The weather kept us guessing all week; would we have sunny skies or rain? We ended up with a little of both and temperatures in the 70s. The morning sprinkles kept my cute pennant banner indoors most of Saturday but we managed to show it off on Sunday. What's Lumberjack Days without the appropriate decorations, after all?
Friday night, Scott practiced using his new "chainsaw-on-a-stick" which is actually a tree trimmer attached to a 12-ft. pole. He really enjoyed this new toy!
Lumberjack Days was not the only attraction this weekend! Several of us girls went to see Taylor Swift in concert on Saturday night. Niece Chelsie invited her friend Katie (at left above) to Omaha for the show. I put them to work Saturday afternoon and had them fold and tie napkin/silverware bundles. Great job, girls! (I think they enjoyed the concert more than the silverware task.)
Saturday afternoon, Andrew and Pete stopped by with Sophie. They enjoyed some cookies and a quick tour of the house renovations before heading off to work.
Sophie (almost 3!) practiced throwing sticks - she's getting a new boxer puppy this week!
Carl cleaned out some junk from one of the many wood piles west of the house.
After a few hours of work in the afternoon humidity, the crew took a break at the bonfire.
Lauren helped me set up the "welcome" sign before we headed out to the concert on Saturday.
On Sunday morning, Scott and I received the very best gift from Mark and LuAnn! They had a limestone marker custom-made for us which utilizes the noTTafarm logo you see on this blog. This is such a special gift from our favorite Kansans!
Here's an up-close view of the marker. This was created in Home, Kansas which is near LuAnn's hometown of Marysville.
Sunday's sprinkles forced us to have our sloppy joe lunch inside. We set up tables created by balancing 4x8 sheets of sub-floor on sawhorses. The recently de-plaster-ized living/dining room offered quite a bit of ambiance!
After lunch, the chipper roared into action! Everyone was anxious to get started (this photo includes, from left, Nick, Mark, Tim, Aaron (Karli's special friend), Clark and Teresa.)
It was quite exciting to have Nick with us. Not only is he the tallest lumberjack/nephew around, he is also soon to be a daddy! Brooke kept us all on-watch (much to her chagrin) but the baby is yet to arrive.
Teresa was the Axe Queen! Normally a mild-mannered auditor extraordinaire, she wielded the axe like a pro and made short work of trimming the branches to fit into the chipper.
Niece Karli was all smiles on Sunday. Was it because she got to hang out with Grampa Ward? Or because her special friend, Aaron, came along for the day?
Nephew Clark monitored the chipper for over an hour. He helped out when a branch got stuck or otherwise needed coaxing toward the chipper's teeth.
Meanwhile, an impromptu soccer game broke out! Here, Brooke passes the ball to Karli.
Mark was responsible for raking up the debris left from the felling of a dead pine tree (a victim of pine beetles.) He left that corner of the yard cleaner that it had been in years!
Tyler brought along his "new" 24" chainsaw - which was awesome until it got bogged down late on Sunday. Luckily, Monica was here to cheer him up.
Tim and Teresa donated their under-utilized picnic table to noTTafarm. Clark, Karli, and Aaron enjoyed playing cards with Teresa.
By the end of Sunday's work session, a giant pile of wood chips had been created. These will eventually end up on the west slope's walking trail. Scott thinks at least 75 small, dead, or undesirable trees were culled off the slope and fed through the chipper. Larger tree trunks were sliced into firewood chunks. Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures of all of the chainsaws in action. Nor did I get a picture of Scott's brother, Jeff, who joined us on Sunday for several hours of work. We will have to have someone assigned as the official photographer next time!
While Scott got the grill started for dinner, the rest of the gang enjoyed some beverages around the bonfire.
The weather was clear enough to dine al fresco Sunday evening. We set up the aforementioned sub-floor/sawhorse tables on the west side of the house and enjoyed a delicious dinner of grilled pork tenderloin and chicken, coleslaw, potato salad, veggies, pasta salad, fruit salad, watermelon, and cornbread. It was quite a spread! Mark and Aaron found a good use for the bandanna napkins after dinner.
While the homemade ice cream was being prepared, Clark roasted a few marshmallows. Teresa brought along some jumbo jet puffs - each about the size of your fist. They made the best 'smores!
What a treat to have homemade ice cream! Mom and Dad brought their original White Mountain freezer and everyone took a turn with the cranking (electricity? why?) Tim helped Dad get started.
Carl and Marita enjoyed the chaos of a Ward gathering, made easier by the consumption of 'smores, ice cream, and the delicious cupcakes Marita brought.
Scott gave the ice cream its final few cranks. Boy, that ice cream was good!!!
Dad dished out the ice cream as everyone hurried to get their share.
And with that, our first Lumberjack Days came to a close! We think it was quite a success, and we hope it grows bigger and better every year. We want everyone to love noTTafarm as much as we do!
Mom and Dad surprised us with a beautiful bouquet of white roses tied with an aqua bow to commemorate our 25th anniversary on May 30th. We couldn't have asked for a better celebration!
Stay tuned for our next adventure!
Something tells me that fun time is over . . . time to get back to work!
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