Whew, hot flash. Heating pad . . . OFF!
So, today. It was a GORGEOUS one!
As I wrote this AM, I'd heard the loggers working, so I made a batch of Jam Dandy Muffins with strawberry jam. Then, as soon as they were out of the oven & cool enough to pack in a tin (the muffins, not the loggers), I threw the dogs into the truck and away we went.
Here's a picture of the road they (the loggers, not the muffins) cut thru the trees to their current logging site. When I got back there (the road's about 1/2 a mile long), one of the guys (they're identical twins, so I had no idea which one I was talking to) was loading / unloading in the staging area while the other could be heard cutting in the woods.As he climbed down from the rig and pulled off his ear protection, I said, "I brought treats!" He smiled and said, "It's a good day for treats!" (I'm sure ANY day would be a good day for treats for them!)
Anyway, I asked about the chances of getting a load of birch from them this winter yet. And, whether it was coincidental or not (i.e. if "the word's out" about Tom and me), he said, "Yah, we were just talkin' about that - like, a week ago! We been lookin', and we got some birch over there at that other cut. How much?" I said I wanted 8-10 cords (that's about a year's worth), and we talked price. It seemed a little higher than last year, but I haven't looked that up yet to compare (last year's price). Still, it was a decent price for 8' lengths delivered right into the yard. And, I'd much rather give the money to them, who are working right here, than to someone who would haul it in from farther away. Plus, they're good guys.
When I was leaving, brother #1 asked if I'd "plowed in". I was surprised that he would ask: usually, loggers don't care much about the shape of their logging roads as long as they can navigate them. I collected myself and said, "Uhhh, no, but I will on the way out" . . . just thinking I'd help them out. He continued on to say that they'd just gotten a pickup this past weekend but that it didn't have a plow on it yet, and he'd "opened up one side of the road with the cat but that was it".
It wasn't until I was halfway back out to the road when I realized, "He was talking about the ROAD road, you dummy, not the logging road!" Duhhhh. So, instead of heading directly home once I got out of the woods, I took a right and continued plowing. I only had to plow about 2 miles because it's there (midway in on the road) that the other loggers are working, and they've kept those first 2 miles of the 4-mile long wintertime driveway as wide as an airport runway! (Beautiful!)
When I drove out last week and saw the impact their (big!) operation had made, I was surrrrprised! I'll have to take a peek at the plat map to see how many acres this job was, but it's HUGE (relatively speaking, of course)! Here's a shot taken out the passenger window while I was out plowing today. It sure has made that part of the drive look COMPLETELY different!When I came to the river on my way back home, I stopped & got out to take a couple of pictures. I haven't posted any images of the river in quite some time (stay tuned tomorrow). What was funny was that at that point in the road, there wasn't much snow and I figured I was just doing what I call "clean-up plowing" . . . and I wouldn't have much snow in front of the blade. HA! Look what I saw when I turned back to the truck! (The blade's 9' wide and about 30 - 36" high.) And, yep, I still gotta get that headlight fixed.
Finally, I thought I'd show you the little you can see of Swamp River Ridge at this time of year (in the summertime, it's completely hidden). This is just as you come down a little hill to cross the bridge over the river.
Finally, here's an aerial shot I took in September of 2005 while we were building. It's basically the same layout as the above picture (although taken from a more southerly direction). From left to right: the house (pad), the solar panels, and the garage.
Oh, and last but not least, my new work gloves.
I got them for Christmas.
I dunno: do you think I'm working hard enough?
