Posted on

Trenching

Alex operates the trencher as he and Sid prepare to put in water lines that will access well water to plantings.
Bianca looks on approvingly.
Bianca helps to pack the dirt over the pipes.
In case you wondered how in the heck Unk’s pickup could haul the 20 foot PVC pipe from store to farm? Look how cleverly Sid managed the task!

 14 total views,  1 views today

Posted on

Tulips, daffodils and narcissi

Tory, with help from Alex and Sid, planted all 400 of these bulbs this weekend.
The Pulaski weighs more than Tory!
A heart configuration planted on the hillside; 150 tulips around the base of the apple trees (pinks) and in Tory’s wedding garden (oranges); narcissi and daffodils elsewhere. Spring will bring a lovely array of color!
Torti did not assist in a single planting. He would rather hunt gophers.
RIP Midget

 21 total views

Posted on

Stockpiled for Winter

Alex likes to take an early morning dip in the swimmin’ hole. Yikes!
Sid and Kay fight over who gets to stack the last fragment of firewood.
Mike the woodcutter split one of the old logs located at the base of the hill the farmhouse sits on. It is in amazing shape despite having been sitting about 7 years. California redwood?

 32 total views,  2 views today

Posted on

Firewood

Alex may be wearing his lifeguard tee, but it is wood chopping with a sledge and a wedge that occupies him now.
Beautiful work, Alex!
This pile was purchased already chopped. Alex gets his much-deserved rest perched on its apex.

 52 total views,  2 views today

Posted on

Safety First!

Sid replaced a broken tail light on the Ranger with an Amazon purchased replacement.
When Sid was rocking the forest trails, he noticed a steep drop off at the beginning of the Rock Creek trail. We put warning markers to make sure folks driving the Ranger stayed to the safe side of the trail.
The weekend’s rain filled the pond that is fed by Griffith Creek as it departs the culvert.
The pond is finally deep enough for a decent swim.

 44 total views

Posted on

Next generation Shiver River crew explores forest trails

Julius, Jessica, Bianca and Sid exchange greetings.
Griffith Creek crossing is easy now that the water flow is so low.
Road gravel pile is already depleted, thanks to Sid’s hard work.
Jess examines debris from the clear cut adjacent to our property.
If you look closely, you will see a giant Bald Faced Hornet nest in the upper right quadrant of this photo!

 53 total views,  1 views today

Posted on

Family, Bridge, Loop Trail

The Shiver River workforce at its very best!
Sister KC inspects Shiver River while riding on a very cool Harley.
The Loop Trail encroached on our neighbor’s property for a short stretch, so when they harvested this month, they reclaimed their property and the Loop Trail is no longer a loop. Here you see Bill and Sid at one dead end of the trail.
Looking at our neighbor’s project from one dead end of the Loop Trail.

The logging from our neighbor has driven lots of wildlife our way. Bianca was so tired of chasing the extra coyotes that she chose to watch the bridge repair from a shady spot. Notice to the right of the photo, the piles of rock that will fill the ditch. It is the big stuff, so the water will continue to flow, but Sid won’t risk life and limb and Ranger and tractor by falling into a deep ditch.
Merle is a master at plucking boulders out of the dump truck and strategically placing them on the banks of Rock Creek.
These are the piles of rock along the ditch prior to their being distributed evenly by a giant machine (rather than old folks with shovels!).
Ahhhh….rock nicely distributed.
So macho.
We had two truckloads of forest road repair rock delivered. One to be dumped at the entry to the Rock Creek trail, and one to be dumped near the Griffith Creek viaduct. In order for the dump truck to deliver the latter, it had to be able to access a forest road from the Watershed Road. That meant getting the requisite permission (which we did) and moving the giant logs blocking access. In this picture you see Sid attaching the winch cable to the bigger of the two logs.
The smaller log was so rotten that Bill had no trouble cutting it up and moving it by manpower.
This small log that was blocking the way farther down the forest road was a much tougher challenge.
This is the rock pile near the entry to the Rock Creek trail. As you can see, the grade of rock is smaller than what was used to fill the ditch.

 59 total views

Posted on

Rocks of all sizes – bridge work prep begins

This morning, Merle of Mid Pacific Enterprises, Inc. delivered the boulders you see in this photo. They will be used to stabilize the banks of Rock Creek and thus save our bridge. The actual work will not begin quite yet.
No dang coyote is going to claim these boulders as long as Bianca has a say.
This load of 3-4″ open crushed rock will be used for a couple of purposes: (1) to maintain the forest road called the Rock Creek trail (because it follows Rock Creek from its beginning in the field across the bridge from the farmhouse); .(2) to fill a portion of a ditch that runs from the dog corral down toward the creek. Both uses need to allow water to run through the rock rather than be dammed up by it. Crushed rock comes in different grades depending on the percentage of “fines” in the mix. Fines are any bits of rock smaller than the size indicated. So for 3-4 inch rock, for instance, fines would mean anything less than 3-4 inch all the way down to dust. 3-4 inch minus will not drain as well as 3-4 inch open. 

 83 total views