Logs and vegetable beds

 - Can I have that log?

- No

- Can I have that log?

- No

- How about this one?

- Weeeeell ok then

It’s hard to get a log round here, they are all scheduled for planking!

I managed to score a few to go round the new veg beds. 

I’m trying cardboard to suppress the weeds and horse poo on top, I’ll plant the squash and sweetcorn that are going in them through the card. There’s going to be a 3rd one for tomatoes, possibly with a shelter/polytunnel over as they tend to get mildew round here otherwise...

Giant Plank!

This pine tree was cut down a little over a year ago. Doug had to strim it out of a ginormas mound of brambles and bracken plus another tree that fell on it in high wind and some other small ones that were cut to clear way for the pine coming down. Lots of work!

But now it is free he has started milling it in to planks with the Alaskan mill. These are LONG planks.

This is just half of one of them (easier to carry if cut down first!)

This is another thicker plank that has been cut in to useful lengths for drying. It is really really heavy at the moment despite the tree having sat for a year.

Stacked to dry. We are not sure how long it will take

Many more trees waiting for this treatment once this one is finished!

The building of Wood Henge

At the moment we have a local farmer who puts hay in one of the fields, but he is going to stop shortly as his son is increasing their herd, so they will need the hay. The place that is convenient for him and the tractor is a bit of a trial when we have to roll the bales in ourselves because it is at the bottom of the field and very muddy.

We also buy a lot (400) small bales that we can handle more easily, but this year the guy who makes them couldn’t get help during covid so he didn’t make them

As result we have had to roll the bales through the mud a few times and we realised this isn’t going to work when we need to do a bale every week next year.

So we set about building a feeder that we can roll the bales in to down hill from the drive.

The bales weigh 350kg or more!

Testing it out with a little bit of hay

The hope is that I can get a bale in to it on my own. I can unload from the trailer single handed, but I was a bit nervous to try the first time rolling it down the hill in to the feeder alone as I am keen to avoid being smushed!

We have a few adjustments to make, but overall we are pleased with it, the days spent building it were well spent,  as it will save time and effort in the future.

Heart wood

Doug has bought a ‘new’ second hand chain saw with a bit of a longer bar than his other one. 

He tested it out on the fallen chestnut behind the house (rather big for the other saw) making a couple of logs for Daisy’s clicker training. We are working on her lifting her feet.

I like one of them as a little stool outside the stables for when I am fettling with the strimmer etc...

What a plank!

As we have sooooo much wood now from trees that fell in storms and from the great tree cutting day, Doug has been looking at what to do with some of it that isn't just firewood.
This is a plank he made freehand with a chainsaw! We are thinking of getting and Alaskan saw mill that takes a chain saw and guides it straight so we could make more precision planks and posts for use about the place. It would be satisfying to use our own wood for something other than firewood...

Building the stairs

The extension with the bedroom (and our current living/kitchen/bath/toilet room) is at a different height to the main house so we needs steps down in to it. It was hard to design and make them at this point as we are not sure to within a few centimeters the height of the floor in the main house. Doug came up with a design which hopefully that won't matter as they don't go up to the very top and there can be a little difference in final floor height and it be fine.

In progress - it was a lot of work to get to here as there are some mortise and tenon joints between the two types of wood which were quite a fiddle for Doug to do.

This is him working on those joints

All ready but not finished or stuck together

You can see it will be much easier and safer getting in and out of the bedroom!

Nearly there... just a bit more paint needed...