August 13, 2009

• OH! Yeah, the stumps!

  Almost forgot about these.  Sorry about that. 

  Ok, so the stump grinder and two men showed up around 10:00 am on Thursday. 

  Just before they got there, I scootered around the porch and took photos of all three stumps:

   

  This one was out front, at the corner of the  yard, just at the driveway.

  And this one at the side of the house toward Lycoming Creek Road:

  

  And this was a pair of stumps at the back:

  

  Sort of merges with the utility pole, and it’s behind the big spruce in the back.  So that was the mission.  Obviously the one in the front was the most difficult.

  

  Look how far from the actual stump he had to start grinding – and he didn’t begin to get all the root system.

  

  This is about halfway up to the actual stump.  Really!  Before he actually started on the stump, he stopped and Jason re-arranged the dirt/wood chip mixture so they had better access.  While this was going on, the other guy took a chain saw and hacked off the above-ground portions of the twin stumps in the back.  

  
  
  This is a truly, serious man-toy.  And gets the job done!

  

  It’s also very, very messy!  I was sitting on my wicker settee at least 20 feet from the action and I was covered in wood chips, as was the porch. 

  

  The end of the big stump.  He kept going until he was out almost to the asphalt of the road, to make a smooth transition from the yard to the driveway.

  

  By 1:30, including a lunch break, they were finished.  That left the rest for Faron and Jason to clean up on Saturday.

  It was fun to talk with the machine operator a bit.  He’d looked at a house up our road last summer, when the house looked like a tornado had passed by.  He was very impressed with how things are looking, and how much work has been done.  And he was equally impressed with Jason’s truck, especially when he learned it’s 10 years old.  He didn’t believe me when I told him, and after J got off the tractor, he mentioned it to him.    “That’s a sharp lookin’ truck!”

  On to Saturday:

  

  Jason was there at 8:00 am to start moving the massive – probably at least two or three truck loads – pile of dirty mulch.  Because there was so much dirt mixed in, Faron didn’t want to use it to mulch around the house.  Instead, they decided to use it to fill in some low spots in the yard.  As you can see, that was a bit early for me to be up and dressed and out on the porch.  Got this one through the window. 

  They did a great job, though. 

  

  This was at about 10:00 am when I finally went out.  Jason’d made many, many trips around the yard with that stuff! 

   

  BTW, those pieces of logs out there are just that – big pieces of logs.  Not stumps. Not sure why they’re still there.  Never thought to ask.

  

  They spread lime to help neutralize the acids from the dirt-mulch.  And notice the corn standing upright just one day before Sunday’s storm.  Also notice, despite his best efforts, the icky state of the grass back there.  The corn had been growing at different rates throughout the garden down there, so Peter gathered up soil samples and had them tested to see what the problem is.  Seems our field (and we’re assuming the whole property) is almost devoid of all minerals and other good stuff needed for stuff to grow well.  We’re going to address that this fall with some specially concocted fertilizers Peter’s ordered.  We might get pretty flowers and grass yet!

  

  This is the pile of dirt/mulch that they couldn’t find a place for, piled behind the pole barn. 

  

  Where the big stump used to be. Amazing difference, eh?

  While all this was going on, Jennie came up to do a project with me.  We were doing paper mache in the front yard. 

  

  Those used to be large grape-vine balls that were on top of our china cabinet, “tumbling” out of a big basket up there.  But it was all BROWN!  So I decided to cover them and paint them a deep red, to get some color up there.  This is the covering stage.  And in this photo, Jennie and I were ripping up bits of paper (we tore up two old phone books for this job.) into tiny bits to make (we thought) paper clay to make some “rope” decorations and such on the balls.  The mess of paper pulp and water is still waiting to become clay, Thursday at 1:00 am.  I think it’s gonna get tossed.    I’m gonna get me some real rope for that job!  Some Internet advice isn’t worth taking.  FYI.

  Here are a couple of shots of Jennie “resting”.

  

  The shot is me being “artsy” with the photo angles…

  This one is more “serious”:

  

  We had fun, as we usually do. 

  Tiana came up after she got off work and we enjoyed a lovely dinner of chicken cooked on the grill and pasta salad, with Jason’s choice of Fudgesicles and Dreamsicles for dessert. 

  

  Jason was making a customized case for his laptop’s various accessories, with a nifty little zippered case he’d gotten, and those colorful velcro cable ties.  He was glueing the ties inside the case, in a precise way, so each piece would stay where it was velcro-ed in.  Except for a couple of pieces he wanted to have “options” about.  Tiana made quite a fuss over his “options,” until he finally figured out a way to fit everything in, neatly, and permanently.  He used some kind of model glue, I guess, and he says it worked well.  He sure concentrated hard enough!

  

  We love that little chair, btw.  It came from the church we girls all grew up attending.  Hazel and her husband Denny were custodians there when their kids were small, to help make ends meet.  Those chairs were in the Kindergarten room.  Kim and I, at least, used them as children, and when they were being thrown out as the church purchased new ones, Denny nabbed a couple for Jason and, I think, Terri and Ronnie.  Jason’s has been in service in nearly every room in our house, back from when we lived in the trailer.  We bought the house when he was 6, so that’s been a while.  For years it was our “library table” in the bathroom, holding magazines and other reading material, and often dirty laundry.  Now Faron uses it for a little table next to his rocking chair on the porch. 

  So, the stumps are cleaned up.  The ground needs to be smoothed out, but we borrow our neighbors roller and they were away for the weekend.  I guess this weekend they’ll work on finishing up the long-awaited task of crown moldings in the living room and dining room.  We have half a dozen projects we’re getting done “before Sam and Lois come,” the week after Labor Day.  Sam and Lois are such strict and judgmental friends, you know.  Spit spot!  All must be in tip top shape!

  me<><

  • 1:13 am
  • 1 Comment