THE 2012 PROJECT (4)

There is nothing quite like the feeling you get when you apply a chainsaw with a brand new chain to a large tree trunk, it's like a knife going through butter. The metal is quite soft, so it loses its sharpness after a while. But I was still able to do some serious chopping this morning.

With the onset of winter, it's time to do some more work on the 2012 Project, licking the orchard into shape.We had also run out of wood for the stove, and my wife was beginning to nag me. As well as an annoying sycamore that was encroaching from the wood, I chopped down the two pear trees which I had left earlier this year. I have cut them right down to just above ground level, and hope that they will begin to recover next year in the same way as my resilient apple tree has done next to the house. After lugging the lumps of trunk into the barn, I went to work with my axe. There's now a fair stack of wood, that should last us until Christmas, and a pleasant tiredness in my shoulder muscles.

I inherited the Husqvarna chainsaw, plus the padded safety overalls and helmet with mesh visor, from my father-in-law, who had purchased it just before he died. Since then, I have not only used it a lot, but have learned how to maintain it, clean it, oil it, and change the chain (major achievements, given my lack of practical skills pre-2000). It wasn't starting well this week, and I thought it might be because I am not strong enough any more. However, when I took it yesterday to the local shop that helps me in these matters, the mechanic took the top off and immediately said "you're missing a spring". Without the two springs attached to the rotor, you can apparently tug on the rope handle from now until next year, and still not get it started. You learn something every day.

Two new springs and a chain later, and I was all set. I am not a weedy forester after all.

Walter Blotscher