OwlCrest - A Journey To Reconnect: May 2016

Why OwlCrest

OwlCrest is 40 acres of granite laden beautiful woods atop a mountain in Brattelboro, Vermont. I purchased the land with the intent of making it a retreat where my children, families, and their families could re-connect with the most primitive elements of life. OwlCrest is a place to discover our hidden talents and pursue dreams without complexity or judgement. OwlCrest is a place just to be.....

At dusk, if you sit quietly long enough at the crest of the land and listen, you will hear the rhythms of the forest. Owls calling out their names and asking who else is there. I'm here and who are you? We are just a visitor here, a temporary custodian of something that will soon be forgotten. I lived and worked here once. It was my privilege.

Sunday, May 22, 2016

The Sawyers

The Woodmizer mill has arrived, installed, and we cut our first lumber for OwlCrest. We felled three hemlock trees with about 20 inch girth each. We are saving the pine trees for the wood shop. New hydraulic bucket worked great getting the logs in.

Seth and Nick were here all day to help with the logging and milling. A lot of work and two trees including the milling takes a full day. Based upon the yield, I am guessing we need 15 - 18 trees for the equipment shed. Today was a little slow as we had to learn both how to choke logs and use the sawmill.

The pile keeps growing!

June 19th, 2016. Another work day on the pile. We can do about a tree a day between cutting, hauling, and sawing. We are sawing 1 inch boards and 2x8x12' rafters. Nick works for beer and a meal!

October 19, 2016. Have most of the main beams cut. Moving them wet without the tractor is almost impossible. Bigger beams weigh a few hundred pounds each. Hopefully will loose majority of weight when dry.