New Peepers

So I (Karen) have "recently"(a.k.a some time in the last three years) acquired a nearsightedness.  It hasn't been that big of a deal except that,  in the last 6 months or so, while at work, I have found myself getting rather seasick as I try to focus on my paperwork on the desk and then switch to looking at the monitors above the heads of my patient's beds, about 15-20 feet in front of me. Soooo  blurry..... It's not such a great thing to be motion sick during a "code blue."  That is what inspired me to go have my eyes re-checked. 

It turns out, I have probably needed glasses for a while.  But Man!  the world is so crisp and clear and beautiful.  I had no idea!  I was looking at the trees on the ride home from the eye doctor's and man!  I wonder how long I had been living in a blurry world and not realised how clear things could have been for me! Even watching TV is better.  The girl at the store helped me to find the frames, as I had no idea what I should be wearing.  They might be a bit "granny-ish" but quite frankly, I don't care. Apparently I have really crooked ears and a very small head. The kids glasses actually fit me best, but I didn't really want to wear "Barbie" glasses. Sadly, they didn't have any kids size glasses that weren't hot pink or didn't have "Transformer/Go-bot" pictures on them, so.... I had to buy a more mature pair, as the cool ones were waaayyyy to wide for my head. (thank goodness, grannies have shrunken heads or I would have had to special order my pair. Here is a pic.

Clearing Some Trees

A few weekends ago we decided that we needed to clear some trees that were too near the house as our lot is quite heavily treed. The house in Goldcreek has been quite chilly due to the shade, in fact, even in June and July we frequently had to start the wood stove at night to get rid of the chill. What a difference getting rid of some of the trees has made! My gardens love the sunlight and our house is no longer in darkness. We took down 14 so far and will probably take down another four. At first, I thought this was going to be way too many, but actually, it looks great and our lot still has tonnes of lovely trees and shade.

Above,  Daryl cuts a wedge into a tree trunk.  This directs the tree to fall in a certain direction.  He then uses the chainsaw to cut the trunk on the other side of the wedge.  The tree then falls wherever the wedge is pointed.  It's amazingly accurate.

Here is Dan (Daryl's brother) wrapping a rope around a tree which he will then attach to the back of the quad.  Sometimes, the trees (especially if they are leaning or have twisted trunks) need  help falling in a safe, proper direction.  Daryl's step-dad Mert would drive the quad putting tension onto the falling tree in order to direct it away from the house.

After the tree was felled, there was tonnes of work clearing the branches, some of them 3-4 inches in diameter (read this "heavy") and 8-10 feet long.  We then took them up to the fire pit  and burned them, which was fun. (think massive bonfire).