as far as it reaches and pull debris into the piles.

More of the northern property line.

Opposite side from the last picture.

Looking up from the north west corner.

Looking down to the north west corner.

Looking along the western property line.

Looking up to the top from the western property line.

View from the top towards the western border.

More of the top.

Looking south from the top.

Looking down the log road towards Stock Farm Road.

Looking up from the southern end of the ridge.

Looking down towards the house.

One of the last things I did was to clip the corner of the hillside a little more so I can turn my truck and trailer easier.

The last thing I did was load my trailer with the remaining big rocks I couldnt handle myself and spread the dirt for the stone wall getting ready for topsoil and grass-seed.

May 23 2014

I got quite a bit done today and to my surprise we were able to sneak in getting the big pine down before it started to rain.

Video follows the pix.

Getting the loader set for giving her a push.

And in about a minute or 2 she was down.

Completely different look.

The guys came to finish up my stone wall today.  They got close to being done before the rain.  Now to just keep my fingers crossed that I have enough stone.  Its going to be close!

After it started to rain I got in the wood shed and straightened it out and moved the wood to the other side so I can put this years wood in once I split it this week.