Chopping Wood

Everyone enjoyed this lucky photo of me and
my antlers. 

When I last wrote, we were about to enjoy the last full day of the Dans' visit before they flew out again on an early Sunday Ryan Air. They woke up Saturday full of determination to complete the last of their three main tasks (mowing, re stacking the roof beams and splitting our stored log 'rounds'). The weather nearly frustrated them... but read on.

Giving the axe a good swing.

Chopping log rounds is not that easy if you are not used to it and if the logs are rather knotty, branchy black spruce. Dan had used an axe in his younger days - he was one of the cliff-top based team of a Welsh coast-guard cliff rescue unit - but not recently and never for splitting logs for firewood.

Raw material - those log rounds queueing up to get wedged.

He was a bit tentative to start with, till he got a feeling for it, not splitting anything, but he built up quickly to some good, powerful chopping that had wedges flying off in all directions. Danielle took up the role of assistant, passing him the next log, picking up the wedges and stacking them, and sometimes diving in with the metal splitting-wedge and lump-hammer rescue the axe when Dan had got it stuck in a 'round'.

Happy chopping crew. Job's a good 'un!

As I said, though, less than half way in, coming up to lunchtime, the drizzle turned heavy and the boss (me!) decided it was not safe to be slithering about on wet concrete, swinging sharp implements about on wet handles. We adjourned indoors for tea and chocolate cake, and Elizabeth lit the fire in the Sitting Room. We thought we were done for the day with the rain set in permanently. Eventually I went up for a nap.

When I woke up an hour later, the sun was streaming through the window and I could here the solid 'thunks' of the axe. My crew had decided it was safe to re-start and were going now like a train. The pile of raw material was fast diminishing and Danielle was starting the count down - only 12 left now!..... Final half dozen, Dan! Then it was all over, the wedged wood was all stacked away and the floor cleared of debris. The sweaty lumberjacks headed indoors for a shower and a beer or cider (according to taste). They'd done a brilliant job and definitely earned their supper.

Danielle feeding the pigs.

On Sunday morning, we saw the pair off to their early flight and some messing about handing the hire car back. Our only other job that day was to set up and 'staff' our water-point for the local Ros-go-Run which regular readers will know we do every year. It was a good full event this year with more runners than previously. The half marathon passes our gate in its 12th mile. The runners all appreciate the applause and encouraging banter on the way round.

Horse radish plants doing OK despite a caterpillar attack. 

I hear from Sligo Hospital, calling me in for another chest X-Ray. I take encouragement from this, which suggests that I am not forgotten - I am front and centre and may still be on for the heart op "soon". I am not lying in some dusty drawer on somebody's longer term waiting list. That is a job for Monday.

Meanwhile, when we were blown out by our August Help-X volunteer and then unable to attract a replacement, we had both rather given up on the Help-X thing. We decided that maybe the volunteers all come on to the website in Spring to set up their year of travelling and working, but by now they have all gone back to college or to work, never to be heard from again till 2019. Not a bit of it. 2 couples have popped up over the last few days, one wanting mid September (next week!) an the other mid October. We have accepted their pencil-in bookings but also warned them that we are mainly wet and cold now. We walked the site today with a notebook, writing down any jobs we could find - there are plenty! If these work out they will be Sonja and Asbjörn, (pastry chef and chef) this month and Vicky and Judith (medical students) next month. Should be fun. Watch this space.

Settled in.

Left to right, Goosey, Goocie and George. 

Our new gander, George, has settled in well with his new women. They were a bit shouty on the day we took the previous gander away from them, maybe suffering from separation anxiety but have calmed right down now. There was no fighting - I just saw one prod by one of the geese which had him nipping a few paces out of range, but that evening all three allowed me to shepherd them 'home' to their night quarters where they all three seem to be a lot calmer and quieter about their supper feed. Perhaps it was the old gander doing all the hissing and shouting to make sure that once I'd put the feed in I got out of the way again fast; George does not do this.

William and 'Miss White' (a Hubbard) peck at the frozen pond.

George's former life had him in a bit of lawn with a couple of drakes but just what Charlotte calls "a small paddly pool" to bath in. He does all the head-dipping and showers water over his back and preens himself but we are wondering if maybe he has not learned how to swim. So far he has not ventured into our bigger water bodies (the enamel bath, half of a blue plastic drum and a 5 foot diameter, butyl lined pond) for any kind of total immersion baptism. He watches the women go in but does not dare to see if he will float. No doubt he'll get there; the other geese took days and weeks to learn the ramp up to the bath. So for the moment he looks a little grubby, and not the pristine white of a well splashed, dipped goose.

Sorry for the poor picture. Guinea fowl in flight. 

We are amused by the ability of the Guinea fowl to fly despite being wing-clipped by the guy who sold them to us having clipped their wings, allegedly knowing what he was doing. He proudly showed us to cut only one wing (which would be correct) and to only cut the main primaries back to the point at the tip of the alula (thumb) feathers. Well these guys could fly over Liz's head (about 5 foot 1 inch) from the day they were clipped, so as a method of preventing them tree-roosting or straying it was doomed to failure. This did not, as it turned out, represent a problem because they have been perfect angels from day 1, never attempting any of these bad habits. Min, the female, is seen here descending from the orchard gate; she rather took me by surprise and hence the poor photo quality.

Blue skies! (and a First Quarter Moon)

Meanwhile, we have surprised ourselves by being able to stick rigidly to our New Year's Resolutions. We decided jointly to have a 'dry' January after the excesses of Christmas, so not a drop of alcohol has passed our lips. Admittedly this is only the 2nd weekend but we are feeling good about this and we are likely to hang in there. Liz decided no more smoking indoors, so she now goes outside whatever the weather to puff away. The plan is to make the house no longer smell of tobacco smoke, but it has also had a good effect on the actual amount she smokes. She has even gone outside in the worst weather when I am saying "Ah come on - surely you'd be forgiven in this gale and rain!"

Knitted by Liz - Raglan sweater

My other resolution is to FINISH the winter with a full log store instead of a part, or 'almost', empty one. This too has been going well and lately I have been attacking some big trunk/bole pieces of ash which Bobby and I cut last winter (and in doing so killed my old chain saw). These bits sat around in the yard all year deciding whether to be rustic benches or firewood but I have now started slicing them up and splitting the slices into 'logs' for the range. Today I treated myself to a splitting wedge to cut down on the damage I am doing to my good axe by belting it from behind with a sledge hammer when it sticks part way through the grain.

And finally, Liz has finished my Raglan sweater, her biggest project since the most recent outbreak of knitting. We are both very pleased with it and she has showed it off to the Knit and Natter club where the ladies know about these things and are impressed by the even tension and consistent knitting, as well as by the skill with which she has sewed it all together. Liz is now scouting through an enormous pile of knitting mags borrowed from Carolyn for what to create next. Any suggestions?