23 April 2018

Being a rather stubborn old coot, tried once again to dislodge the last remaining, extra large stump at the barn building site.  No joy… the Kubota just doesn’t have enough power to even wiggle that beast… or the boulder with which it is bonded in true Vermont civil union.  Spent much of the afternoon digging out small saplings and their rather lengthy roots along our frontage on Lake Dunmore Road.  What does that have to do with building the barn, you ask?  Answer: nothing… but one of the (many) other projects on the list for last summer was to build a New England style stone wall along the road, using the copious supply of rocks with which we are blessed (or cursed, you choose).  Where that rock wall needs to go (3 rods or 24′ 9″ from the road centerline) is completely overgrown, said overgrowth needing to be excised before a wall can be built.  The good news is the growth is all small enough to be ripped out of the ground with the backhoe.  The bad news is that obviously there used to be a stone wall along the road in that location and the growth’s roots are all tangled around, what is now, stupendously rocky “soil”.  The backhoe teeth are gonna need replacing… soon!