Tag: acreage

If a Tree Falls in the Woods. . .

If a Tree Falls in the Woods. . .

I spent the better part of this very rainy morning having coffee talk with some good friends, which was a wonderful, relaxing way to start the day. The afternoon? Well, that proved a bit more exciting. . . 

Shortly after lunch I heard a loud snapping sound from outside and by the time I got to a window the carnage was already in motion. The bad news was that a rather large tree from “The Wood” was uprooted and lodged in another slightly smaller tree, which also now was mangled beyond saving. The fortunate news was that the large tree at least had the good graces to fall in the opposite direction of the chicken pen. *whew*

tree down

I pulled on my rain jacket and rubber boots to inspect the damage, but I was careful not to venture too close for fear of just how and when this mangled mass of branches and tree trunks would continue its decent. Ever so often a bracing branch would snap and a smaller limb would fall to the ground, raining green leaves in its wake, but the largest mass of broken, sad trees didn’t seem to budge. I finally took my soggy self back inside and went about my business while wondering how we would ever get those trees pulled down, cut up and carted off.  

tree down

A couple of hours later, a loud snap again broke the silence and I ran to the window just in time to see the final bow of one of our big beauties. While it made me very sad to see one of our large trees lifeless in the dirt, I was grateful it didn’t obliterate the chicken pen, the chicken coop and all the hens to boot. I don’t think the girls realized just how precarious their situation could have been, but the whole event did apparently scare the bejeezus out them. After the final fall, all of our hens huddled in the far corner of their pen and rang out loudly their complete distaste for what they had just witnessed. It was the most awful bunch of squawking I had ever heard and while I didn’t blame them one bit, their crazy cries did at least make me smile.

We Became “The Three-Acre Wood”

We Became “The Three-Acre Wood”

three-acre wood

Through the years you have probably heard me refer to our little, very little, slice of property as The Quarter-Acre Wood. (I like to give our “estates” cute little names because it makes them sound more personal and appealing.) The Quarter-Acre Wood is located in a basic suburban neighborhood with a semi-active home owners’ association and several quarter-acre lots. We are at the end of a cul-da-sac which keeps us pretty quiet, but the real draw is the 200+ acres of timber to which our little lot backs. . . hence, the name “Quarter-Acre Wood.”

We have enjoyed the perks of our location for almost five years now and love to watch the wildlife that visits quite frequently, but with the sprawl of housing and business development that seems to be stepping up in our area we have been worried that our country life in the city will soon disappear. In fact, I have seen plans for a housing development right behind us, were it not for a little slice of oddly shaped heaven owned by a defunct corporation since the 70s. Since the day we moved into our home, my husband and I have talked about how we should try to buy this little strip of land as a buffer between us and what might come one day, but I never seriously took up the torch until last summer. On a whim, I wrote a letter to the Atlanta, Georgia, address listed on the county tax site and sent it off without much hope. I didn’t know if the offer of interest would even make it into the hands of the owner; and if it did, I sure didn’t think the owner would sell this piece of property within the city limits for a price that we wanted to pay.

After months of nothingness in reply to my letter, I received a phone call from the owner saying he would be in town in December and if we were still interested he would love to talk. So talk we did and after some negotiations and paperwork, we became the proud owners of some pretty useless, land-locked acreage that serves no real purpose other than to make us happy. In short, that’s how we became “The Three-Acre Wood,” but maybe I should call it The Happy-Acre Wood (at least for me). With plans for chickens, bonfires and hay rides, I am so delighted I made a play for this property, but I’m afraid my husband is quickly viewing it as another source of work for him. Now, would I do that to the man I love???

three-acre wood

This is pretty much what our new acreage looked like when we bought it. We have since cleared it out, burned lots of brush and things are very green.

three-acre wood

There is a large clearing that I would love to turn into an orchard one day, but the soil is pretty rocky and wet most of the time.

three-acre wood

three-acre wood

The boys and I (mostly my husband) spent many days cutting and clearing out the fallen and dead timber and making piles to burn. I had my first run-in with poison oak and was miserable for days! I’m a lot more careful when swinging from vines these days.

three-acre wood

Here are most of the piles we made just waiting to be burned. That metal arbor is right about the dividing line between our former backyard and the new property.

three-acre wood

Armed with a fire extinguisher, a water hose and a shovel, my boys burned about eight piles of brush to make the land manageable. . . and to prepare for chickens!

three-acre wood

Even the more menacing parts of the property are fun to photograph.