Monday, October 08, 2012

Busy Day

Yesterday after work, when I should have been hammering my sales calls into the computer, I was called outside by the sound of tractors.  It really doesn't take much to pull me from the work desk, and tractors will do it every time.

The young chap that is cutting the hedges of our dairy-farmer-neighbour-directly-south-of-us said that he would cut our very tall beech hedge along the road for money.  If he does that, we save a LOT of time.  I can't really use the hedge cutter.  It's too heavy for my weak and girly arms.  The Man of the Place takes care of these sorts of  things.  I was just relieved that with the arrival of the young man and his tractor no family member is climbing onto a wobbly ladder with a heavy, petrol driven hedge cutter.  I always fear deep cuts that involve dashes to hospital for restitching/reattaching of things.

At the same time the hedge cutting dude was here, our dear friend Scott arrived with a wagon load of cut up logs.  This meant moving what was left of the old logs and get prepared for the new logs.

When moving the old logs, we uncover little toads and newts that thought this would be an excellent place to overwinter.  Normally it would be . . . but we had to shift things.   After moving all newts and toads so that they wouldn't get stepped on or crushed by logs,
 Old logs set to one side and tarp ready for new logs
Scott dumped the new load of logs onto the tarp with frightening accuracy!
We did not move any logs to take this photo.  He got them all on the tarp!

While Scott was dumping logs, the young chap who cuts hedges made quick work of our tall, roadside hedge. Tidy and quick - it is money well spent to have him do this.  Please note the muddy patch on the above photo.  This is where the next loads of gravel are going . . . the ground has been so soft with the constant rain.  To prevent more mud in our lives, gravel is being put down.

They all went away and we were left with a tidy hedge and a pile of logs to stack.  The toad and newts are tucked into the new wood pile and after we get the rest of the gravel down, we'll be set for winter.

3 comments:

Shammickite said...

I'm sure that the toads and newts are eternally grateful for your TLC in their toady newty way. Very clever to dump all the logs on the tarp.... now comes the backbreaking work of stacking it all. Do you cover the logs for the winter?

Peggy said...

We do cover the logs. It rains so much here that we would never have dry logs if we didn't try to cover them a bit. The tarp does two things; keeps the wood chips and bark off the gravel and we fold it over the top of the logs once stacked to keep them dry.

Xtreme English said...

Thanks be for young men and machines!

glad you saved the wee toads & newts.

Here's a link you might enjoy:

http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/xHkq1edcbk4?rel=0

when do you think the snow will arrive?