Pine stumpage

Friday dawned a beautiful morning. This was the day we had set to go and look for the trees that would make the pine planking for the schooner. We want to get the logs cut and made into planks so that they can be drying and ready when the time comes to plank the vessel. We got up at 5:30 and set out for Northfield (about 30 kms. past Bridgewater ), grabbed a cup of Tim’s for the drive and started the 2 ½ hour trek to look for pine. Ron Mosher had been looking for pine trees that would be suitable for us but because of the soft winter that we had it has been hard to get the machines in to get them. Then someone else was able to go in and claim some of the trees that we wanted. The gentleman that owns the land , Alan Waterman, was going to meet Ron, Warren and me to cruis through the woods and look for trees big enough and tall enough to make good planks. They have to be fairly long (about 25 ft. Clear) and big enough around in diameter to get good planks without too much waste. “They” say it’s all about the journey and I think it must be. We found 18 great trees to use but we also got to enjoy the absolutely beautiful surroundings. We left the main woods road and saw deer trails, complete with deer “raisons” and there is a gorgeous river that runs down next to the piece of land that we were on. We also saw a fresh woodpecker hole about 5-6” deep in a standing pine. One of the men told the story that there was a wood pecker that banged on the stove pipe and was making all of the noise and fuss that it could to attract a mate, the other one dryly commented that he had witnessed the same thing in the bars around the area with some of the men. What a crowd! After we had spent some time chatting and setting the time to cut the trees (next week) we headed back home- stopping in Bridgewater at the Waves restaurant for excellent hamburgers and onions rings and French fries. We drove down through Lunenburg, Mahone Bay, Hammonds Plains, and home. We saw 3 deer cross in front of our car. Boy, they looked good for this time of the year. Nice and healthy. They must have had access to some good feed over the winter. The sun was shining down in the car and I swear there’s a drug in it because it puts you to sleep. It’s a good thing I wasn’t the one driving.