Chainsaw redemption

We got the chainsaw back, and it does work!  We arrived on the property about 6:30 a.m.  It was 59 degrees, but humid.  Our main task of the day was clearing the northern part of the build site.  Pin cherry (Prunus pensylvanica) grows very quickly in cleared areas.  We cut down and lopped up about 20 of them today.  It will make great kindling.

Using a chainsaw may not look hard, but the weight and power of the machine takes balance.  One doesn't work long before feeling like you're working hard! Sometimes you must hold the saw at difficult angles, which adds to the difficulty.

But we're happy it's back in business.

We have a few kindling piles going.  This one is the biggest.  We added a bunch of pin cherry to that pile today.  The reddish bark is interesting.  The pin cherry in this pile amounts to about half of what we cut up today.  The rest is in another pile.  Our other kindling piles include an assortment of paper birch, maple, and pin cherry.

Paper birch

The paper birch is the state tree of New Hampshire.  Although not the largest, or the most durable tree, these gems are all over the property in various levels of maturity.  Here are a few that are along our driveway.  Seeing a terrific line of these trees was one of our first impressions from the property.

The scientific name is betula papyrifera -- "paper bearing birch."  The shiny bark is an excellent aesthetic feature.  But don't peel bark off of a living tree.  This can cause issues.

The bark is a great fire starter, and the wood will do good things in the stove.

A very worthy specices for Hardwood Hermitage.

I remember one author who once wrote something like this:  "It is known as paper birch, or white birch, canoe birch, or to poets, the Queen of the Woods."

Preliminary digging

The roughed in driveway is just about done.  Our excavator also dug some holes in the general area of the build site.  Looks like we'll need to dynamite some of the ledge, but hopefully not too much.

When building in NH, you don't have to be reminded that you're in the Granite State.

Movie "Safety Not Guaranteed"

Last Friday night we went to our first movie here in the North Country at The Colonial Theatre (http://www.bethlehemcolonial.org/) right here in Bethlehem.  We walked to the theatre from the apartment for the one and only showing of the day at 7:30.  This one screen, 300 seat theatre was built in 1921 and is full of charm and character!

All 85 minutes of the movie were entertaining and the ending is likely to leave a smile on your face.  Kenneth, a quirky grocery store clerk believes he has figured out how to time travel and is looking for someone to accompany him. He and a Seattle magazine intern set out on an adventure that will hold your attention and make you laugh along the way.  It is worth the price of the ticket! movie trailer

Driveway beginnings

  start of the driveway looking north from the road.

 looking more or less east at the build site.  that tall pine tree in the middle will come down and be used for book shelves

 farther north up the driveway

Berry season is over.. Summer is ticking away....

What a great surprise to see the abundance of wild raspberry and blackberry bushes! We picked about 4 qt of berries; they were juicy and tart and full of flavor!! They have been a nice little treat to have during a break after working with the brush cutter or chain saw.

Regrettably, the chain saw has not been up to the challenge and is at the shop for a new carburetor. Hopefully we'll have it back in the next couple of days. Without it, we have only gotten a smidgen of the work done that we had planned by now.

It has been unseasonably hot (and remember, no AC in the apartment!), but the nighttime temps have helped cool things off.

We have several small wood piles going including the better part of a paper birch that was down in the driveway since last year when we first looked at the property along with lots of smaller branches for use in the early part of the fire.

The driveway is well on its way to being roughed in (don't want the perfect finished driveway in until construction on the house is complete next year).