We are grateful for the presence of Mike Conklin in our lives. I’d post a photo of him, but I came when he came by to clean up after a huge limb fell off of the apple tree in a high wind and landed in the pasture right next to the barn.

As these photos show, he left a big chunk of the tree for me to use as a sitting stool (and a good one in the right place), cut off the limb, patched up the hole, cleaned up the debris, and brought it all down to the center of the central pasture, where we will burn it during the Winter Equinox. That will be quite a fire; Maria is already adding to it.

Mike was here for an hour and is returning to trim the tree further. The miracle was that no damage was done, and the tree is almost sure to be healthier and more robust. The fall tree limb was enormous and draining the old tree’s strength.

He’s a whirlwind, I thought this would take days.

This fall was cleaner than the vast limb that fell off the maple behind Maria’s studio. It was exciting Maple leaves are poisonous for many animals, but our sheep and donkeys never once touched a maple leaf, they devoured the apple tree leaves. They avoid dangerous weeds also, we can’t always get them all.

(This apple tree is more than 100 years old; it got an unexpected but healthy trimming. It will be here long after I am gone, strutting its proud new stump.)

It seems strange to be saying, but we consider ourselves lucky. Two huge limbs fell, right over places where dogs, animals, and people go. The dogs, sheep, and donkeys are always underneath the apple tree near the barn.

The huge Maple tree limb that fell landed within three feet of Maria’s s studio. It would have crushed the old studio and possibly her as well.

(Minutes after the huge limb fell.)

Neither limb caused any damage. We have a huge wood pile drying out for the Winter Solstice fire in December. This one will be a big one.

Life here can be rocky, but it helps so much to have a friend, carpenter, and landscaper like Mike Conklin around. He is always eager to help, and he seems to just now to fix anything, including plumbing, broken storm windows, and basement water heaters. He makes life safe as well as exciting.

I can’t believe this came out as well as it did. This could have cost thousands of dollars instead of hundreds; it feels like the angels are keeping watch over our farm. And we’ll get a cord or two of free firewood as well.

Maria climbed the tree yesterday to trim off the leaves the sheep couldn’t reach. Photos to come, it’s like a fairy tale, the sheep were so happy.