Remember the 95 foot tall Oak tree the Saint and our neighbor/friend (Dee) took down in June, due to a lightening strike? (Click HERE to see). 
The trunk of the thing laid in our Georgia Yard until July 13 when the Saint found the time to cut it into smaller pieces. Sorry for the poor quality of the picture but I was snapping from behind a screened window upstairs.
Here you see the Saint hard at work cutting the massive tree trunk.
Here you see the cut up trunk still in place on July 27 as a spotted fawn comes into the yard to visit. Normally cut up trees in the yard would bother me but with the horrible heat we have had here in Georgia this summer, I did not mind the mess in the yard. I decided it would stay there until we got to it during the cooler days of Fall.
Here is another pile in the woods from another tree (not oak) we cut down way back in June also. With this mess scattered throughout our property, we had planned to cut down more trees this past weekend! We had the tall boom on order to rent for the weekend but around noon on Friday, the Rental store cancelled on us as the customer that currently had the machine, decided to keep it for an additional week. This customer was International Paper and a big client so we understood them canceling on us. They were to keep the machine a week beyond their normal rental contract when we would only be renting it for 2 days. Money does talk with such things...
Being flexible, we opt for "Plan B" and rented a wood splitter instead. This was an older model then we have rented in the past but it did the job and with lower motor noise then the newer model. Amazing how things use to be built in the past. Ha...
We have the wood shed full of oak wood which will smell great burning in our fireplace this winter. Not to mention, keep us warm and lower our gas and electric bills.
Dee (which gave us the free lilies back in spring) helped us split the wood. In return, he got a load of the wood. Plus, the Saint will help him cut down two trees some time this week. He and the Saint split while I loaded his trailer all by myself! Well, they did load about 20 pieces of wood while I was making us lunch!We still have plenty of split wood after Dee took his share. We are giving some to our wonderful next door neighbor's and what they do not need, we plan to donate to a lady that Dee knows about. She uses wood to 100% heat her house in the winter months. 
Dee makes custom wood cabinets as a hobby and it was killing him inside to split this oak wood knowing it would be burn in our fireplaces. But since we do not have a $20,000 special piece of equipment or crane to lift the heavy trunk, (in order to process the wood) we had no choice but to use it as firewood. The stuff sure smelled great when splitting it. Sigh...
The process of lightening hitting this oak, us cutting it to the ground and cleaning up, has taken over 3 months to complete! I do believe this is a record yard task for us. We do plan to cut down more trees this coming weekend, if the boom is available. No, we are not glutton's for punishment but know these trees need to come down. They are interfering with the integrity of our asphalt driveway. Cheaper to remove the trees then to redo our long circular driveway. Don't worry, we are not loosing all of our trees. We have several hundred trees on our property so many more to enjoy our privacy and nature...
It has been super hot this year and even though the calendar says it is September, we are still having 90 degree temps. As we worked outside this weekend, it was 95 degrees on both days. Thank goodness for those sport drinks keeping us hydrated! We waited for cooler temps to split the wood but at 95 degrees, we were AT IT AGAIN, In the Garden...
Words and Photos Property of In the Garden Blog Team,In the Garden
What a lot of 'free' wood, and hard wonderful oak no less. It is a shame that it couldn't be made into beautiful furniture, but this is the next best thing and all of you will be thankful this winter.
ReplyDeleteYou are one hard-working lady loading that trailer with wood.
It is cooler for us down here this week, in the high 80's, although it still feels like it's in the 90's, but it is so much better than it was.
Hope you get some cooler weather soon.
FlowerLady
Hi Skeeter, it is somewhat alarming the way the weather has become so extreme. 95 does seem very hot for autumn. Such heat does not induce energy.
ReplyDeleteI just read your note above and laughed. You are quite right - if I was interested in viagra I wouldn't bother coming to this blog!
cheers, catmint
This is a lot of work here!! The weather has been so hot and dry. Yesterday my car read 113!
ReplyDeleteNow that is a lot of work! Too bad your neighbor couldn't have made some custom cabinets with it. They would have looked great I bet!
ReplyDeleteThat wood looks pretty darned awesome! I can picture cozy fires in the evening relaxing. Love those kind of nights! Hope it all goes well this weekend with the lift too. You should be proud of loading that huge trailer!!
ReplyDeleteI love a toasty fire in the winter months. I am sure you will not regret the time it took to get this wood split. That is one fastidious wood pile.
ReplyDeleteSkeeter, how ironic you should do this post as it isn't something we see every day. The funny part is I have the pics ready to do one almost like it - just haven't done it yet. Right down to the wood splitter. LOL We had to get rid of a huge Douglas Fir tree that had half of it's roots exposed in the ditch on the edge of our yard. Unlike the last one that fell during a storm and only wiped out the front bank this one could have messed with our drain field and cost us a lot of $s so we took it out. It's like losing an old friend but had to be done.
ReplyDeleteGood Morning everyone! Expecting 90-degree temps for a few more days then hopefully, Fall temps will be in Georgia!!!
ReplyDeleteFlowerlady, believe it or not, 95 was not as bad as it could have been for us while working. We had less humidity then a few weeks ago so could have been worse. Still hot as the dickens though. Yep, the firewood will be nice this winter. We had not cut an oak since moving into this house so looking forward to that wonderful oak scent in the air this winter…
Catmint, we are one day away from breaking the all time heat temps of the year in GA. They are reporting the record dates each evening on the weather. The year 1921 and 1925 were record breaking temps this time of year at 103 and 105 degrees! I think we are just in another cycle and not Global Warming like Mr Gore may think, but who knows…. I am not sure I get your Viagra joke. Hum, I must be slow this morning….
