4 December 2016

Took down the tree stand in the large hemlock that is downhill (west, towards the lake) of the house, from which the house construction photo series was shot.  After 7 years and 8 months of use, the stand was is pretty good shape, which is to say that it didn’t totally collapse when I climbed up one last time and I salvaged some of the wood for use when the dock is rebuilt (next summer????).  Once again, the 5-fold block and tackle (that Gene Zukosky gave me way back when) was instrumental in moving the stand to the ground safely.  Tried to take the Tacoma down to the hemlock, where I had disassembled the stand, to haul out the wood.  Turns out the path between the stone wall and the wood walkway was (1) too narrow for the truck to fit through and (2) very muddy, which meant that (3) the truck got well and truly stuck.  No worries (he says, with fingers crossed)!  With Chree driving the truck, used the backhoe to pull the Tacoma back up onto level ground.  Even Chree now says that having a tractor on the property is a wonderful idea.