The computers and most of the office stuff are now moved into the office. It's a bit strange, but quite pleasant, to have the extra space available and the clutter and blinky lights gone in the bedroom. This now means that we move about the mezzanine more, which was not an area that we have been using very much. Of course one "wing" of this is still full of boxes needing to be put away, making it very easy to ignore.
The week's big event was getting our dead poplars and one other tree removed. Neither of the tree guys had an explanation for why the poplars had died, and they didn't agree on what the other tree was -- it's possibly a non-thorny version of a honey locust or then again it might be some kind of Sorbus. But they both agreed with us that it interfered with the weeping willow, was too close to the septic tank, and needed to be removed. The two quotes were very similar and surprisingly inexpensive. Monday morning it happened. Here's the first poplar down to a stump, with the second one still standing to its right.
And here's the wonderful machine (from Ohio!) that chews the stumps to bits:
We now have lots of kindling and an enormous pile of poplar logs, many still needing to be split, all cut to 50cm, the size required by our wood-burning stove. They are very light, so even the big ones will probably be best for kindling rather than generating heat. Ed stacked the live wood, be it honey locust or Sorbus, behind the shed, to give it a chance to dry out. It's quite weighty, so might be good burning. In the winter, the willow will get a severe cutting back to encourage it to grow in a more symmetric fashion.
Each afternoon, Ed thinks he's heard a woodpecker complaining near where the poplar trees grew. Today he even thought he heard one drumming on the pile. Last week we had a green woodpecker visitor a couple of times. Perhaps the poplars belonged to it?
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