This week marked a year since we started work on the Farmhouse. We didn't close until September 30, 2015, but if you recall from one of Ben's earlier posts, he started cutting trees down before we owned the place. One of the few risks we've taken and honestly, one of the lesser ones if that tells you anything. When the trees started coming down the debris went various places. Friends, neighbors, old neighbors, family...anyone who wanted wood could take some. Some of the pine branches that came down were re-purposed into coasters to give to the previous owners and their kids, who all had fond memories of those trees from when they were freshly planted. The wood that couldn't be used or given away was taken to the back of our property to burn some day. Over the course of the next several months that pile grew. It grew and it grew and it grew. It grew until it was huge, now comprised of not only tree stumps and limbs, but burnable components from the house demo that didn't fit into one of the four dumpsters we went through, and that didn't meet Ben's "keep" standards (which I must say are pretty low. As much as it pains me to keep nearly everything, sometimes it comes in handy and I can find the perfect piece of wood for a shelf or some other random project). We knew we needed to take care of that pile. Ben chose the longest Saturday of the year, June 18, as the big day. There is some rule about fires needing to be out by dusk or something to comply with the burn permits in our township. I might have that wrong, but I DO know there was some significance to a late sunset.
Ben set the pile ablaze early that morning and by the time the boys and I woke up and headed to the backyard to see what was happening, it was all very tame. We missed the big show, which I am perfectly fine with. I've learned over the years that I'm generally happier the less I know. House projects, cop stuff, etc. One time I noticed a bruise on Ben's abdomen and asked what happened and he said, "oh yeah...I almost got impaled last week loading up old metal from behind the barn..." Eyeroll. And silent prayer of thanksgiving that he somehow stays safe most of the time.
Apparently when you have a big fire planned, people show up. Ben's dad, brother-in-law Mike, nephews Gabe & Brett, co-worker/neighbor Jon...all came to watch and help. Mike showed up with a backhoe, which was very helpful keeping the pile under control, removing some more stumps, and adding to the fire.
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| boys took a break to do other boy things. |
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| Ellis discovered how much he loves to play with "shooting guns". Thanks, Brett :) |
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| beer break. well deserved. meanwhile I was nursing a Diet Coke trying to keep my pregnancy concealed and trying to stay alert enough to keep everyone safe. Daunting. |
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| seems safe. |
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| typical Colt. reflective, thoughtful, careful. |
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| Starburst break in the canoe that's going nowhere. |
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| Kind of like this. |
It was a successful day. A lot got accomplished and it felt so good to take action on the property. The focus has overwhelmingly been the house so far, rightly so, but there are also two acres of potential out there that need some attention too. We need to keep reminding ourselves that things don't happen overnight and we're not going to have everything how we want it this year. That's cool, we have plenty more years, God willing, to figure this stuff out.
