Life in the Bristolwood

When I used to work at a chainsaw business, many years ago, we called the loggers “Sven”, as we loved those Husqvarna chainsaws! So, here I am now using a Husky saw myself, cutting firewood! Who would have ever dreamed of such a thing?  The owners of the business are both deceased  ( the husband and wife both passed away in their 50′s ) but I thank them for the opportunity of learning a little about saws!

And, speaking of saws….I cut for about 4 hours yesterday. Instead of cutting wood on the ground, I thought perhaps we should take down a few dead trees that weren’t too far from the house. So, I managed to down 2 big oaks, 1 medium maple and 1 really big ash.

Since the chance of rain is 70% today, we may just do splitting. I am hoping I will be able to get into the woods to do some cutting, though. The temperature is almost 20 degrees warmer this morning than it was yesterday.

Oh, and the photos today were actually taken yesterday morning. It is too hard to take pictures while cutting wood!

I took this picture from the front porch. As you can see, the leaves are now almost gone. Some people feel “naked” trees are ugly, but in my book,  leafless trees only mean that I can see *much* farther!  It really is cool to be able to see so far with a glance….

Do you see that little horizontal “structure” in the lower left, between the trees? (in the above photo)  That little “sawmill” has a history….

Mark always felt so terrible about cutting firewood and wasting the first 10 feet of the tree, as there was such gorgeous wood there. One day, he discovered the Alaskan Sawmill. This was basically a little frame through which a chainsaw with a VERY large bar and chain ran through to cut boards.

With a  4 year degree in mechanical engineering under his belt, Mark is usually undaunted by tasks to produce things that “move”! He went to work, designing the frame and worked with our neighbor who has all things “welding”. The two of them were delighted when Mark stoked up his big Husky saw with the 36″ bar and chain on it, and ripped through wood like a knife through butter!

Mark always saved the huge bottoms of the trees he cut and processed them into boards. The chainsaw left them jagged and rough, but after a run through a planer, they were glamorous boards. And, Bristolwood boards!

We stacked hundreds of board feet of oak boards outside with little sticks made of plywood between them and covered them with tarps. They were outside for years, and then one day, we took them all into the garage. The upstairs has some of the prettiest boards….all similar to “diamonds in the rough”. When Mark needs a board,  we can usually find a suitable one up there!

If you remember the little cabinet I showed on my blog here , this was made by Mark from some of our own wood!

And, here is the view of the woods behind the house.  The oaks like to hang onto their leaves well into the winter. The leaves on the ground are so beautiful, but they are not very good underfoot while cutting firewood. Because they tend to be a bit slippery, it is so important to use caution!

Mark had a little trouble with leaves and the ATV yesterday. A couple of times, he was fooled by the leaves, thinking he was on solid ground, only to find himself hung up. Thankfully, he was able to navigate (a skill learned from several years’ experience of riding) his way out of a precarious situation. He also found the wheels spinning a couple of times, unable to grip into the soil because of the excessive leaf covering!

As you can see in the above photo, the little Lilac bush in the side yard is still sporting green leaves!

My head is a bit stuffed up this morning….I do believe those fumes from the two-stroke engines do that. Hopefully, the rain will either hold off or break a bit so we can get into the woods and grab some more wood.  I will post a photo from the woodshed later today!