Chipping and Retaining Walls

We borrowed our neighbor's chipper and took it over to Waterville yesterday. Scott was also kind enough to load our ATV ("Little Red") into his pickup truck and bring that over for us. Caroline has spent the last couple of days chipping various branches and also doing a fair amount of brush mowing. We figure we'll use the chipper for about a week and then return it. We could chip for the rest of our lives and still not be done. We've been trying to make the area around the shed more attractive and while we could put everything on the burn pile it makes sense to try to keep some of the biomass on the ground to supply nutrition for the remaining trees. It's shaping up to be a busy real estate week so not sure how much we'll actually manage to get done.

On a "bummer" note the pond continues to lose water. We measured the output from the hose yesterday and it is only about 1/3 gallon per minute. Obviously not enough to make up the losses. Don't know if we are looking at a leak or all evaporation. Also don't know how we would figure that out.
I got the last of the stubborn stumps out at the sawmill shed site yesterday. I leveled things out and started on the rear retaining wall. Today I basically finished up the wall though we still need to backfill it and level out above it. It isn't pretty but also doesn't look terrible. I expect it will do it's job. Next step is to do an exact layout for the building and start digging for, and setting the pressure treated posts. We are also planning to add some drainage pipe to try to keep thing dry under the roof.

While we were working over on one corner of the property moving rocks and a stump. I managed to uncover a yellow jacket nest. There are advantages to a backhoe since I didn't get stung. I don't think the hoe was very impressed by the bees. I figured we would leave the area for awhile. Next time over I might try leveling the area and adding some dirt. Hopefully the bees will have moved on.

A Reel Hose Job

Yesterday Caroline and I went up to Waterville to attempt to add some water to the wildlife pond. As you can see by the brown area around the pond we have been losing water. I think the major problem is evaporation with the heat we've been having. Our neighbor up there had told us there was a spring on our property which they use to use. So we went searching a couple of days ago and found some run off at the bottom of a hill about 1/2 the way to the high point of the land. Yesterday we took a shovel and hose and headed up into the woods. Caroline worked on damming the runoff and I laid some hose out. In total it took 400 feet of hose and we figure we had roughly a 80-100 foot drop over that distance. We got the water running reasonably well though Caroline had to give up a pint of blood to the local mosquitoes.

Don't know if we will actually make any difference in the level of the pond but it was an interesting experiment. The dam that Caroline constructed is not completely water tight. I would guess we could get about twice the amount of water by plugging up the dam and having a larger hose. This is also coming from one of about 1/2 dozen little springs in a row at the bottom of a hill. If we could combine them into one stream it might yield a considerable amount of water. Makes me start thinking about generating electricity from Hydro. I have visions of scooping out a little pond to catch the various areas of water output and putting a microturbine down at the pond. Don't know if it would generate enough to be worth the expense but the increased water to the pond would be a big plus.

We put a stick in the ground at the edge of the current water level. We'll see which way it goes over the next little while. I figure we are getting about 1 gallon a minute with the current setup. Doesn't sound like much but that comes to about 1500 gallons a day.

Hunk O' Beef

My Aunt Jane and her honey Donald are up visiting with us for a couple of days. Fortunately the weather is cooperating and has been rather pleasant thus far. They played golf yesterday and I took them over to see the Waterville property today. At least now they will know better what we are talking about when we mention projects.

I stayed over in Waterville after they left and pulled some more stumps. Actually got out the ones I was working on when the Hydraulic hose went last week. Unfortunately in moving some rocks I smashed my finger and now have some moderately severe discomfort.

I am managing to get the area for the shed fairly level. It's tough to see from this picture but it's starting to look lik I know what I'm doing. Only took 6 weeks so far. Now that the backhoe is working again I can hopefully get the rest of the bank dug out. I will need to put a retaining wall on that side also and then probably take the back blade to the surface to do final grading. I figure another 4-5 full days of excavating based on my speed thus far.

At that point we will be able to lay out the building and dig holes for the 6 x 6 posts which are going hold up the above ground posts. We will also lay in some drainage pipe to help keep things dry, put in the 6 x 6 and get a bunch of stone delivered which will make up the floor.

I'm gradually getting timbers milled but have quite a ways to go yet. I would estimate I'm 1/4 of the way done with the needed 6 x 6's. A problem is getting enough 18 foot logs that I can cut timbers out for the rafters. We have one more tall pine by the shed to come down, then we will have to start looking around for more volunteer trees who want to be part of the building experience.

