Tree stuff and Sly Fox Farm Eats

Bill and I call them the "twin towers."  

They are the last of the eight poplars, and they'll come down today. The crew expects to be finished with the project by noon. 

Once again, it's been fascinating and fun watching the four team members work. 

In addition to removing the poplars, they also cut low-hanging limbs from a big spruce tree in the southwest lawn. 

I've had to do contortions with the lawnmower while mowing under that tree, so it will be nice to have the daylight in future mowings. 

Yesterday's clump of four poplars turned out to be a little more complex than the first batch.  

These trees are closer to the house, and it seemed like they were bigger and had more big branches to remove. 

I decided they could be cut off flush with the ground rather than leaving notable stumps. 

The taller stumps actually look good with the periwinkle patch. 

Obviously, I'll be looking for additional shrubs or flowers to dress up the scene. I envision iris, daffodils, black-eyed Susans and maybe more oregano as possibilities for that space. 

Both areas offer some fun challenges to see what we can do, landscaping-wise.  

The photo shows Bill's plate of dinner from last night. 

Homegrown baked potato, with garden beans and carrots AND a roasted pasture-raised chicken from right here in the Selle Valley. 

For several weeks, I've followed the catchy videos Kyle and Ashley Nagy have been posting on Instagram.

  When they started raising their second batch of broilers and called for orders, I decided to give them a try. 

After all, my colitis diet limits me, and chicken is usually a safe meat choice.  

So, the rest is history.  I received word earlier this week that the harvested chickens would be ready. 

So, Monday, I drove over and the first person I met was Lark.  She greeted me with her pet chicken. And, then came her little brother. 

A few years ago, I took some photos of Lark, her brother, her mom and their dog one day when they came by our place. 

At the time, they lived on North Kootenai Road, but since then, they've moved to a farm on Colburn-Culver Road where they are raising both poultry and pork. 

Ashley shared some suggestions on how to cook the bird----slow cooking, that is.  I prefer that method and do so whenever I think about dinner early enough in the day. 

I stuffed some of our peeled apples inside the chicken, added some water and wine to the pan, basted the chicken with some avacado oil, seasoned it and put it in the oven for about five hours----starting at 225 degrees and increasing the heat to 350 during the final half hour or so. 

No disappointment.  

It was tender and tasty.  Bill drizzled a little barbecue sauce on his, and then we savored every bite of the chicken and veggies. 

Doggies liked their chicken too. We spoil our dogs. 

We'll all be feeding off from the chicken again today.

Ashley tells me they'll be raising another batch in the spring. 

The Sly Fox Farm folks do a beautiful job of preparing and packaging the birds.    

Foster went along with me when I picked up my chickens on Monday.  

He was a happy pup when I let him out of the car, and Lark directed him around her farm to some prime sniffing areas.

Nice kids and obviously excited to live on a farm. 

From personal experience, I believe it's the best way for kids to grow up.  

BTW:  you can learn more about what's happening at Sly Fox Farm on their Facebook site. 

https://www.facebook.com/slyfoxfarmsandpoint

It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood, so I'm planning to make the most of it. 

Happy Wednesday. 

As the Trees Fall . . . .

 

When you see the amazing equipment roll in and watch the workers go into action with total precision, you know right away that you'll be watching an elite, professional operation of tree removal.

That's what we observed all day yesterday as the crew from Oliver Tree Service, LLC worked from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m., removing four of the eight dying poplar trees in our south lawn near the house. 

It was difficult for us to stay on task with our normal daily chores because we found watching the crew work like a well-oiled machine so fascinating. 

I marveled at the precision and timing of virtually every move made by the team which includes a young lady named Kelly from a well-known local logging family. 

It's dangerous work, and it's obvious that training has been extensive to avoid any possible accident, which could easily happen while stuffing huge limbs into a chipper or staying clear of segments of tree trunks headed for the ground. 

Ropes and head sets worn by each worker so that everyone clearly hears what happens next added total efficiency to the safety of the project.

Everyone knows their job and attends to it promptly, whether it's holding the ropes at the precise time while the sawyer in the bucket above removes each portion of the tree or cleaning up what hits the ground. 

Whatever drops to the ground is removed immediately to bags, the chipper or a trunk pile in the driveway where segments of the tree trunk are loaded at the end of the day to be hauled to company owner Ty Oliver's land.  