Darla, Yes maam, a hot one indeed but has been hotter in the past. I was just saying to Catmint that we are on the verge of breaking the all time record for hottest year in GA. I will report on it Thursday…
Dave, We plan to have him make us custom cabinets at some point, (When we find the money) and we sure would have loved to use this oak. Sigh, not going to happen though. Poor mighty oak…
Tina, believe it or not, my arms were not as sore as I thought they would be! I just knew I was going to be moaning and groaning Monday morning but not so. I was ready for more work but opt out, hee hee… I have been doing some arm exercises and that must be making them stronger. I do believe, I will keep up with the exercises! Now, if only I can get motivated to get on the treadmill again, LOL….
I don't envy you doing all this hard work in such heat, Skeeter! I bet it was hard for your woodworker friend to see this wonderful oak being cut up for firewood, but you sure will appreciate it this winter. And your neighbors are certainly going to appreciate your generosity!
ReplyDeleteRosey, by the time winter comes around and the fireplace is roaring hot, this hard work will be a mere memory :-)
ReplyDeleteRaingardener, Ah, I was first to the finish line, LOL... I find myself posting on topics similar to others at times. I find it ironic as well but enjoy their perspective on the event! I will be looking for your wood splitting post soon. And yes, it is like loosing a friend every time we have to cut down a tree. Heck, I don’t like picking a flower as I feel like I am killing it! For me to cut a tree is tough as well but we only cut what we must, sigh…
Rose, we were all moaning at splitting this wonderfull wood. The scent with each piece being split was wonderful. I can hardly wait to smell it in the night air. That is what good neighbors are for ya know :-)
ReplyDeleteHow lovely you are donating some of your wood. I always feel so secure when seeing it all neatly stacked! It will get cold... but 95 is a bit much! Happy Autumn nearly. ;>)
ReplyDeleteYou are really a hard worker. That is back breaking work.It was so nice of you to donate the wood. Anybody who heats only with wood, would appreciate that gesture. All split and ready to burn. Wonderful gesture.
ReplyDeleteWe had to take down two big trees earlier in the summer. Well, not "we" but a couple of men who are acquaintances. It WAS a HUGE job. We don't heat with wood, so we negotiated with one of them who does...
ReplyDeleteI shed an imaginary tear for the demise of that oak. Then smiled at the thought of warming a house with it...
After a few days of coolness, we're getting some heat up here again. It was nice to live w/o the air conditioner running for a few weeks!
Too bad about a beautiful oak. Bad memories for me as a lighting stike hit a 90 footer next to my house, entered on the cable and also took out numerous electronic devices... computer, microwave etc. To my surprise the insurance company covered all losses including $1000 for the tree. :)
ReplyDeleteGood Evening everyone. Still on track for the record breaking hot year! 96-degrees today! YIKES...
ReplyDeleteCarol, donating the woods is the best gift I can give today! Our neighbor came by with his tractor and took off two loads today. The rest will go to the needy woman which I do not know but do know she will enjoy it...
Gardenwalkgardentalk, When we rent the log splitter, we want to get our moneys worth from it. hee hee. It is so much easier to dispose of when split and this year, we found someone that can use it so we are doing a good deed this go round...
Rebecca, We were lucky to be able to turn off the AC for two days recently. The temps were still high but no humidity made it wonderful with a breeze. Was nice to sleep with the open window for two nights but that was short lived with rising humidity. I enjoy the fresh air in the house and cannot wait to open the windows for Fall and turn off the AC. Wow, have we blown some money on the AC this year... Ouch...
Troutbirder, How great your insurance company paid for all your losses! We had one TV damaged beyond repair and the cable box was shot in that room as well. Considering how close the tree was located to the house, I think we were pretty lucky. And now we have nice oak wood for the fireplace this winter....
Skeeter, that was a lot of hard work. I know you don't like to cut any down but sometimes we must for safety sake. I have a large double trunk oak in my back yard that is too close to the house & my shed. It is dying so it must come down.
ReplyDeleteHow generous you & The Saint are for donating so much wood to the needy. It's nice that you have a neighbor that will help.
Come this winter you will enjoy that oak. I love fire places to cuddle up in front of.
I love it the the magnificent tree will be used to keep people warm. OK, so bespoke furniture would have been wonderful, but this is re-use at its very best, carbon neutral heating from a lightening strike! And a lot of hard work... And how wonderful to have so many trees on your property.
ReplyDeleteLola, Yes cutting down any tree or digging up any dead plant is difficult on me. I look at them each as friends, sigh. You need to get that dead tree to the ground and soon before you have house damage. Wish, we were in your area as we would take it down for you!
ReplyDeleteJanet, The many trees on our property are wonderful as long as they don't drop limbs, die or cause trouble for us. LOL. I do love the trees and the critters do as well...
Hi Skeeter, I am glad to see we are not the only ones who are experiencing this heat....man!!! We did have the sliding doors open at night for a few nights. Hoping this fall weather finds its way here soon. This is supposed to be the beginning of fall!!
ReplyDeleteps- was over your way at a plant sale at Layman's past Edgefield last week....spent a few bucks.
:-)
Nothing better than oak for fires. Smell good and are slow burning. I do hope with you burning green wood you keep your chimney clean.
ReplyDeleteSkeeter, I meant to tell you to read what Tina wrote about viagra at the bottom of the comments and you will get the viagra.
ReplyDelete