We got ourselves a new toy!

Ok, we know it’s not a toy. But it is fun to run.

Only dropped $450 on the saw, safety gear (we totally know what we’re doing), and accessories. Seriously though, we both worked for the Forest Service and were at one point chainsaw certified, so we should be able to not cut our legs off. It’s so nice to cut with a new saw: sharp chain, everything is clean, runs like a beauty. Now we’re just killing trees!

Loki. Helping. “I’ll kill trees too, guys.”

R fell a big Ponderosa that wasn’t looking real healthy and was crowding two other big trees. Now we have a more open view and our other trees should be stronger. It was a big tree to come down (it only smashed a few scrub oaks on the way), and it should provide us with quite a bit of firewood. Win-win-win! I basically stood back with Loki and made sure R wasn’t going to kill himself and took pictures while he did all the hard work. It was a pretty sweet deal.

Before.

After.

One cool thing I learned: Juniper trees have this bright red center. Like, BRIGHT red. So when we cut down this very unhealthy juniper the other day, I was so amazed at how beautiful it was I had R cut cookies out of the stump. I don’t know what I’ll do with them yet, but something creative will be done! The next day I was a little sad to see the open air had faded the bright red to a brown color, but they are still really cool-looking. Gloss them and make little drink tables? Hang them up as decoration? Also, we need to name the chainsaw. Yeah, you read that right. I sort of want her (yes, her) to have a very queenly name, but haven’t come up with anything yet. Ideas?!