Last week, Doc came by and installed the new steps and landing which was a welcome addition. We need the landing in order to pass occupancy inspection, and given our past experiences with the county codes and permit office, I would just as soon let somebody else deal with those morons. In fact, the very same morons have stalled the water and electric permits in a never ending battle of incompetence vs wit. It is for this reason that we have decided to sub-contract anything having to do with inspections and permits to the local good-ole-boys that hunt, fish and go to church with the county inspectors. Hopefully, it will prove to be a smart move.

So this weekend the weather turned cooler and made it possible to get some tough work done. On the agenda was putting up the gazebo frame, weed eating around the barn and cutting down two large hickory trees on the hill which were in danger of falling on the cabin. The gazebo went up quickly and Linda did most of the work while I put on my climbing harness, checked the rope and prepared the saw. Once on the ledge, I tied off and cleared the underbrush. Then I sat there for a while, mapping out a strategy and gathering my nerve. These trees were big. Really big. My main concern was placement, as they had to fall in a specific place in order not to hit the cabin or the retaining wall. Indeed, the pressure to perform was on, but in the end, I dropped them almost perfectly.

We spend the rest of the day cutting, splitting and stacking the bounty. My neighbor Chris felt sorry for me and my little Homelite chainsaw so he lent me his 20" Stihl. OMG... this thing was a beast. When it started up, it sounded like a Ferrari on crack. When you are outside on fall days and hear a chainsaw miles in the distance, this is what they are using. It was mean and heavy and it sliced through logs like a razor blade through warm butter. Relatively speaking, if not for a short pee break I might have finished sawing before I even started. On my return Chris pointed out that the tree was covered in poison ivy and indeed, in my rush of excitement, I hadn't noticed. In retrospect, this is the kind of thing that one should realize before going to pee rather than after.

The sun set on another work weekend and I sat for a moment with it, feeling good about what we had accomplished. This week saw the wine bottled, the fields mowed, the hay bailed, the gazebo put up, the landing installed, the trees removed and the firewood stack increased. The corn was happy, swaying in the cool breeze and life was good.