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Within the confines of this blog, you will find bits and pieces of the life and times of myself, my family and friend dear and near., far and wide, few and far between. You will find bits and pieces of my world, tho small to some, but huge to me. You will find everything from 'soup to nuts',; recipes, hobbies,crafts, gardenings,loves of my life, GrandLoves-a-Plenty, and even my pets... Sooo, if you can handle family life, enjoy the tour of my 'Stuffings'.

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Load of Work, Pencil Pushings

Today at the farm meant another load of poplar that goes down the road to be ground for chips. The chips are then used several ways, but locally to burn to run the papermill, to grind to make paper, or depending on the type of tree, to make chips for compost or placing around our trees and garden plants. These particular trees were primarily poplar and some yellow birch and went out of town.This one is 48 yrs. old, give or take a year. We determine that by counting the rings. I've always loved sitting and counting rings for some reason. If you look carefully, you can see some rings have more distance between them than others,...the greater the distance, the more moisture the tree had that year, thus the more rain. If there is a blackened ring, it may have been burned in a fire externally but survived to continue growth. Diseased trees can also be identified but danged if I remember the signs...I do need to research that again...
Brother E and his trusty John Deere that he does his logging with the old way and the hard way, one log at a time, on and off the tractor to hook and drag each to a location where many are piled until they can be loaded with the jammer onto the bunk to bring home where the trucker takes them from...
I always loved the look of a pile of work with the folks farm in the background. Doing some logging in the winter was always a way to put a few more meals on the table.
These sawlogs are a bit bigger than the other end of the pile so they are used for other things, again, depending on the type of tree. These are also poplar and will be hauled to yet another mill where this particular pile will be cut into lumber that will make pallets at still another mill.
From the trees growth of many centuries to the end product, is all part of its life. The poplar doesn't last long so we salvage what we can, doing the woods wonders, making room for the saplings to sprout and grow for the next several centuries. Hope you enjoyed my walk in the farm yard. I know I did.
Next are a few pencil drawings I did years ago...They actually are all on one sheet but I condensed them so they were easier for you to see...I need to do this again...this first one is a cougar and a lynx.
A little chipmunk and a young buck in velvet.
I love the chickadee. Chickadees are a favorite of nearly everyone, especially my lil sis. Ever where you go you will see them. They are the friendly, chatty little bird that follows you everywhere. I guess they are just nosy.
Seeing the caribou reminds me that these drawings were done the year my DH and Dad went to Canada on a caribou hunt. Wow, it has been a long time since I have drawn.
The kestrel is a loud bird announcing his disdain about missing a meal. I have seen one swoop down and try to grab a partridge right before my eyes once. I was sitting at the cabin watching the partridge eat corn I had thrown on the ground. There was another partridge drumming in the distance when, woosh, in came the kestrel for the kill. I gasped and maybe it was just enough distraction for him to miss his target. They are a beautiful bird but....I'm glad he missed.
Hope you enjoyed my jabber...
Blessya

11 comments:

quiltmom anna said...

Lovely drawings Dar- We have lots of chickadees, squirrels and blue jays around our yard here in the city. We live close to the ravine so we get lots of hares ( not rabbits)too.
My grandparents had a farm and there was lots of wildlife around there- you had to watch for fox, coyotes, gophers, deer and lots of different species of birds. I am sure that you could see the occasional moose, bear etc as they lived in the foothills close to the Rocky Mountains. When you drive the main highway you will often see owls and hawks on the poles and fences.
Those are quite the trees - interesting information- thanks for sharing...
I am off to bed...
Regards,
Anna

Paula said...

Very interesting entry and your drawings are great.

vintage girl at heart said...

You drawings are so wonderful..what talent and love for nature too of course!!! Do you frame them and have them all over your Home???

The lesson on the trees is one that I love to learn about..I always wondered if the amount of years by the ring was true. os neat that you can tell so much about the trees by their rings. I bet they smell wonderful during chipping too..just something earthy about fresh wood. I am rambling again....but it is the lil things that means the most.

Betsy Banks Adams said...

Dar, I am so impressed. Your pencil drawings are amazing. From one like me --who cannot draw a straight line, I love seeing others with this talent. WOW!!!! TERRIFIC.....

Enjoyed reading about the trees--and the grinding of them for paper. Love reading about the rings. SO interesting.

Thanks for a great post today.
Hugs,
Betsy

crochet lady said...

Nice tour of the logging! We have a lot of family that live around and a couple times of year we cut down the dead or dying trees for what wood we burn. We converted to gas years ago, but still help with that process for the family.

Nice sketching! Like the kestrel. My son built a kestrel house and placed it on our hill. We saw a pair last year. Maybe they will come again this year.

~mel said...

Great post~ I'll have to show it to Slim and Sam; as they too were in on this logging project. The guys have been really lucky with the nice weather ... and still being able to cross the dike on the pond with those loads of logs... otherwise they have to take the long route around through our place.

You really should do some more drawings and frame them up! Sell them!! Make some pocket change!!

Cher' Shots said...

thanks for once again sharing what's happening back home. Loved it all.

Janet Metzger, Artist said...

Oh...the birds are my favorite! I too love the look of the stacked logs..they always look so...organized ;-)

Dar said...

Thanks to all of you for the kind words...I have not framed any of the drawings but have a spiral at the cabin with many more pencil drawings. Someday I will post my other mediums such as saw blades, European style deer skulls, artist conks which are a fungus, birch bark, feathers...you can draw on just about anything, I guess., if it suits you...an appreciation I learned from my Father. Til then
Blessings to Each of You

Anonymous said...

I love your drawings Dar! Thanks for sharing all the wonderful photos. :) I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

GardenOfDaisies said...

I love your pencil drawings! What a wonderful artist you are!