How'd it go today?

That's what Kyle suggested. Maybe I guess. It doesn't look like the kind I'm familiar with though.
 
It was a turtley day. I was driving to a job, and saw something in the road last minute and swerved. Pulled over, and checked it out. It was a very young box turtle, maybe 4" across. I put him in the brush off the road in the direction he was heading. His lucky day. He got the turbo lift transport :^D Got off work early, and did some brushcutting at my place, and found this guy...

View attachment 121151

I later almost(I think) hit a snake. I didn't see any blood, so I'm hoping it was alright. Here's that mystery plant I took from that job and asked about here. I still don't know what it is, but can definitely rule out skunk cabbage...

View attachment 121152Other than being way too hot, it was a decent day.
false hellebore?
 
Hot yesterday. Went home and relaxed after work. Same today but storms are supposed to be rolling in this afternoon bringing in cooler temps for a few days. I might try to get a few things planted tonight if it’s not pouring.
@flushcut. We didn’t burn the dead spruce. Just pushed it in with the brush pile the line clearance guys left. It was covered in ivy poison anyhow.
Ewwwww!
 
Yesterday we got up to 97, and I had the pleasure of marching in the Memorial Day parade w/the fire guys; nothing like walking for half an hour in full Class A uniforms (the ones you see at funerals; dark blue and heavy) and then having to stand around while the town brass blabbed into a microphomne for an hour. Went to a few local parties after coming home and peeling off the uni and showering. In a somewhat smart move, I didn't start shortening the grass until 7. Finished up at 8:55 in the dark, but the heat was bearable (only 86 when I started. All the lovelier with 186% humidity). We had thuinderstorms overnight that cooled everything down.

Had both PT brush monkeys today, so we went and flopped a bunch of trees at the house I did the maples & pine at the last 2 weeks. Big twin stemmed Norway Maple hanging over the pool from the woods was first. Rigged most of the limbs out, then flopped the bigger top, then dropped stem wood pieces away from the fence. Just had to pile all the limbs and wood up, so while time-consuming educating the PTs, it went well. After lunch, went to the other side of the pool to get rid of 5 more small to midsize Maples, all with limbs over the pool fence, was able to flop the little ones, then shot ropes up in 2 others and Maasdam'd them over into the woods. The last had lean and all the limbs over the pool, so climbed, rigged/removed half the limbs, set a rope, and then Maasdam''d that bad boy over. Miscalculated the hinge, and it took extra effort/cuts to flop (as it hung up in another dead tree on the way over), but in the end successful. I'm tired, so will need a beverage to fall asleep with.
 
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Ok, that makes a little more sense. The one I'm familiar with appears to be Hosta sieboldii. Should have flowered though, right? Haven't seen any yet this year.

Just got in from a boundary, and got to test my lavender spray. I made it up a couple years ago when I was working in swamps to keep mosquitoes off me. The sense I got was a statistical analysis would show fewer mosquito bites as a whole, but I was still getting bitten. Today, I was being swarmed with sweat bees, and after spraying it on my arms, they quit landing on me. Not that sweat bees are a big deal, and they aren't mosquitoes, but it showed at least some insects don't like it.

The stuff's expensive. I'd have to check the bottle, but I think I paid $20/oz for the essential oil, but a little goes a long way. I use six drops in 2oz of water, and the bottle doesn't look like it's been used. Is it worth it? I keep the 2oz spray bottle in my cargo pocket, and spray it on every so often. The cool mist feels good, it smells nice, and it probably reduces insect landings by some amount, but not perfectly. Something y'all might want to consider.
 
Got home from work by 4:00 and got to go and finish the Ailanthus slaughter job. Dropped the last one. About 18” dbh and 60’. The thing hinged like 3 year dead ash (read- not at all) It kept its direction just fine though. Had my friend/groundie on the bull rope even though it wasn’t needed. I’ve just started putting a rope in every tree. Would rather have it and not need it kinda thing. Dumped debris in customers wood line. 2 hrs of work.
 

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Well, I just inquired about a chainsaw on craigslist. Let's see if my track record of no response stays at 100%. I hate craigslist.
 
Dunno. I wonder if craigslist even exists. Something by that name shows up in my browser, but any time I ask about one of the wonderful items I see there, I don't hear anything back. Maybe I'm dead. How would I really know? I might be sending messages out into the ether, but nobody can read them. Hmm...
 
Went to see my house-builder customer. He had 4 alders to get put on the ground. In and out without an issue. One to climb. Ropes to retain. One with retainer and pull rope.

Stopped past a new lake front customer in a well-tree-d and well-heeled neighborhood in town that I'll travel to. Referral from a long-term customer to their friend and neighbor. Going back for that one. Always feels nice when a doctor thanks me for the education during a visit. Makes me feel like not the dullest lightbulb in the box.

Went to another house site-prep. Loaded a trailer load of firewood logs. Knocked over a Lombardi poplar, a couple dead madrones, a maple, and then a decent sized doug-fir with heart-rot.

Tomorrow, one last tree to pull/wedge. Too big to jack it without a proper tree-jack. Thinking of getting one. They're about $2000-2500. Last me the rest of my career. Save some wedging over the course of my career.

There are going to be a lot of big dead trees this year after last year's unprecedented 112 degree 'heat dome'.
 
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