Winter chores continue at my Bedford, New York farm. In fact, we're getting so many outdoor tasks done because of the mild winter weather.
My outdoor grounds crew has been working tirelessly clearing the woods of dying or broken trees, knocking down weeds, brambles, and thorny barberry bushes, and picking up the many fallen branches. Yesterday, a large grapple truck from Central Tree Service, Inc. in Rye, New York came by to move all the heavy logs and stumps to my compost yard. Some of the wood will be repurposed as milled lumber, while the rest will be set aside for the tub grinder and made into mulch - everything is always put to good use.
Here are some photos, enjoy.
During this time of year, my very skilled outdoor grounds crew takes down the dead or diseased trees around the farm. It always saddens me to see the trees go, but I always re-use or re-purpose the wood and then plant new, younger trees in their place. Once the trees are taken down, they are placed in various piles around the farm.
We try to keep all the piles as neat as possible so as not to block any carriage roads or damage the ground beneath them.
The trees are carefully marked before they are taken down. Here is one showing a large “x” – it is important to only remove those trees that are already dead or are dying.
Many of the trees are ash trees – infested and killed by the emerald ash borer.
The borer larvae kill ash trees by tunneling under the bark and feeding on the part of the tree that moves water and sugars up and down its trunk. This is a closer look at the damage done by the emerald ash borer under the bark. The ash borer, also known by the acronym EAB, is responsible for the destruction of tens of millions of ash trees in 30 US states since it was first identified in this country in 2002.
I enlisted the help of Central Tree Service, Inc. This company in nearby Rye, provides full arbor care for all trees and shrubs including the removal of any logs and stumps.
Juan drove a big grapple truck used for carting away large debris. Here he is at the first pile of logs along the carriage road between my hayfields.
Juan is very skilled at using this hydraulic grapple attachment. He carefully lifts each piece of wood from the pile and places it into the truck bed.
Juan maneuvers the grapple from a seat above the truck. The grapple has four fingers and can be rotated as needed.
When the truck is full, it can weigh up to 20-tons. This is a heavy load. Juan said even the tires looked a bit compressed from the weight.
Meanwhile, my outdoor grounds crew foreman, Chhiring, uses our trusted Hi-Lo to transport logs from various areas around the farm to the carriage road, where they can be retrieved by the grapple truck.
Here, Chhiring moves some of the logs from the hayfield near my pond.
Once the grapple truck is completely full, Juan drives it ever so carefully to the compost yard. I feel very strongly about composting. In fact, this entire corner of my farm is devoted to this important process. During the year, the crew amasses quite a large pile of organic debris – bark, stumps, logs, and brush. The grapple truck is positioned by the pile designated for logs and stumps for the grinder.
Stabilizers secure the truck during all the work being done.
Juan slowly lifts the logs out of the truck and piles them up.
In another area, Juan places two logs perpendicular to this pile earmarked for milling. The ground logs will keep the stacked wood from rotting before they are milled into usable lumber.
For this particular pile, Juan looks out for logs that are in good condition and very straight and separates them from all the rest.
This day’s loads brought in a lot of good logs for our sawmill. These are very heavy, but Juan makes the job look so easy.
These will be made into beautiful floor boards and planks for future projects.
Here is the pile for the tub grinder. And it will grow even bigger before the tub grinder arrives. I like to call in the massive machine once a year or once every two years, to reduce the size of our debris pile into much finer, usable wood chips and mulch. We’ll see how big this pile is by summer.
The weather in Bedford, New York, has been quite mild this winter. We've had unseasonably warm temperatures and very little snow - a good time for getting a lot of our outdoor projects completed.
Yesterday, a team from Sandoval's Landscaping Inc. came by to start repairs on my stone wall. Last year, a car veered off the road and hit the wall, causing a section of stones to tumble out of place. In other areas, various stones have also shifted or moved over time because of inclement weather or large growing tree roots.
Here are some of the photos showing the skill and talent of these tradesmen - enjoy.
Fieldstone is any architectural stone used in its natural shape. Part of the dry stacked fieldstone in this section of my stone wall has to be completely re-stacked.
I called on the help of Sandoval’s Landscaping Inc., from nearby Patterson, New York. Rolando Sandoval is the husband of my housekeeper, Enma. Rolando and his crew were available to come right away to assess the damages and get to work.
Some of the tools of the trade for masons include brick hammers, chisels, and shovels.
They also use pinch bars and pry bars for moving larger stones and boulders. Made of forged carbon steel, these five-foot long bars provide excellent leverage for repositioning even the heaviest of stones.
Stones are first removed by hand, one by one, nearly all the way to the bottom – it took quite a bit of time to do this.
And then by hand, one by one, the stones are returned, and repositioned just right, so when completed the top of the wall is completely level.
