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Autumn into Winter 2020
Summer came and went ...
... as it will whether you want it to or not. Personally I don't mind - change is as good as a rest. Chillier weather means stove on in the Cabin and jacket potatoes cooking away.
Despite my best efforts to duck work, people continue to track me down and keep coming to prise my timber out of my hands! It's probably not the best way to run a business but hey who cares.
We've bought some new kit ...
... sadly just some cordless toys and not this fabulous brand spanking new timber trailer which graced the Woods with a visit. You have to be a serious geek to appreciate the quality of this from the tyres to the assisted drive system. The cost of this far exceeds my stock and old and slightly broken equipment - rather like their operators.
But, we're not downhearted! Compared to many people we have had an ok year, found some good stock and made a few improvements. More of that later but first I have to tell you that though my whole family has been affected by my grandfather's viagra addiction my Grandmother has taken it particularly hard!
In other tragic fake news ...
... the truck was hit by a pallet load of Omega 3 tablets. Luckily, the damage was only super fish oil! What was real on the back of the trailer above was the two extra large Cherry trunks marked 1 and 2 in the picture. Cherry isn't as hard to source as say Apple but to get 2.5 feet wide logs 9 foot long into the Woods isn't easy.
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Getting a log that size ...
... placed on the saw bed safely is a struggle for 35 year old Doris the tractor but Tuesday Dave is good at handling her and strapping loads so they don't slip. Even so he could only get the Cherry a few inches off the floor and with a bit of assistance from bars and Steve in foreground we made it.
The Cherry was that pleasing deep orange colour and the 9' boards were cut in 2" slabs |
The Visitors toilet with input from the usual band of ...
... skilled helpers came into operation. The feature old penny public toilet lock caused Thursday Dave a lot of fettling but is the star of the show followed by an improved electric auto refill cistern and hand washing tap.
The frame roof and electrics were all done by my talented mate Ant pictured below who I tend to point at a project and say sort it out mate. My contribution is to haunt him until he fits it in to his schedule - we all know the best way to get a job done is ask a busy man !
Potential users will be delighted/relieved to hear it is now clad in lush Cedar so you won't be performing to an audience.
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Regarding the Cedar ...
... I mentioned at the end of the last blog the biggest bit was prised off me by Steve at the Sawmill as I knew he would but the bartered sawing time got my pile of logs nicely cut without having to find the cash. There was still two other logs one as yet uncut if you find you want some cladding to make bee hives or summat like that. The Elm also trailed last time ...
... didn't show - it did sound too good to be true but Erwin dropped the other 4 lengths of the Elm pictured in the Autumn 2109 edition being milled by New Forest Rob. Despite the time on the ground it cut beautifully and should fly away when dry.
I decided to take the crotch piece up to Helmdon and get Steve to cut it to keep it's natural shape and the 30" + width. I was going to post a picture of it ...
... but actually it will sell itself without me trying so instead here's a lovely bit of Pear from my favourite woodyard. This is bigger than it looks - excellent girth for fruitwood and 6 foot long.
Almost but not quite as rare as Rocking Horse poo the only other decent Pear acquired in last 20 years went before it was fully seasoned & I expect the same will happen with this. |
As I get older I find I use only ...
... three shops. The Opticians, the Chemist and of course Greggs the bakers. Indeed my life is now all Specs, Drugs and Sausage rolls.
Many years ago a man who I shall ...
... call asshole (Could have been a women but let's face it it was probably a bloke) hammered a big nail into the middle of this tree. I expect it was some sort of notice, hopefully a suicide note.
Anyway, yesterday I found his work with my new hardened ripper blade (it's less hard now)! Nails and metal in wood are fairly common particularly if it comes from a garden though we generally give those a miss, unless it's a Walnut when it's worth the agg.
With Oak it leaves blue marks which ...... will reduce it's appeal for most people but I expect someone will take it off my hands or I'll end up chopping it up for Smoking Wood in a couple of years time.
We have also cut a bit of quite lovely metal, shake and worm free Oak that will deffo appeal to you. Also, cut and stacked for end of next year Cherry, Yew, Sycamore, Elm and Plane to name a few.
I expect it will appeal to someone - especially if the price is right ! |
For every disappointing or ...
... crap log like the ones above we are cutting a stacking plenty of decent stuff that will emerge in 2022 if we are still about to sell it. Recently stacked is some Beech with particularly good figure and colour and some striking Holm Oak that is harder than a group of Millwall fans after a few beers.
Now dry and about to appear in the Woods sheds are Yew Sycamore Plane Rippled Ash Burr Acacia and er maybe some other delights if you dig deep enough.
The Pear shown being collected ...
... above cut well but this first one had some active worm that needed Mike to spray to eradicate and though a bit scarred is pretty enough to sell as you'll see below. It's what we call character wood!
Mike checking the pest spray has worked!
Next time I'll have ...
... done another Walnut tree with New Forest Rob so you'll have to tune in and see how it compared to the other 9 we have milled over the years. Maybe, we'll have something for those who read this for the timber rather than the juvenile jokes... but don't hold your breath.
Come and see us ... Sheds are full of wood - some of it is ok!
If you can persuade me to leave the fire in the cabin I might let you look at it and if very lucky buy some!
Regards, |