Later this afternoon we went off to Lamoille County Field days to check out the action and people. We figured Jane and Donald should see some more local color. The ox pull was a highlight. In this picture they are trying to drag 11,000 lbs. All the teams were reaching their maximums at about this point. We also checked out the various animals and saw some baby goats which, of course, appealed to Caroline and me. I had a long conversation with the Kubota salesman who was exhibiting about upgrading to something with more horsepower. I feel like I'm constantly on the edge of what my current tractor can do.

Hydraulics 101

Yesterday we decided to take the Hydraulic hose off the backhoe and see if I could get a replacement. It's amazing how long things can take when you have no idea what you are doing, or the proper tools to do it. I was working on it for a couple of hours but finally got it removed.

It actually was easy to get a new one. Pete's repair in Morrisville actually has a special door for you to enter if you have an hydraulic hose that is leaking. Took them about 20 minutes to make it up.

I then spent another couple of hours trying to put it on but haven't managed to get it threaded through the network of metal qute yet. Caroline is going to go over and help me to see if 4 hands are better than two. Should be a lot of swearing.

Going Loonie

Today we went with our Neighbors Scott and Chrissy on the annual loon count. Once a year Vermont has volunteers count the number of loons they find on their assigned lake. Scott has been counting on Lake Willouby for the last 20 years. We left home at 6:30 this morning and were on the lake before 8 am. It is a long lake and it took us four hours of steady paddling to do the round trip. This picture was taken when we come off the lake looking down the length of it from where we parked. We saw a total of four loons in our travels. Chrissy, and their nephew Christen, didn't make the whole trip as Chrissy was feeling a bit of motion sickness. The wind was blowing pretty hard and there were 2 foot swells at times. When you are in a kayak those seem pretty big.

We also went over to visit clients which we sold a house to last year which is located across the valley from us. They seem to really enjoy their house which makes me feel good.

Heat Wave and Lumber Racks

Today was really hot. Supposedly the next 3-4 days are also going to be rather warm. It's not often Vermont has a heat wave but apparently we are going to. The weather forcast is for temps in the 90's at least until Tuesday. Hopefully, it will dry things out a bit. I'm sure that soon we will be praying for rain.

Yesterday I blew out a hydraulic hose on my backhoe so it's out of commission until I get it fixed. This morning we spent at the foodshare finishing up various little jobs. The place is really coming together. I need to get the camera there and take some pictures.

We then headed over to Waterville and worked on reorganizing the shed. We put lumber holders on the back wall which are really simple but seem to work okay. We'll see if the lumber is on the floor next time we are over there. Or if the siding has popped off. I would like to insulate the shed and use it as a shop but there are just too many other things going on which are taking precedence at the moment.

We also moved the rest of the lumber I've milled into the the shed. The long boards are under the lumber racks on the back wall, while the 13 foot, and under, boards are on the near stack. After cleaning and rearranging it almost looks like we know what we are doing.

We still have a lot more to mill before we are ready for the shed but at least it is starting to look like we have milled a significant amount.

Setting the World on Fire, or at least the brush pile

So today was brush pile burning day in Waterville. The weather report was calling for rain starting later in the day and boy were they correct. It is coming down in buckets at this point. It seemed like a good day to do the burn pile since we could count on it not getting out of control once we left it. It took a bit of hay to get it started but once it got going we spent the day feeding it with various brush piles and downed trees along the driveway. We also took down a couple of trees around the sawmill shed area so we could extend the area out far enough for any future expansion. There are still 2 or 3 reasonable sized trees which need to come down to make sure we don't have problems in the future.
Hopefully we can get some useable lumber out of the trees we took down. There was a lot more brush we could have put on the fire but it started raining around 4 pm and we were bushed by then. All in all it made the place look better.

Moving Rocks In The Hot Sun

Caroline spent the day showing properties to her clients from Pennsylvania. Who knows if they will buy anything but she sure is seeing a large part of Vermont.

I spent most of the day moving rocks and leveling the spot for the Sawmill shed. It is still wetter than it should be. The tires make big holes in the ground. I got stuck for about 10 minutes at one point primarily because the mount for the backhoe hangs down pretty far and it got buried in the clay/mud. I did get the pile removed from the middle of the site. I actually think we might have to bring in fill to get everything to grade. We'll see once I finish digging out the back corners and around the edges.

I have a good part of the front retaining wall started. It was interesting moving rocks. Every one needed a different method to lift, move, or drop. The wall doesn't look real professional but hopefully it holds and all in all not bad for my first attempt. I need some more work with the transit since the stakes we had put in have pretty much disappeared with me going back and forth over the area. I think we are getting fairly close. A couple of more trees need to come down. The big thing is the area drying out. It is impossible to level if everytime you go over it you leave 6 inch deep ruts.