The crew uses pry bars to move this 500-pound stone back into place. The foundation stones must be positioned securely because all the stones above will be resting on them.
Smaller stones are collected from the pile and used – nothing is wasted. And the tighter the fit is, the stronger the wall. Most stone walls were built without mortar, using gravity and the shape of the stones to hold them together.
Larger, more attractive stones were used as face stones and placed on the outside.
As the stones are stacked, smaller pieces are positioned as shims for the larger ones.
Some pieces need to be chiseled to fit tight crevices. These masons knew exactly how much stone to chisel in order to create the pieces they need.
Dependable mason’s twine is secured from one end to the other to serve as a guide for the masons. Mason’s twine is usually made of 100-percent filament nylon, which is resistant to abrasion, rot, and mildew.
Hugo has been working with Rolando for 17-years. He is a very skilled mason and enjoys this type of work. He is also incredibly strong.
Martin has also been with Rolando’s team for many years. Here he is measuring a stone to ensure it fits the space needed.
Rolando extends another line down to ensure the stones for the face side of the wall are positioned perfectly straight. Stones should be level both into the core of the wall and along the face. Stones that are not level may slide causing internal stress in the wall over time.
Here is one section all done. It is quite impressive to see how the stones fit together so perfectly for a very level, straight wall.
This wall is now good for many more years.
But there are several more sections to repair. In this area, top stones were misaligned, likely from inclement weather or growing tree roots that caused the stones to shift.
This section of the wall is right at the edge of a pond. Stones toppled down over the years and also need to be re-stacked.
All the repairs will take a few days to complete, but in the end all the stones will be secure and level.
It’s a lot of work to be a good mason. Here’s Rolando’s crew stopping for a quick photo before heading stacking again. Pictured here are Rolando, Eddie, Hugo, and Martin. Thanks guys! It looks great!
Every year, I try to attend the Big Game with my good friend, Jane Heller. I love the excitement of the crowd and all the action on the field, from the battling football teams to the entertaining half-time show. It's also fun to catch up with other celebrities that are there. This year, it was held at the State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona.
I’m sure you’ve seen many photos from this year's exciting Super Bowl LVII between the NFC champion Philadelphia Eagles and the AFC champion Kansas City Chiefs, but here are some of mine. Enjoy.
Although in the Northeast we haven’t had much of a winter, it was nice to travel west for warm weather and this year’s Super Bowl LVII in Arizona. It was the fourth time the state of Arizona hosted the game including this one between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles.
Arizona is the only state that contains four separate desert regions – the Chihuahuan in the southeast, the Mojave in the upper west, the Sonoran Desert, and the Great Basin Desert along the Nevada-Utah border.
Among the many beautiful cacti in Arizona is the saguaro. The saguaro cactus is the largest cactus in the United States, and will normally reach heights of 40 feet tall. It is native to the Sonoran Desert in Arizona, the Mexican state of Sonora, the Whipple Mountains and Imperial County areas of California. The saguaro blossom is also the state wildflower of Arizona.
We got to the State Farm Stadium early – spectators were just arriving. This stadium opened in 2006 and is the home of the Arizona Cardinals of the National Football League and the annual Fiesta Bowl.
This stadium has 63,400 seats, but can be expanded to 72,200 seats for “mega events” such as the Big Game.
Seats filled up quickly. The players were able to warm up on the field before the game. The Eagles are in midnight green and the Chiefs are in white with red.
And look who I bumped into – chef, restaurateur, television personality, and author, Gordon Ramsay.
Here, crews are setting up for the famous “half time” show – always scheduled after the second quarter of the game.
The entire half time show lasts 30-minutes. If you didn’t catch it, Rihanna put on a spectacular performance. Rihanna is a nine-time Grammy Award winner, and a 12-time Billboard Music Award winner. Here she is making her entrance on stage from above.
She and her dance crew appeared atop seven platforms suspended anywhere from 15 to 60 feet above the field. This performance was a celebration of her catalog and included songs “B – Better Have My Money”,
“Where Have You Been”,
“Only Girl in the World”, “Umbrella”, and “Diamonds.”
For her performance, Rihanna wore a silk jersey catsuit in vibrant crimson paired with a sculpted leather corset, and a red cotton flight suit.
By the end, she added a flowing and dramatic red Alaïa coat with matching gloves – a personal nod to the late fashion designer André Leon Talley.
This was also Rihanna’s way of announcing she is now expecting her second child.
Can you guess who this spectator was rooting for?
And here I am with First Lady, Dr. Jill Biden, who was also cheering for the Eagles. But we all know who won – the Kansas City Chiefs defeated the Philadelphia Eagles 38 to 35. It was a great game and a very enjoyable time in Arizona.
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