A Big Project Completed~ falling trees

Sometime back,

I mentioned that I had difficulty in cutting trees on our place.

There was one in particular that Mr. LB was not fond of.

It's a pine (which I love) that happened to grow in a very unfortunate spot.

Behind our shop and lean-to where the wood is,

there is an area that once had a falling down, rotting, wooden garage/barn

and two still houses as well as various scruff trees and brush.

The still houses went shortly after moving in 15 years ago.

The barn went about 5 years ago.

Gradually, we have cleaned up the area in hopes to park back here.

The only problem was - trees.

There was a huge cottonwood on the neighbors side that would

drop limbs, branches, leaves, and those sticky pods.

Then there was also our crooked pine tree.

I don't have a picture of the cottonwood while standing, but
you'll see the large rounds.

Now, usually if I consent to fall a tree, Mr. LB is immediately there with

chainsaw in hand, zip-zip like you would see in a cartoon.

These were a little different.

The neighbor's cottonwood was at least 4 feet in diameter at the base and

leaned in the direction of our shop.

Our pine was not as large, but leaned toward the neighbor's house.

Long story short (sorta) with proper notching,

jacks, pully system, and tractors, the trees fell towards the river

with no injury to any structure or person.

Here is the cottonwood already fallen, and the pine fell right behind it.

Then there was some cleaning up so the stump could be removed, and

the trees could be pulled from the river.

If we were to leave them, they were big enough that they would

most likely cause damage down river - not what we want.

It took some doing as the tree was well rooted, but 'we' finally got it.

It left quite the divot.

There it goes.

 And here's what remains.  You can see the cottonwood stump in
the upper right hand corner.

The neighbor is great on his tractors and back filled pretty well.

Then came getting those monsters out of the river.

This is the base of the pine.

Deciding the best way to lift them up and pull them out at the same time.

After much maneuvering. . .

And by the time Mr. LB was packing up, here's what it looked like.
Over by the lean-to are the fence panels that were removed in order
to fall the trees.

After a couple evenings, of moving gravel around and bucking up
the remaining logs, we finally got to park back here.
I didn't get a picture of it cleaned up before we started moving rigs
back here.  And yep, we have old rigs.
We don't worry about scratches and such when we go get wood
or haul things.  (These are both 4WD & not our daily drivers.) 

We'll get one more load of gravel at some point since there is still a dip
where the stump was, but it's so nice to have it all cleaned up.
Out front can now be cleaned up since there's nothing parked there now.

Until next time,
Nimble Fingers and Even Stitches

My "New" Toy

Evidently, I didn't think I had enough to do:)
Mr. LB and I like to go camping.
Actually he likes to fish and would probably sleep on the bank
of the river with his fishing rod in his hand
like a child with a teddy bear.
Me? I like to be "away,"
to gather peace, hike around,
listen to birds and brook,
and maybe stitch a little.
The thing about camping is I am the one
responsible for the food, dishes, bedding and so forth.
Don't get me wrong,
he cooks over the camp fire and does plenty,
but there is plenty to do.
Over the past couple years,
I have been casually searching
for a little old camp trailer.
I like the old ones for several reasons
but a couple in particular being full metal frames and character.
And, I just like old stuff:)
Late last fall,
I found her.
16' (14' box) 1968 Aristocrat Land Commander

Unfortunately, the pictures from the ad that I answered didn't save properly
so now when I go to open the file, it's code and hieroglyphics.
So this picture is actually after we have done a few things
which I will share next time.
She was/is original with only a few little exceptions so be ready 
to get your fill of Bert-and-Ernie-ness.
Part of the reason it took a while to find her was that I had some
very specific qualifications if you will.
First, she had to be under a certain dollar amount.
With vintage trailers being a 'hot' item,
some folks seem to think a rotten shell is worth a mint.
Next, 16 feet was the very largest I wanted - whew, just made that one.
She had to have an oven, not just the stovetop.
When we are camping,
I like to have things made ahead of time and just heat them up.

Mr. LB's only request was that it have the bed separate from the dinette.

He awakes at dark:30 to go play with fish, so 

he didn't want to have to sit on the bed to drink his coffee while I sleep.

This wasn't a requirement, but guess who's fishing poles, waders, fly boxes, 
and boots all fit in here?

I also wanted a closet that was at least large enough to fit a porta-potty into.
I am often either the only female or one of very few women on the rivers 
where fishermen go.  She has an actual potty!  Woohoo!
I can now do a happy dance rather than a peepee dance.
(You know, the one 4-5 year olds do when they need to go.)

