More Practice Sawyering

We've kept busy. On Wednesday, Phil finally managed to fix the sprayer (I was cooking in barn kitchen when I heard strands of the Hallelujah Chorus, and I knew that all was finally well. What an ordeal that little broken piece was!)

He also drove to town to move the truck from one repair shop to the other. I think the first shop continues to have trouble locating a piece we need for the front end, so he brought the truck to a second shop that will repair the back end. However, it is now Friday, and we don't think much has happened at the second shop, and, as we have about six pressing needs that all require the use of the truck (purchase feed by the ton; bring five months of trash to the dump, as we're drowning in it; buy larger support pieces needed for hoophouse, and so on), we hope and pray it gets fixed soon.

Phil moved the chickens up toward the orchard. It took him a long time to dig out the deeply mired pen, to take down and set up the netting. He has incredible patience for such tasks; they make me want to crawl out of my skin. Hmm. Sounds like I have a bit more to learn about patience.

He's been working on a feed box, so we can buy feed in bulk. The small logs he'd sawed when we first purchased the sawmill he quickly used up on the first half (above), so he took the mill to the neighbor's land to cut up the two larger trees there. The first pine was "only 19 inches across," but when he went to lift off the first 2" plank, since the log was also about 16 feet long, he found that a 2"x19"x16' plank is QUITE HEAVY.

He also noticed that the pine was quite infested with white grubs. Some type of pine borer, I expect, as the poplar he cut up next was not at all infested. I've seen the decimated pine forests of the west, with mile after mile of dead trees, and it gives me no joy to find the nemesis here.

I spent several hours rendering all the fat of Socks and Fox. I ended up with more than three gallons! We use it on our eggs, and a good bit when we have refried beans. (I made friend rice with some of the cracklings, but I don't think that was a big hit with the boys.)