The River Mease, that borders the Apiary, was a higher than normal but no where near flooding. I could tell as I approached the hive that all was well. I could see bees coming and going. I took up position against the fence and watched the bees for quarter of an hour. I popped the lid off the hive and saw that the bees had broke out of the cluster and were helping themselves to the candy I had put on the hive a few weeks ago. I noted that the bees were not bring in any pollen but the bees were flying freely and with purpose. Some time bees just fly round the hive but these bees were flying off into the counryside hopefully to find a source of pollen. Time was passing so I left the bees, collected the trailer and went to the lottie. Working at half speed I spread the trailers contents on the top end of the boundary hedge. The I trundled back to the house and had a spot of lunch.
Alan came round at the appointed hour. We put all his chainsawing gear in the back of Degsy and set off for the lottie. I had not taken the trailer back to the stables so Sankey tagged along too. I parked Degsy up on the track at the back of the lottie. Alan got togged up for chain sawing. Alan and I stood back and wondered just how we were going to drop the seven, thirty foot Willow trees. They have been standing over my lottie for many years but last year they got the better of me. The roots have invaded my plot and sucked all the water out of the plot. The bed next to the Willow was Peas and Beans and they did not do at all well. It surprising just how much shade they cast too.
Having pondered the situation Alan set about trimming back the smaller side branches. I cleared the brash Alan created. Slowly we worked down the trunks clearing space to work. It was not long before Steve turned up. So now we were three fellas felling trees. Steve had ideas about what to do with cut down trees and brash. He cleared away and broke down brash even further. As we got going DaveP and his lad, Harry, turned up. They mucked in with Steve to make "habitates" for bugs and beasts. They are no more than tight bundles of brash hemmed in with pegs into the ground.
There were a few trees that were tricky to fell. The difficult bit was that the trees were in the hedge and the hedge has two fences, a timber one on the inside and a wire rabbit fence on the outside face. When we dropped the tree we had to make sure we did smash either fence. To control the fall of the tree we tied a rope to the tree as far up as I could climb and the other end the Degsy's bumper. As Alan cut through the tree I backed up Degsy which directed the fall. Once the tree was on the ground Alan trimmed off the branches and chopped the trunk into lengths. Again I cleared branches and trunk to the track side. Steve, Dave and Haz kept clearing the brash but we left the trunks where they lay.
Haz was put in charge of brewing up. Eventually brews were made using his Kelly's kettle. Click HERE for their website. Steve had brought cake with him that his missus had made, Lemon drizzle cake. Very nice and a very welcome sugar rush. We had broken the back of the job. After the brew we cleared away the last of the brash. We then tackled the logs. Alan cut then logs into smaller lengths. The rest of us loaded the logs in the the trailer. It was surprising:
a. How small a pile the brash made when cut up and stamped down
b. How much wood was in the logs.
We packed up Alan's chainsaw gear, hooked up the trailer and headed off home. I had a brew when I got home with Alan. Having decanted Alan's gear from Degsy to his car Alan headed home and headed off to Dave P's to drop off he logs. Logs tipped I trundled off to the the stables to drop the trailer. The ponies were just on the other side of the hedge and completely uninterested in the trailer returning. On the way home a went via the lottie to empty the scraps bin from home that had been in the back of Degsy all day. I fed the birds and took a few pictures of our handy work. The trees were out of proportion for the hedge and now, despite the gaping hole in the hedge like a missing tooth, it somehow looks better. I am going plant Hawthorn, Hazel and Holly to replace the Willow. And now I am done. I parked Degsy at home and went in for my tea completely satified with the day activities.
No comments:
Post a Comment