What I Worked On

This is a "mainly fiber arts" blog, so the socks are up first. I got another inch or so of the ribbing knitted on both last night.

Both socks are the same, so I only have to show you one. I can almost get a pair out of a single skein of Wool-Ease, but I usually end up striping the cuffs at some point to make them long enough for my taste. I just started adding in some "Blue Mist" last night. The Blue Mist and the Denim Twist colors are so close that the stripes are going to be super-subtle, almost invisible.

But this is what I really worked on.

This thing is the stump (can I call it a stump if it's 8 or 10 feet tall?) of a big maple tree. The five-gallon bucket at the foot is about 14 or 15 inches tall, for scale.

When we moved in 15 years ago, this was already a stump. Apparently it had dropped a big limb right on the roof of the old farm house, since the roof ridge of that house was cracked. In revenge, they cut all the branches off the tree, but left the huge stump standing.

Over the years, woodpeckers and robins have nested in it, and one year owls. But now it is getting very shaky at the base, and pieces have started falling off. So I thought, "I know! I'll climb up on the ladder and pull parts off the top with my four-tine cultivator!"

The wood that I am pulling off is so punky that it weighs hardly anything. I could pick up a six-foot long section in one hand if it wasn't such an awkward shape. It is ridiculously good fun. It's like having comic-book super strength.

My son was watching me do this last night, and he said, "Mom, that tree is turning into dirt!"

He's absolutely right -- the interior of the tree has mostly been turned by insects and fungus into a fluffy wood mulch. I've used some of it on my plants already. When I break away the wood on the outside, the stuff on the inside just flows down like sand.

Today I'm going after the top with the hatchet.