Sunday was a big day for cleaning out more woods. We cut down more trees, and disposed of the trees we cut down. D’Arcy had recruited some family members and we became a well oiled machine, cutting down, and dragging out to the fire her brother had built.
This felt much safer than it looks in this picture. It was a loose log I was trying to reduce in size.
The fire was huge! It had been built by an eagle scout who knew his stuff. It was sweltering hot when close to it, but just stepping back from it by just a few few felt like stepping into AC…humid, warm Virginia AC.
It took 30 minutes for me to douse it after we will all finished…and it was so hot that dumping water on it caused a huge rock to shatter. I can honestly say I have never seen that before.
A less impressive moment of fire. It had points of huge flames as well as smoking smoldering.
We pulled out a lot of brush though. It’s started to have hints of being a pasture!
Super safe and distinctly bug-like D’Arcy is protected from both wood chips and the sun’s ultraviolet rays!
I will have to get some updated photos of the lot. I always forget to carry my phone so these are all from a much more reliable source of photos.
We did have one instance of a tree falling the wrong direction and taking down part of my fence. Luckily just the top board of the three board, and luckily that oak board is so strong that it’s still completely in one piece, nails and all, just not attached anymore. I went to cut up the tree to get it off the fence, and at that moment realized how incredible tired I was. We had been out there for 6 hours, and we don’t do this on a regular basis. I didn’t have the energy to start up the chainsaw, so I decided that was the end for me. Side note: How has technology advanced so far and yet chainsaws still need a pull cord to get started!?
So, the tree will remain, unless I have recovered enough for more cutting. I’m pretty sore, so it might be a few days. But I’m very happy with our progress, and hopefully the rest will come down just as quickly and easily.