Spruce Poles

After the log drive, we proceed to cutting spruce poles, well actually during the log drive, Sonny Boy and I have been cutting swamp spruce, 3 and 4" x 20 and 25' for a boat slide in Hovland. Today, I'm off to George's in Askov for more hay. The grass is only an inch high and stuck there by the cold temps. I actually saw 60 degrees where I was the day before yesterday for the first time all spring.
The youngest horse Belle, one of my bay pair mysteriously came up very lame the other day. A young lady who is graduating with my son this spring came out a couple of afternoons after school to help me start training, and trim the two fillies Bea and Belle. She made good progress in a couple of hours with Bea, who after breaking two halters and a nylon lead rope, just settled right down after a little longing and handling with a stick, so that she let Amanda hold, trim, and file, even with a stand, all four feet. We trimmed the other filly Belle on the lame front foot, where the trouble seems to be high up in the shoulder, and then on the rest of her feet we took a little toe off with a chisel and hammer. Tomorrow, I'm all about harnessing and loading Bess and Julie (I thought about trying Jack, Julie's brother who is now Amish broke) over to Maple Hill to drag up their winter yard where they stayed while we were logging. Off we go!
Oh yeah, the Batteau classes went very well with the fourth and fifth graders building their own model batteaux (is the x plural in French?) and Lake McGee for the first time in years. Miniature scale model saw logs in a little pond I made with black plastic and 6X6s, complete with boom logs drilled and chained together. I even got a couple of good-sized popple logs hauled down to North House so the kids could roll them down(and back up) the bank with cant hooks. I ain't getting any work done this way!...(You can't log and blog at the same time, eh?)