Forestry Day

I did more forestry work today, cutting up a felled Douglas Fir and clearing some bramble for a set of trails Meredith and I are working on. We could hear an owl somewhere in the wilderness. It was quite cool. As for the trails, they're coming along. We've managed to link two trails together. They just need to be raked back. We ran into a bit of a snag, since the newer trail skirts the edge of our property. That edge goes up a steep incline and it'll be tough clearing a walkable path. There's a set of trails above the incline, but they're a ways off, and there's some serious debris/bramble in the way. I expect lots of thicket.

We spent a good deal of time moving the cut sections on to our cement basketball court to let 'em dry in the sun. We were a bit fried, so we went out for Thai food.

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The bird feeders are getting savagely attacked by the Stellar's Jays. We've seen other birdies, though. This morning a Chimney Swift had made it's way from our chimney to our sliding glass door. I helped it back outdoors.

We've also seen Pileated Woodpeckers jumping from a dead tree. There are other woodpeckers, though . . . we had a Hairy Woodpecker climbing up our elderberry tree. That elderberry tree has been attracting a bunch of Western tanager and Evening grosbeaks. I thought the grosbeaks looked at parrots at first.

Anyway, things are getting interesting, bird-wise around here.

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Currently listening to The Dirty Three

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Thicket is my new favorite word. Thicket, thicket, thicket.


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Conversation re: chainsaw:


John: Yer gettin' powdery bits now.

Oliver: Huh?

John: Powdery bits. Yer chain's strugglin' a bit.

Oliver: Is that what that smoke's all about?

John: Ya.

Oliver: Oh.

John: 'shouldn't cut them logs that close to the ground.

Oliver: Oh.

John: Ya. 'cause there's rocks or somethin' down there and it'll dull yer chain right up.

Oliver: Oh.

John: (singing) "tea, no thanks I'll have a beer"

Oliver: What's that you're singing?

John: Oh, it's somethin' from the Simpsons. Ya'know the episode where Homer's singing to "Do-re-mi?"

Oliver: No.

John: Ol' buddy o'mine, when we went on our raftin' trip was humming it.

Oliver: Oh.

John: So now you've got a dose of yer pop culture for today!