No Real Men™ Here ...

Sun came out here today, and that can only mean one thing in Oregon in the winter:

Yard work.

The fall and winter storms brought down a fair number of tree branches into Steve's yard, some of them as big around as my upper arm and too much for my hand clipper's jaws. So I hied myself on over t'Home Depot and bought a little chainsaw. 

Now, a Real Man™ would simply have broken those arm-thick branches over his knee and crushed the chunks into sawdust with his bare hands.

A slightly less masculine fellow would have gotten out the chopping block and done them into wood stove-sized chunks with his axe. I probably would have tried that, but my chopping block somehow disappeared. Trying to chop thick branches on the ground? Bad idea.

So, pantywaist that I am, I went for the saw. And not only that, an electric saw.

Once upon a time, I had a better brand and model, but I gave it away to my brother-in-law, who needed it more. Then I had another one, but it went somewhere and I can't recall where. Given that I use these things maybe once every other year, and on nothing of any real size, plus all my trees are trimmed out as high as I can reach, I figured the Homelite 16" was as much as I needed and then some. Eighty bucks. Cheaper than hiring somebody to come and do it for me, and it might last through another round, maybe two. Not the top-of-the-line tool, but I'm not planning on going into the lumberjack trade.

An hour and a half of this, dodging dog poo, and I was done. (A helpful hint: remember to tighten the chain now and then or you'll have to take the sucker apart and put it back on when it pops off.) I had a nice row of kindling and small firewood, mostly fir, some oak, and a bit of alder. 

Now I need room in the green recycle bin for all the green parts I snipped and left piled up behind the garden boxes, and that chore will be done. Twas but a dent in the yard work, but at least that much ...