Seasonal pyromania

I finished playing with the pole saw yesterday. (Yes, I wore gloves this time.) But then I broke out the heavy artillery and used a pruning blade on the cordless reciprocating saw to get a few limbs too big for the pole saw.

The proper way to remove a large branch is to begin with an undercut a few inches away from the trunk, then cut off the branch from the top a few inches distal to the undercut, and finally cut the "stump" near the trunk itself. Mental note: when making the undercut, don't go more than 1/3 of the way through. The blade got stuck when the weight of the branch pinched down. Had to release the blade from the saw and use another blade to make the second cut before finally freeing the original pruning blade.

The major benefit from limbing-up the trees is the production of two large brush piles of mostly-dry wood. The conditions were right, and the inner pyro won the debate of "to burn or not to burn". I'm still trying to get the hang of starting a fire (last week was a very poor effort of burning out pine needles beneath a tree in the pasture) and making things more difficult was that the brush pile in question spilled over onto the grass. It would take a little strategic fire-igniting but I managed to get it burned up without severely damaging the grass around the edge of the burn spot. I will admit I can't leave well enough alone, and I probably singed off some fine facial hair as I got close to the pile to shovel the outlying branches into the middle of the pile. If you can't stand the heat, wait another 15 minutes before trying to do a little site grooming.

Did I learn my lesson? Of course not. The plan for tomorrow is to burn an even bigger pile.This time with witnesses. And maybe beer. Or marshmallows? It will probably be a little messier thanks to a freshly cut pine bough and the overall size and misorganization of the pile. But I'm guessing it will go up in a beautiful blaze of glory. Who needs spring cleaning when you can have a bonfire?

Pass the naproxene please

Yesterday I rode the mare. She had more than a few days off since she had gotten her feet trimmed, so it was time to get back to work. I'm still taking things easy with her, building up the foundation to get her fit again. Still mostly walking, but now I'm upping the ante by adding more bending and yielding of different body parts - which means there is also a considerable amount of bending and yielding of my own body parts. I didn't realize my right leg adductors were so much weaker than the left side. Introduced some trot work, did lots of stretching and balance work in the stirrups, and even added in some big steps up and down off of the little rise in the pasture.

Today it was the upper-body workout. It started with lifting up my riding lawn mower, not once but twice, so I could take the blade in for sharpening (more like replacement) and reach all of the grease fittings. I borrowed a pole saw from a coworker to finally take care of some tree limbs that were just out of the reach of my step ladder. Helpful hint for anyone considering a similar feat - wear work gloves. Two hours later, my hands are covered in blisters from the pull rope, I have a large bruise forming under my left arm where I wedged the pole for some leverage while I was sawing, and my neck and shoulders are aching from leaning my head back to see what I'm trimming. Then it was on to using the pruning blade on the reciprocating saw to cut away some lower limbs that were too big for the pole saw. On the upside, I do have several impressive piles of dead tree limbs scattered around the property. Now to just collect them all and add to the burn piles.

As for tomorrow, the rose bushes are in need of their spring fertilization and refreshing the mulch. That is if I'll be able to move.