My Own Brawny Lumberjack Man

The weather certainly has changed here in Wisconsin. We have lost those beautiful warm sunny days with record setting temperatures in the 70s. Now we are cold and damp and the winds are going to kick up. This afternoon and this evening they're expecting gusts in the 50 to 60 MPH range! 

That is why I'm so glad that Steve got done what he wanted to do earlier in the week. We have a few of these ugly box elder trees in our yard. They are not very good trees to begin with, basically they are just weed trees that were allowed to grow. So that is why we planted so many new maples and oaks and pines. 

Not only that, these box elder trees are also rotting from the inside out and also rotting down at the roots. This one particular tree we had noticed on the last windy day that we could see the ground heaving and moving at the base of the tree while the top blew around in the wind. We knew that means the roots are rotted away and basically it's just the trunk stuck in the ground. With the upcoming weather and high winds, Steve figured it was probably a good idea to get it down before it caused any damage by falling in the wrong direction. 

It was time for my 

Brawny Lumberjack Man to get to work!

 

(dontcha think?)

Steve does a really good job at taking down trees. He learned a great technique while he worked at High Cliff State Park through the DNR (The Department of Natural Resources). They use a process that's called the "bore cut technique" when taking down trees. Basically it means that after he cuts a normal notch in the direction that he wants the tree to go, but he stops there. Then he cuts a slit on the back side just big enough to get those big plastic wedges into. There is a portion left in the middle of the tree that is left intact to help control it while it's falling over. It's kind of like a hinge. By pounding in with the wedges into the pre-cut bore holes, he can control the exact direction the tree needs to go. It is a slow controlled fall and a very safe method.

Here is a video I shot of the tree going over. It landed exactly where he wanted it to and it missed all of our new trees that we had recently planted:

In no time at all he had the limbs cut off and dragged out to the road for our city workers to pick up with the chipper. All of the big chunks of trunk he loaded on our trailer and brought over to our neighbor's house. Our neighbor heats his home with firewood and appreciates any extra chunks of wood that we happen to drop by. He will split them and let them dry for future use.  He returns the favor by giving us a container of his wonderful homemade Chicken Booyah each fall. Booyah is a traditional chicken vegetable soup that they make in our area. Often big vats are made as a fundraiser for church groups to help bring in needed donations. Everybody has their own secret recipe.

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Like I said, the weather has been so nice. Soon it will return to normal snow and cold and freezing temps.  On the day that he cut down the tree, it was so beautiful that afterwards that we sat out on the front porch. I was doing some spinning and....

....Steve was doing some serious relaxing after he cut down the tree. He deserves it!

Of course, little Binney does her part

 by adding to the relaxing on the front porch. 

We can't forget her.

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Well it's Saturday again, and I guess maybe I might go out and buy a lottery ticket. I really never do otherwise. But this week I splurged on Wednesday and picked up five rows of numbers. I didn't make any money. I only had two matches. If I did win, I was going to give everybody a million dollars!

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Our kids brought over their class C motorhome and got it winterized and snugged in its parking spot for the winter. They back it in behind our motorhome out of the way. They park in their own driveway all spring, summer and fall. But winter it gets a little close for snow removal and its better to bring it over here.  Ours goes in front in case we want to take off this winter. 

Normally we drive it in nose first, but not this year. It's harder to get in between the motorhome and the garage if we get some freezing rain or ice builds up or the snow drifts in between there. Parking this way, by keeping our entry door to the outside, Steve can just snow blow a path up to it. It will make for easy loading if we decide to escape for a few months. Hopefully, there won't be any snow at the time we escape!

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Tried something new... shrimp and crab ravioli from Aldi, with Alfredo sauce and tried out this non-dairy mozzarella cheese from Walmart. (I can't digest cheese anymore)

I gathered my stuff:

This new cheese is made from potatoes!  Yes, starch and potatoes and flavorings to mimic the taste of real cheese.  Being from Wisconsin and not able to digest cheese anymore isn't fair.  I will try this... 

First I partially boiled the ravioli, then layered in a casserole dish with sauce, cheese and spices on top, and baked for 20 minutes. 

It sure looks good,

the cheese doesn't melt like real mozzarella, but it looks pretty tasty.

It sure tasted GREAT!!!

It gets a thumbs up from me.  Of course we will get the raviolis again.  Plus, I will continue to use the cheese, and I also bought the shredded colby jack variety to try out on tacos and enchiladas. 

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We got our newest booster shots yesterday for covid, so we are feeling a little achy and tired. We didn't sleep well last night.  This morning it was dark and damp and rainy and icky. The winds are kicking up later, so we aren't going any where.  Instead, we are sipping coffee by the gas fireplace in the livingroom. It is peaceful and Steve perked us up a nice pot of coffee.  See where the new "a-door-able door" went to the right of the fireplace? 

Maybe I will go sew on my newest quilt 

or weave a rug today.