  My last requirement was no water damage.
This unfortunately, was where I gave a little.
On each side of the front window and in the corner by the back window
there is evidence.  
It appears to be from condensation rather than leakage.
In the first photo, you can see the side compartment that holds batteries
and jacks, etc.  I can see the inside front just under the window,
and it is clean.
I'm not totally naive - just a little:)
I know before she gets a new paint job (have to save a while for that one,)
there will be some issues to address.
There is no water damage around the roof vent which is a huge one.
(I've pulled the light down so I could see in there.)
Again, next time I will share the "imperfections" list with you,
because she did/does have several of those.

She needed a name as they all do, right?
I had to ponder that one for a while.
Mr. LB and I camp together, and though I could have called her
something like the fairy castle or whatever, I wanted to keep his thoughts
in mind as well.
Since we both like Jimmy Durante, I named her Mrs. Calabash.
That way we can say,
"Good Night Mrs. Calabash, wherever you are."
And since we are apt to take her wherever, it's suiting.
If you aren't familiar with that phrase,
you can do a search for Mrs. Calabash and read the history.
I think it's rather romantic.

This is the 'before' post.
I have a feeling the 'during' might take a while.
I've been tackling things as I have time but will share those soon.

Until next time,
Nimble Fingers and Even Stitches

Give a Guy a Tractor - Follow up

It's been a while since I did the post

Give a Guy a Tractor

then

Give a Guy a Tractor part 2

and now...

after a little over a year and a half later,

we have underground sprinklers.

Woohoo!

It's difficult to see the sprinklers going during mid-day.
Hubby took this picture yesterday - evening.

There's grass seed down,
now we just have to keep it wet & wait for it to grow.
Yes, we are those kinds of folks who
find it exciting to watch the grass grow.
Again, nothing seems to happen over night around here
so it feels good when a project gets finished-up.
We tend to do these types of projects ourselves
and as we can pay for them,
so we don't expect to have things done by yesterday.
This was Mr. LB's project, and it will be so nice
not to have to drag hoses all over that big ol' yard.
Thank you, Love:)

In the above linked post,
the tree that the trailer is tied up to is going to come out.
I will show you what's going on there when we get to that.
I have a hard time saying okay to cutting down a tree
so there is usually a really good reason for it.
That tree happens to have a crook in it.
If it toppled, it would land on our shop.
Also, we will be able to park the rigs back there and still move.

For the time being,
I'm just grateful for a watered yard.

Until next time,
Nimble Fingers and Even Stitches

Gaining Ground

It's amazing what can happen when Mr. LB

gets the chainsaw out to trim a dead limb.

That's how it started.

There was a dead limb (or two) in the pear tree.

Once those were removed...

Hun, since you have the chainsaw out......

I have been plugging at this side of the yard 

off and on for years.

Anywhere you see lack of grass is where

there were briars.

It gets great sun so I am hoping to plant

some corn and beans along with flowers.

I'm not sure why it is that at one point in time,

people thought it was a good idea to put in

a barbed wire fence with chicken wire along the bottom

then not maintain it.

This is always how it looks.

Actually, I should clarify,

this is how it looks after we pulled all the lilac suckers,

black berries, briars, and weeds.

I've owned two homes in my adult life.

They have both come with such "fences."

Needless to say, it's coming out.

One other thing I have done periodically is

tie a bright ribbon around plants/trees I don't want cut down.

Here it's on a mock orange that smells delicious when it blooms.

I started doing this after Mr. LB

took the weed wacker around and eliminated

a young cedar, the wisteria, cauliflower, and raspberries.

It's fun to tease him about it now,

but he felt pretty bad at the time, 

especially since he likes all those things.

Also, I try to let him know if I have planted something in an odd spot

which I often do.

We gained about a 10' X 40' swath (roughly.)

Now, I just need to finish the clean up.

We will probably till it with some compost for good measure

since it's never been planted.

There will also be another little project over here

that I hope to share with you soon.

Just have to make a parts run in order to finish.

Until next time,

Nimble Fingers and Even Stitches

*~*~*Hubby's "New" Toy*~*~*

This is Hubby's "new" toy.

It's a 1949 Ford sedan.

It was his great grandmothers.

She bought it & as hubby put it,

"must have just bounced off of everything."

My guess is she didn't know how to drive 

when she bought it and learned by running into things.

She drove it for about 20-25 years,

then it sat in a barn for 30 years.

Hubby bought it from his uncle about 10 years ago.

Since then it has been stored at his brother's.

We were finally able to get other projects/things/stuff/junk

out of the shop so there is room for it.

He is like a little kid at Christmas - so excited.

I told him that he shouldn't be bored for about 20 years.

It will be a complete restoration.

He decided not to take it back to original,

but to customize it.

From the outside, it will look pretty much original,

just under the hood and interior will be different.

Maybe by 2049, we will be able to go for a cruise;)

Until next time,

Nimble Fingers and Even Stitches