Nickel Farm

In,order to simplify my watering chores, I planted Heritage beet, letuce, bush bean, and spinach seeds just inside the basins of my fruit trees in the Forest Garden. Have really enjoyed the fresh greens in my green smothies. Will harvest this year’s seeds and contribute them to the local seed bank. The left over leaves will be cut and placed as mulch around the fruit trees.

I sincerely hope that the grapes I planted last spring don’t suffer the “wrath’ of cold tempewratures at this high elevation and winter kill. Maybe lots of mulch will help.

Fell two dead pine trees at my small home, cut up the wood, and transported it to Nickel Farm in the trunk of my car.

After my usual breakfast of two fresh grapefruits and a heaping bowl of 9-grain cereal, I went out to finish sawing my half load of wood into 14” lengths.  My chainsaw was up to its usual tricks and stopped shortly after I got started, argggggg!!  That’s when I lose my religion and say words I should not say.  Late in the day, the saw finally started and I was able to finish sawing the logs before it got too dark.  I am planning to haul the load of sawn pieces and stack it in my storage shed but will need to wait for frozen ground in the morning.  Since the weather is threatening again, I hooked the trailer up to my car and pulled it around to the front.

I discovered a woodpecker trapped in the garage this morning. He was beating himself up against a window so I opened the garage door and away he flew to freedom. He apparently loves freedom as much as I do.

Worked on updating my journal earlier today, took a nap, and, about 3:00 pm, went to cut wood. I am frustrated with my chainsaw because after it gets warmed up, it will stop and is very hard to re-start. So, I have to busy myself with breaking small branches off the trees I plan to harvest, cleaning up the site (I like to leave campgrounds and work sites cleaner than I found them), dragging cut logs to the trailer, etc. while the saw cools down. I did manage to cut down two 13” dead trees using the notching technique I learned in the Forest Service. It’s probably the “little boy” part of me but I really relish the loud crashing noise that occurs when a 45’long tree finally goes down. Yes, I feel just a little “Bunyanesque” out there felling timber. All I need now is a big blue ox to drag the logs to my trailer!

I took my load of wood around to the back and heard and felt a loud crunch as I was backing up to the concrete porch I use for sawing. One of the extra long pieces I hadn’t cut off last night had rammed the porch, pushing the log through the flimsy plywood front panel of my trailer. Oh well, the trailer was already pretty ugly anyway. Still works fine.

I am desperately in need if firewood.  Visited a fellow down the street who has some dead aspens he wants removed from his brother’s lot.  Loaned a book entitled “Love is Letting Go of Fear” by Gerald Jampolsky, M.D. to a new lady friend down the street.

Awoke to 3” of snow this morning and it snowed most of the day.  It was great!  Had an enjoyable time at church and determined to shovel my neighbor’s walk and driveway across the street afterwards.  Turns out someone beat me to the task and here I was, all bundled up and ready for action.  So, I found a couple of other neighbors whose walks needed shoveling and set to work.  One of those neighbors was one of the guys who had brought my couches in the house last night.  It felt good to return the favor and create good feelings in the neighborhood.

Went back to bed about 9:30 and slept an hour and a half.  Still dizzy and my stomach is doing flip-flops.  I had planned to leave for the city at 10:00 am but don’t feel well enough to drive safely.  Lying in bed about 2:00 pm listening to my stomach growl, I decided I might feel better if I got up and moved around a bit.  It did, so I started getting things ready for my trip to the city.

I made it to the thrift store about 7:00 still feeling pain in my gut and proceeded to have store volunteers load the two couches on the trailer.  The couches were 44” wide and my trail is 45” wide so it was tight.  One thing I know how to do is pack a truck, car trunk, or trailer.  We placed the loveseat upside down on the large couch.  With a few well-placed strands of nylon rope, the load was secured and ready to travel.

Still in the city so no Nickel Farm news to report.