Got one log milled this afternoon. Not the greatest wood but the mill seemed to work well.

This and That in Waterville

Worked on a number of projects in Waterville yesterday. Caroline finished up the shed staining which looks great. We borrowed the neighbor's ladder to do the top portions. With the stain it almost looks like cedar siding. Hopefully it will allow the shed to last longer.If you have been following the blog you might notice the pile of stone outside the side door to the shed. Yesterday we moved that over to the other side of the shed after digging out the grass that was growing there, putting in perforated drain pipe and then the rock on top. As you can see I'm hoping to use the area for parking the tractor. It also can be used for piling lumber, etc. We are hoping to get a shed roof over it before too much longer. We might then move the generator out there into a semipermanent location as well as other tools, etc. I did some milling but had problems with the mill working properly and then managed to hit my first "Log Dog" which are the metal bars which hold the logs in place. Did a number on the saw blade and resulted in it getting stuck in the log. With the hot sun beating down on the mill by then I decided to wait until later in the day to get it taken apart. Fortunately it came out with out too much trouble. The picture is of the logs we got from the spruce tree we cut down on Friday. Hopefully we can get a significant amount of lumber out of them. Don't know if we'll ever get enough for the sawmill shed. I attached the extension for the mill the other day so we can cut up to 18 foot boards. We need 16 foot 6 x 6's for the rafters. If we ever get to the cabin we are going to need a couple of 22 foot beams which should be interesting to cut.I finally got to work a bit more on leveling the area for the sawmill shed. Still a bit muddy but a whole lot better than it was. I have most of the area dug at this point so I can start leveling. Caroline and I shot a number of points to use for grade elevations. Hopefully I can move some soil around without running into the stakes.

Goat Teams Merge

The goat herds have merged and are living in the lower field. They seem relatively happy without too much butting or segregating. The original three still seem to sort of hang together but they certainly move around as a herd. They are spending most of the time in the shed due to insects but will make forays out to munch in the field. We take them for walks out in the field to make sure they move around. They are odd creatures. We actually only have the top of the field fenced in and they don't bother to go into the woods on either side. Who knows, it makes it much easier to move fence around if we want to. We know we are weird about the goats but with the four new ones it has certainly changed the dynamics.

The Day lilies have come out in the last week. I see them all over the place. This picture is of a bunch we have up by the goat shed. We have managed to spend time over in Waterville the last couple of days. It's still too wet to actually dig for the sawmill shed but at least we can get some logging done. We've taken down a number of trees both pine and spruce. I'm not real concerned about sticking to one species for the sawmill shed. As we move on to the cabin I would like to have the frame looking consistent. That of course assumes we can find enough timbers for a whole frame. The cabin frame consist of 43 timbers of varying sizes and lengths. It will take a fair number of trees to produce all of them. We have quite a few large pines which should yield a lot of lumber, their tops broke off over the last year or so with the high winds we have had. The problem is that the tractor can't lift them so until we get a more permanent setup which allows us to pull them in behind the tractor we can't really mill them. Caroline has most of the shed stained at this point. She just has the top of one side left to do. She spent this afternoon brushmowing around various spots but in particular around the pond. It's amazing what a bit of mowing can do to the looks of the place.

First Contact

All the goats met today. I was working over in Waterville and got home this evening to find that the four new goats (Daphne, Emily, Coco, Gertrude) were on the front lawn. No idea how they got out. Daphne has been out a couple of times but we haven't seen her do it. Apparently she told the rest how to do it. I figured I'd see if I could herd them in with the original three (Gurgle, Stormy, Georgia) but there was a fence malfunction and now we basically don't have any fence. We'll have to work on that tomorrow.

When they first met there seemed to be friendly mingling but then the butting started, Gertrude and Georgia were the worse basically butting each other all the way up the driveway. The others butted in on occasion. We've checked them several times this evening and the three originals are always standing shoulder to shoulder facing off against the four newbies. Hopefully they work it out quickly. Everyone must have a headache after all the butting. Coco and Gurgle seem to be the most relaxed about it. Stormy just keeps running around saying I'm neutered but I can still mount you. We'll see. Feeding time should be interesting.

Caroline spent the day driving around Vermont showing expensive properties to a couple from Pennsylvania. Don't expect anything will come of it but it sure would help the bottom line if they bought something.

I spent a good part of the day in Waterville doing maintance work. I graded the drive and did some grass cutting. Still entirely too wet to think about digging for leveling the sawmill shed. Actually it looks like we are putting in a pond at the moment.