Dozens of plywood slabs are arranged on the lawn to protect it from equipment tracks. 

Bill and I usually kept our distance as the well-orchestrated procedures were carried out. 

In our observations throughout the day, however, it was always fun to see so many smiles as members of the crew coordinated with each other or worked individually to complete their assigned tasks.

Ty Oliver has assembled an amazing team to complete each job with perfection.  

I am gradually growing used to the scene with four remaining stumps from those tall trees and am thrilled that the periwinkle patch at the base of yesterday's trees was protected and left unscathed.  

Today's job looks a little more challenging, but we have no worries that this crew will maintain a high standard as they remove the four remaining trees. 

We're impressed, to say the least.  

Hope you enjoy the photos, and if you need trees removed, we would highly recommend Oliver Tree Service.  

Happy Tuesday. 

Monday Miscellany

 

It came quickly and intensely and it left just as quickly, but the landscape and buildings received a good dousing yesterday afternoon. 

They've become family.  

This trio can be found around the place several times on any given day.  

This morning, thanks to my flashlight,  I could see their beady eyes as they were bedded down in the pastures. 

I hope they can escape vehicles and bullets in the next several weeks. 

That number means that Annie has found 23,000 geocaches in just about every nook and cranny and means that one could imagine.  

Apparently, she reached the big number yesterday on an outing. 

She has not only found 23,000 geocaches in the last 20 or so years, but more importantly, she found the best job ever with her career at Groundspeak, Inc. in Seattle. 

Groundspeak, Inc. owns the geocaching.com website. 

Annie works with geocaching vendors around the world, and, yes, she does some traveling for her job and, of course, to find more geocaches. 

Congrats, Annie. 

The last time we ate at Jalapenos Restaurant was in March when we were celebrating my brother Kevin's 80th birthday.  

It was a festive and fun evening, enjoying family and good food and drinks. 

Jalapenos has been Kevin's favorite place to dine on his visits to Sandpoint, so, of course, it had to be the venue for his big celebration. 

Our family has had a long track record with Jalapenos, even back in the day when the restaurant was located on First Avenue. 

Bill and I were digging through our history minds this morning and agreed that the restaurant started where Baxter's is now and the Benoit Bootery a while back. 

Then, if we are correct, it moved to the old Bill Gill's Honda building before moving to its current location in the old Elks Club.  

Please correct me if any of our facts are wrong.  

Our daughter Annie worked at the restaurant for a time as a busser with some of the original staff, hired by original owner Chet French, training her and working with her. 

It's been quite a run, to say the least, and a popular place to gather. 

Shock waves went through the community yesterday when the announcement that Jalapenos was closing appeared on Facebook. 

I was so stunned at first that I thought that it might be an AI spoof.  

Apparently, it wasn't, as a Facebook friend whose daughter worked at the restaurant verified that the announcement was, indeed, true. 

If my observations are correct, the Jalapenos closing marks the third restaurant in the area to announce big changes in the past couple of weeks.  

Farmhouse in Ponderay has closed while I saw a few days ago that The Fat Pig in downtown Sandpoint is for sale. 

I don't know the reasons for these changes, but they don't suggest that all is going so well economically in our resort community. 

If that is the case, it's too bad and especially very sad to see a Sandpoint staple, which has provided a venue for so many festive family memories, close its doors. 

Speaking of big changes; they are happening as I type right outside our house. 

Ty Oliver and his crew showed up around 7 a.m. with equipment to remove the eight poplar trees immediately south of the house. 

They've laid out plywood to protect the lawn, and it sounds like some of the equipment is on its way to the trees. 

I've met the crew, who include the foreman, the groundsmen and the bucket brigade. 

Ty says he'll be around for a while but will leave to tend to another job. 

I guess I'm as mentally prepared as possible for those trees to go down.  

What will diminish their loss is knowing that about two thirds of the leaves I have to pick up in the fall will go with the trees. 

And, we have the opportunity to beautify the area after the trees are gone.

Plus, I've heard that the service does a beautiful job of tree removal.   

We are hoping to find a mountain ash tree or two for that area. 

In the meantime, it's gonna be busy around here for the next couple of days. 

Happy Monday. 

Ty Oliver, owner of Oliver Tree Service. 

https://olivertreeservicellc.com/