Tree Removal & New Strategy

It seems that I get a little glint of light at the end of this particular tunnel and then it fades some.  I have been, this whole year, working on my patience and expectations.  I am know, to my clients, to say, “Expectations are a set-up for failure!” because I know that expectations immediately set us humans off into a spiral that is never ending and unfulfilling.  Patience …. well … my Granny, who was always ready with some well used old common wisdom type quote, constantly reminded me what a virtue patience was.  So now here we have it … a year where I have let expectations slip in over and over and then dealt with my lack of patience.
I will play it mostly in this order: 1) Create a Vision for something 2) Commit to that Vision 3) Get excited about it 3) Chat with the universe about it 4) Chat with other humans about it 5) Learn what I think I need to learn to make it happen 6) Make plans including time and cost and various options 7) Set everything in motion 8) Do everything I know to do, and then 9) Wait. The dilemma is that somewhere along the way I turn my commitment to the vision into an expectation and that is where the downhill spiral begins. From that point forward I am pushing, manipulating, twisting and turning to “make” it happen. I begin to be locked into the outcome to be exactly as I planned (at least one of the options I plotted out in best-to-least-best order … all still with a specific outcome (including time and money – the trap-factors).
The biggest problem with this little construct is that once I have that expectation set looking a particular way I let go of … a little at a time … that the Universe is really in control and things happen according to divine timing not mine. That is where I meet my demise each time. Now don’t get me wrong … a few times I have gotten it exactly as I laid it out. A few out of dozens and dozens of things LOL.
So, in terms of being able to live on the property, I missed Summer, I missed my birthday in October, I missed Thanksgiving and now I have conceded to myself that it will not be for Christmas or even for New Year. Okie Dokie. I closed on the property on Jan 13, 2023 … will I make it for that Anniversary???? LOL. So temped to lock onto that but I am holding myself back.  I have once again thanked the Universe for all that has given me and helped me along the way with each and every piece of what had happened.  I have again surrendered to All That Is.   I trust her to deliver for the good of all and I am grateful and calm again.
Florida had a storm threat over the weekend. There was projection of lots of rain, wind and possible tornadoes based on wind currents coming in from the Gulf.  I watched as the storm moved and it looked like I was going to be OK to go to the property on Sunday.  I left in the rain not knowing what I might find on the property by the time I got there an hour and 45 minutes later. The rain stopped along the way and even though it was really cloudy there were little pieces of blue sky beginning to peek out. When I got to the property it was cool and overcast but that actually was going to make for it being easier to work.
I first checked the 100 Gal Rainwater Collection Tank.  The rain from the storm had continued to fill it up.  It was finally only about 2″ from completely filled …. maybe 5-7 Gallons short now. WhoooooooHooooooooooooo!  It has taken 6 months for it to fill.  Actually not bad considering it only fills from a small 3-4″ PVC mesh circle in the top. LOL. Next game is to figure out how to create tubing or a hose that will allow us to use the water in the garden!
Onward I went then to the home area.  If you have been following along you will remember that I discovered a new problem …. I needed to clear out some trees and saw palmettos from the left side (facing it) of where the residential shipping container needs to be delivered.  I needed a clear path for the delivery truck to turn around and back up to place the container on the piers.  Last week I had begun the project and taken the chain saw to several small trees and some of the saw palmetto and now I needed to finish that work.  The good news is I bought additional 40V and 80V batteries for my tools so I won’t run out of battery this time!!  I also cleaned up both my chainsaw and my pole saw and made sure everything was working well. Learning the ropes a little at a time!
The fear from last week had lessened.  Not that I didn’t still have a healthy piece of caution … but it was appropriate vs out of proportion this week.  Being careful seems VERY smart to me. LOL.  So, I parked Gracie, the Yorkie, on the tailgate of the truck so she could see me and away I went. I started with 3 small trees clumped together and followed what I learned to have them each fall exactly where I wanted them to. I must admit I did stand there for a moment and praise myself that it went so smoothly. I continued to move and took a few more down. They too went down just as I planned. So grateful!
Then I began to saw them up into smaller pieces so I could drag the leafy branches off into the pile I had begun making in a more wooded area out of the way.  The trunks of the trees I also cut into smaller pieces and carried them all off to the fire pit area so I could splinter them later and use them for firewood.  I laughed as, even though the biggest parts of the trunks ranged from 6 – 10″ in diameter, it still took a little huffing to take the pieces, one at a time, away. That wood was heavier than I thought it would be. But, I got it done!
As I came back to take a look, with those trees out of the way, I could see that maybe I could keep the small clump of trees that were left.  I took out some more of the saw palmetto and that little clump of trees looked so good there AND they were no longer in the way of the area where the truck would need to back up into.  Time for a new strategy.  I could widen the opening from the main road in, on the other side where it was still more untouched woods and the truck could get through and turn to back up. Then I could leave this small clump intact.  I loved that idea, So I removed one small tree on that side so I could envision it better and I think it will work. 
Unfortunately, it had gotten late in the afternoon and I needed to clean everything up and head back home by this time.  I just went back around and sawed all the stumps down to the ground and brushed off the saws and packed everything away.  The rest would have to wait til next week.  Nevertheless, I was very proud of the work that got accomplished for the day and loved my new strategy so I had a big smile on my face.
I put Gracie down on the ground for a little bit just so she could run and she ran right over to the fire pit and did a little log walking and jumping with the logs I had placed there.  I can’t wait until we get to have a fire and enjoy it … maybe even with others … I know that would make he really happy … Oh, and it would make me really happy too! LOL
Notice I have said nothing about Duke energy so far???? Well, that is because they did nothing between last week and this week.  Yep, that’s right … nothing, nuthin’, nada, zip, zilch … a whole week went by, the deadline went by and no further work had been done since they put the pole in outside the fence the prior week.  That was part of me having to deal with myself when I first arrived and got so disappointed.  So maybe this coming week … maybe they will want to get it done before they all disappear before Christmas???? A Grrrrl can hope, can’t she???
The permit you ask???? Don’t get me started! There is still one item not reviewed at all and another item got flagged.  This flag, after conversations with the engineer seems to be able including the storage shipping container on the same permit even though we are doing all the work at the same time.  So we had to submit a separate permit for just the shipping container I will use for storage and the concrete slab we will put it on. I am refraining for saying here what I was saying as all of this went down.  Let’s just say that the ridiculousness and the new rules and the lack of work around that some people at the county implement is hard to be with!  So we submitted another separate permit and we will see how this goes. Because obviously logical, rational thought cannot figure it out so I will not try.
This week I posted videos, on the Freedom Acres YouTube Channel, of some more of the before and after of the trees and saw palmettos, the rainwater collection tank weekly update and Gracie log walking.  Feel free check it all out by clicking HERE.  Also, feel free to subscribe and you can get notified when new videos go up! 🙂
This coming week it seems I will now be watching 2 permits and Nair (my GC & friend) and I will do what we need to do each step along the way. When the permit is approved we get to run full speed ahead… maybe. LOL The concrete will be the next game that we will need to figure out as it may require us to bring on a new concrete guy due to multiple factors including the timing.  Thank Gawd Nair has one she is ready to run with. The Universe gets to keep teaching me new more advanced levels of patience and I get to continue to be grateful as we roll into the full Holiday season!!  I’ll be back on Christmas Eve Day & we’ll see what we have by them.
As always, I welcome any of your good mojo, energy, vibration and or prayers, sent in anyway you send it, in our direction, for Freedom Acres, Gracie and I for all of the continued progress.  It is more appreciated each step along the way!! In the meantime:  Love and Freedom to you til I come back next week!