The Ax Men of Blooming Hill

Blooming Hill Ax Men crew from left to right: Micheal, Sean, the Prodigal son, Kevin and  P. Lorenz  (Peter).

As the day went on, more trees came down.

It was an episode straight out of the History Channel's Ax Men, here at Blooming Hill, the other day.  Well, it was if you take into account that the Ax Men were not in the Great Pacific Northwest and they weren't big and burly with full beards and wearing flannel plaid shirts--although I did notice that none of them had shaved that morning and these Blooming Hill lumberjacks were more on the collegiate-preppy-athletic side.  Well, again, that description also excludes P.Lorenz, the tree climber extraordinaire, for the day, who is preppy but way beyond the collegiate side of life...Sorry dear...'Tis true, however.  Anyway, I digress--where was I?  Oh yeah...

The three Ax Men pulling on rope attached to a tree they are pulling down.

Okay...now they look serious!

Don't let the narrow trunk fool you.  These Black Locust trees are made of very hard wood and they all reached about 50 feet in height.

...It was the day of reckoning for four dead Black Locust trees and two very ominous looking dead branches on an old Silver Maple tree, all precariously perched on the hillside overlooking the garden shop and it was time to end their reign of terror they gleefully held over Peter and me, especially every time a good wind whipped up around here.  These trees were leaning menacingly toward the shop and you could see them conspiring with each other, planning their own day(s) of excitement and adventure.  Are you following me?  In short, these trees and branches were an accident(s) just waiting to happen.  So, P.Lorenz took a day off from his "day job," and summoned the "prodigal son," a.k.a.  Kevin, home.  Kevin, in turn, called in his own reinforcements, Micheal and Sean, to help heave and ho, saw and chop and gather and dispose of old and rotted wood planted stubbornly in the ground...PHEW!

One of the first trees to come down.  Then the work of chopping and cleaning began.

Sean, Micheal and Kevin loaded and unloaded chopped-up fallen trees in and out of the truck all day long, creating a huge burn pile.  Burning the left-over wood will happen much later in the fall when county fire restrictions are lifted.  Like Micheal's shirt says, "No guts, no glory" for these guys.

From left to right:  A Rugby player, a Lacrosse player and a Baseball player (and former pitcher, I might add) trying to lob a ball, attached to a rope, over a very high limb in order to help stabilize it and pull it down as Peter, in the tree, saws it off.  Note to reader:  Kevin was able to snag limbs this way and the tugging and pulling on ropes by all three helped get these trees and limbs down safely.

I must say, having three Generation X-Ax Men here to do a lot of the heavy and dirty work sure made things a lot easier for Peter and after a long and hot day of hard work and sweat,  P.Lorenz and his band of merry  Ax Men finished the job. The trees were not only reduced to a huge future burn pile of branches, but their trunks will also be recycled and used here at Blooming Hill as a stepped and slightly slanted path, sometimes referred to as a peron, up the steep hill and into the gardens and lavender beds.  Good idea, right?  According to P.Lorenz, "Felling trees is as much an art as it is a science."  So, he is applying his artful skills to making good use of these trees.  More on the progress of these steps in a future blog entry.

Micheal brought his own chain saw and cut through trees quite easily.

P. Lorenz and one of his favorite toys, his own trusty chain saw.

The beginning of the "peron."  Logs from the trees placed as a winding path up the hill.  The logs still need to be dug into the ground and secured.  After that, pea gravel will be added to each step.  

Once the day was done, and the BZZZZing, SNAPing, CRACKLing and CRASHing  stopped, our band of Generation X-Ax Men ate a hardy meal and then merrily headed down the road and off, to yet, other adventures they had in store for themselves. I'm thinking those adventures probably will not involve chopping down trees, at least not in the very near future.  Thanks guys!

Finishing up with lunch at the "OK Blooming Hill Corral"...er .. actually, on the back porch. Tucker, the dog, was too preoccupied with keeping his eye on the table and refused to turn and smile for the camera.

The Blooming Hill Ax Men from left to right: Micheal, Kevin, Sean and Peter.

P.S.  I'm also thinking Blooming Hill should have our own reality show.  We could call it the "Ax Men of Blooming Hill"--I think that's a pretty catchy title and these four modern lumberjacks are a pretty handsome crew...Don't you think?!