Stump removal

Well, I finally got the plum tree stumps out this weekend. My dad was kind enough to lend me his chainsaw and after some effort I was able to saw off the first stump about 16 inches below ground level. When I went to work on the second one, the stump was so hard and twisted that the chainsaw wasn't making much progress on it. It just kinda sat there and burned the wood. I don't really know what happened or if I was doing something wrong, but I ended up leaning against it in the process and found it to be kinda loose after the first one was out.

Since it was loose, I decided maybe it wouldn't be that hard to just dig it the rest of the way out... the bottom part of it tapered down a lot so I kept digging and found it was only being held by a couple big roots. After cutting these, it was really loose. It would rock back and forth but not side to side too much though. The key was the big root on the bottom that was still holding on. I will let you watch the video for the rest of the details.

Anyways, as you can see it came out quite well and wore me out to panting trying to get it all in one video. The cracking and breaking sounds you hear are not my back, but the root at the base of the stump. The video doesn't show it but we did get the second one out of the hole... twice. I lost control of it while trying to move it and it rolled back into the hole... doh!!! But as you can see in the picture below, they both were successfully removed.

I am glad to have it out and now all I have to do is put some stump rot in the left over stump, fill in the hole and then get the rest of the large trunk pieces cut up to either make wood to burn or get some pieces out of it to make something out of it. Plum is actually a really nice wood to work with and can be expensive to buy. It should be fun trying to get some usable lumber out of the trunk sections. I may look into seeing if one of the lumberyards around here would process the larger piece for me though.

I was joking around. :)

Fall Projects

Well, with the onset of the Fall rain, I have had some time to just relax for a couple weeks. With work getting a little more hectic as projects start for the quarter, there has not been much additional energy anyways.

Since I was going to take some down time from projects anyways, I decided to take care of a painful little toenail that has been bothering me lately. It is the only toenail I have had a problem with fungus growing under and have been able to deal with it for a long time until now. The doctor said I could take a drug that was hard on my liver to try and kill the fungus, but it would be best to just remove it since it was loose and would be much easier on my liver. I opted to have it removed on Saturday.

The numbing was the worst since it required two injections on either side of my little toe. The subsequent removal was only uncomfortable because I could feel the pressure from him prying the toenail off. It was painful for about a day, but has been manageable since. It currently is trying to form a scab, but is a little oosy still. On a side note, while I was at the doctors office, I found that my cholesterol levels were much better after 5 months of eating better and exercising. I went from being very high/high risk to boarderline in my LDL and cholesterol, and my triglycerides even went into a normal range.

The result of my hard work over the past 5 months was a real blessing because if there was not marketed improvement in my numbers, the doctor was wanting to put me on medication. At 33, I really don't want to start on medication I would have to take the rest of my life, especially at the risk of side effects that are almost worse than the benefits. Since cholesterol was my only risk factor, I think I can stick with a healthier lifestyle and help reduce my risk of developing other risk factors.

In trying to relax from outdoor projects, and stay off my toe hasn't helped, I have been forgetting to get my regular exercise and it has been affecting me more than I realized it would. My back has started complaining about being parked on the couch so much. And evidently I have been pretty tied up after working with the Plum tree stump cuz yesterday I was stretching and twisting trying to relieve the tightness and slight burning pain I was feeling in my upper to mid back and my mid to lower back gave way in a really harsh way. I was almost thinking I did something bad, but after my breathe came back, I decided it was just relieving something and layed down and iced my whole back for about an hour; working the small icepack we have down my spine every 20 minutes. It does feel better, but it is still a little uncomfortable.

Fall raining in

Well, Fall is definitely out there. With the cooler temperatures, leaves turning their usual fall hues, and the rain, it is definitely here.

Aimee and I ended up helping a friend move out of her appartment since it was quite last minute and she had a hard time finding anyone to help her. Luckily she lived in a small one bedroom and we got most of it in the moving truck on Friday night in two hours, with only 4 of us working on it. The rest was packed from 8:3- 10:30 Saturday morning and unpacked at the new house by noon.

Elaine went back to finish cleaning her appartment and turn in her keys and then the she took the three of us out to dinner to thank us for helping. Well, since I wasn't diligent in getting back to the plum stump that afternoon while we were waiting to go to dinner, and watched the football game with Aimee instead, I figured I would have Sunday to do that work.

Well, the rains came Saturday night and it hasn't really stopped yet. This is the trouble with living in the Northwest; once it starts raining in the fall, there are usually few breaks. Hopefully it will clear up sometime this next week and I can get out there and cut out the stump finally. I am going to borrow the neighbor's chainsaw tonight so I am ready when the rain lets up. Or in true Northwest mindset decide to just go do it in the rain.