...this...
...into this...
into this? we were away for a week and came home to find that a huge branch of the biggest of the apple trees had fallen off in a storm. not exactly a welcome you'd need after a week in the sun...
nevertheless, certain someone got the chain saw out and got to work. sad, sad job.
hard hat needed.
my method to the madness, crates for still good apples, wheel barrow for the not-good ones, another for bigger sticks (to be dried, chipped and used later in grilling or smoking) and a huge bag for leafy small branches.
one of the elder neighbors said this has been the stormiest and rainiest september in 50 yrs. it certainly was gloomy yesterday...
one of six (yes, 6!) barrow fulls going to the compost heap. no pigs around to feed, taking some to a colleague for her chicken, though.
found these curious formations when hauling the smaller branches to where they'll be burned.
most of the mess cleared out...
...but at least a half day's work ahead...to be done some day, when it's not raining...
certain someone thinks the big tree will still be ok after loosing the huge branch, i'm thinking maybe it's time to replace it. the trees must have been planted sometime in the early 1940s, because certain someone tells that they were big enough to climb on in late 1950s and early 1960s. if it comes to cutting it down, i know there will be a happy carpenter somewhere after the tree is properly dried and ready to be worked on...