Busy Days

Before the harvest season starts, we have to figure out the schedule for the helicopter. You have to book your hours in advance and then make sure everything works out. If it is foggy, they can't fly. If it is too windy, they set down. Then your are all screwed up. They have to move on to the next guy on the list and you have to try and refigure everything out. I remember one year that we had fog everytime we were scheduled to fly. We had 30,000 trees in slings in the fields and trucks scheduled to arrive to pick up loads. Luckily, the fog lifted and we got them out in time. This year so far everything is working out really well. We flew for 8 hours yesterday. That is what we had scheduled. Today was really windy and it's supposed to be again tomorrow. But on Friday when we have 8 hours again, it's supposed to be nice. I pray for no fog. I don't think it's a coincidence that things are going smoothly. I'm quite sure Jay is looking out for us.

I just wanted to show you some more pictures of whats happening here. Every time the helicopter drops a bundle of trees, one of the guys pulls both slings and rolls it up. Then hurries because the next bundle is on it's way. After all the trees are on the landing, they are bailed and sorted into piles by size. Each tree has a colored tag identifiying it's size. Some buyers have their own tags so they have to be seperated not only by size but by buyer, too.

Right now the piles are getting bigger. We should start loading some out tomorrow and making room for Friday when we will start this all over again. I like it when the piles get smaller. I love it when they are all gone. I love the guys who work so hard, too. I'll try to show you more tomorrow.

More of harvest

Who ever invented the dry erase calander board was brilliant. Do you know how many times a day things change in this office? We have to keep the days we have scheduled for the helicopter open. We have to have enough trees cut and in slings. But not too many cuz we can't plug up the landing area. We have to know who is coming to pick up trees and when. The boys have to keep the trucks fueled up and ready to go. Oh, and someone needs to get the Cat out to pull the pickup out of the mud.

This is what it looks like at the front door everyday. Boots and raingear. Just grab a pair and go.

Connor and Caleb showed up early Sunday morning ready to work. They love to help. They each made a timesheet for me that they will keep track of their hours. Caleb wrote down that he worked 4oo minutes Sunday.

amazing support

A couple days ago I went to a local manufacturing shop to get a part to fix one of the bailers. I did get the part I needed but I also got a hug. A hug and an offer of help if we need it. That's what I get everyday. My family calls me often to see if they can help. Mine and Jay's friends offer their help. My neighbors call and offer help to get thru this harvest. The guys that work for us would work 24 hours a day, 7 days a week if they need to. My kids are here everyday to help. There is amazing support every where I look. It reminds me of the story of the redwood tree. Did you know that the redwood trees are the largest living things on earth and the tallest trees in the world? Some grow more than 90 meters tall and are more than 2500 years old. You would think that they would have a tremendous root system but they don't. Their root system is very shallow. One redwood tree would have a very hard time standing on it's own. But instead, they grow in groves with their roots intertwined. They are all interlocked with each other. Then, when the storms come and the winds blow they still stand. They support and sustain each other. That's how it feels to me. With the support of family and friends and neighbors we are stronger than we are on our own. Your support means so much to us.

Tree Harvest Time

I wanted to show you all what we are doing here at the farm. I will try to post pictures showing each stage of our harvest, depending on how busy I am. Right now all the trees have been tagged and sized. The cutters will go thru and cut the trees according to our buyers and our orders. Not all trees are cut at once. That way we can keep them as fresh as possible.

After they are cut, then they are carried and placed in slings. The helicopter will fly over the hooker who very quickly places the hook on the slings and the trees are carried either to shuttle trucks or to a landing where they will next be bailed.

But before they are bailed they have to be put on the shaker. That shakes most of the dry needles out. Then they are bailed and sorted by size. The next step is to load and ship. I will put more pictures as I have time.

In God We Trust

I for one am so glad that the elections are over. I wish they would take down all the signs along the roadways and take away all the negative ad campaigns on television. Whether your candidates won or not, whether your measures passed or not, you have to remember, IN GOD WE TRUST. I DO. Listen to this song on my playlist by Diamond Rio called "In God We Trust."

Presents vs Presence

Christmas is a time of gift giving. Sometimes there is a lot of stress in trying to figure out what to get for someone. Then, there is also the stress of spending too much. Last year Jay and I told our kids that our gift to them was to give each of them $$$. The only catch was that they could not spend any of it on themselves. They had to find others who needed help. What they did with their $$ $ was their gift to us. It was so much fun to see them searching out and finding ways to help others. They found a single dad that worked two jobs but still didn't make enough money for heating fuel. He would buy what he could afford each week but it wouldn't last. So they had his tank filled and bought toys and blankets for his children. Then they helped a blind boy go to a camp over Christmas vacation. They got him snow boots, gloves, a coat and hat. Jay and I watched our grandkids while our kids went shopping and bought toys and clothes, blankets and food. They delivered everything to schools and places to be distributed as to keep themselves annonymous. They had so much fun and so did we. It was contagous. Their friends wanted to do it too. This year I asked them to do the same thing with a twist. Since they all love their Dad and miss his physical presence so very much, I asked them, this year instead of presents can we give presence? I know how much their presence means to me. So in addition to searching for those in need, can we add our presence? They agreed. We also decided that we will draw names amoung us. Who ever we draw will recieve from us " a day." The giver will decide what to do and where to go with the person that they draw. It can be what ever adventure that you can come up with. You don't have to spend money just time. We are going to have to draw names soon so we can start planning.

Halloween Cuties

Here is my cute boys dressed up for Halloween. They are "Thing 1 and Thing 2" If you don't know who that is, it is naughty little characters
in the Cat in the Hat book. Their little personalities fit the part perfectly because in the book they are naughty when mom is out of the house. Yep, that is them.

Then there is little missy as a lady bug with an attitude. Cute cute cute. We live too far out of town. We don't ever get trick-or-treaters. I always buy candy tho just in case. Of course I buy my favorite kind so I can eat it. Our tradition is to make batches of carmel popcorn and pumpkin fudge and take it to our neighbors. I am glad it is Halloween today cuz tomorrow I don't want to see anything sweet in this house. Have a bootiful day.