Making a start

First job of the day was to nip out to the workshop, unclamp cupboard door #1, and glue up door #2.  Within half an hour I was finished and able to focus on my main occupation for the next few weeks ... dealing with the aftermath of the tree felling.

There is more down the side of the garage!

Next on the list was to attend to the hedge.  To be fair, the tree surgeon felled the tree with very little damage, although one of the first boughs removed did crush a short section of the hedge.  We know it will recover in a year , or two, but it does present Traitorous Bastard with a possible exit point* ... he does so like to bark and chase passersby. 

Fortunately the hedge is paired with some aged stock fencing. This also got crushed, but could be repaired, so I grabbed a couple of fencing stakes, from the pile behind Rose Cottage.**  These were trimmed to 5' and hammered in to the ground on the inside of the wire fencing.  The fence was then pulled back in to shape and stapled to the new posts.

A couple of minutes were spent primping the crushed hedge, before we stood back to admire our repair job ... That should keep the little bugger within the boundaries!

Lunch and a short snooze followed, before the mower was dragged from the car port and taken up to the orchard.  I spent about forty minutes mowing the paths up to the chicken coop, Rose Cottage and the site of the old mulch heap.  The reason for this activity was twofold; firstly, I am getting fed up of being soaked by long, wet grass when I go to attend to the chickens, and, secondly, we will be barrowing a lot of chipped wood and logs up there over the coming days.

I then grabbed my trusty wheelbarrow and started hauling loads of chipped brash*** up to the orchard. 30% was similarly occupied, although her chipped wood was being deposited on the path in the vegetable garden ... it now looks quite manicured in there.

By five o'clock we had tired ourselves, and finished for the day.  I estimate that we have shifted at least 40% of the chipped brash, and that we should complete that job tomorrow morning.  

Then I'll need to make a start on chainsawing and splitting the logs!

---

* It would be one hell of a jump, but he is quite athletic

** I knew they would come in useful, at some point.

*** We started the day with a car-sized heap of chipped wood on the drive