Then I backed my truck into the yard and tossed all the fir rounds into the bed. These are all ones that need to cure still but which I don't need taking up space in the cover.

Soon I had the rounds lobbed in and I drove down by the studio to stack them.

I had to do some ground prep to level then break the board to the right length for the base. I'm making sure to put the rounds on runner boards beneath to keep them from getting rotten from ground contact.

Before long I had the rounds all stacked nicely between the trees and I made sure to stack them so the next trees will get stacked with the larger rounds on the bottom. I really like how these walls of wood are turning out and they really look cool. It will be quite awesome looking once I get all 4 legs of the wood corral stacked up.

I was taking my time in getting out to deal with the tree. Eventually I grabbed my climbing spurs and the logging cinch and headed over to the tree.

The mushrooms are exploding EVERYWHERE around the farm thanks to the heavy rains recently.

I've found that keeping my spurs strapped a bit looser makes it easier for me to climb. I found myself feeling a LOT more comfortable on them as I climbed in spite of the soaking wet tree and the kinda slick moss covering it.

I climbed up past the cut I had made and wrapped the cinch around the tree then down climbed back to the ground.

Then I had to go haul the chain and come-along from the tools shed over. I drug them up the hill, attached them to the cinch, and wrapped the chain around an uphill tree trunk.

I put a tree between to protect myself and give a slight directional to the pull on the tree.

It didn't take but a little ratcheting to get the tree to start to fall.

It made a bunch of noise as it fell and the cable went slack as the trunk disconnected.

PERFECT shot of mid fall. A couple of those big branches aimed at the ground impaled the hillside and one is buried too deep for me to pull out.

The tree hit the ground with a thud and the cable and chain suddenly came taught and then came apart in a snap. I was lucky I laid out everything the way I did as the bolt had popped on the come-along holding one hook. The chain whipped back up the hill missing me, and the come-along and cinch shot down the hill to the base of the tree.

It leaves the base of the trunk standing that I will take down today.

I walked back to the house right as the rain started to fall for nearly an hour.

It eventually stopped and I headed out to the hill with the chainsaw. I climbed the trunk up the hillside and limbed as I went.

I had just gotten to the top of the tree as the boys were walking home from the bus and it began to snow on me.

It was more popcorn snow but it was cold down my neck none the less. It was gone within a few minutes.

With the limbs off I began bucking the tree from the top down. I got through a good amount of the trunk before the saw began cutting uneven and was just about out of gas.

I had pinged a rock on one cut which likely helped to dull the chain on me.

The wood is SUPER nice as it has been standing dead for a long time. I will be hauling it to the wood cover and splitting it for immediate burning in the fireplace.

J's laptop had died and the piece of shit SSD somehow had Bitlocker on it, that we did not install and have no record of a recovery key for. In my data issues I have been rummaging in my old directories and found a bunch of forensics software. I tried out testdisk and managed to get a nice disk image made of the encrypted drive so now I can try some other programs on the image instead of the drive itself. At least he is aware the chances are slim to none I can crack it so the data loss has been largely accounted for. I'm trying my hardest though and see it as a personal challenge now.

IT'S ALWAYS THE 3RD DART! Just maddening how it refuses to go to its home.

I had dinner ready for when @stryeyz got home then we headed out to soak a bit earlier.

Today is the day before the "bomb cyclone" storm hits which should make for some interesting weather the next days. This morning I will head to the stores after getting the boys to school then will spend my day working on the tree and cutting it and moving it all to the wood cover. It's J's birthday tomorrow so I need to get a few more gifts for him and he has decided he wants Red Robin as well for his dinner tomorrow.

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FLEMING FAMILY FARM, LLC
Sustainable & Organic Methods | Heirloom Produce

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