Woodpecker and curling bark

Cool for a morning walk today, but the high eventually made it to 54 degrees.

A huge moose has made some tracks on Hardwood Hermitage.  We didn't see him, but eight inch hoof prints were seen in the snow this weekend.  Although we don't have moose or bear pictures to share, nature offered us a grand view into its splendor this weekend.  

A really peely paper birch:

 A busy Downy Woodpecker:

Another memorable sunset:

We're still emptying boxes and getting items set up.  Things have come along well.

A fresh inch

A bit more snow fell last evening.  Enough fell to make you think it is still winter.

We haven't posted much about the sugar maple, even though acer saccharum is one of the most glorious of species.  Here, a young one still clinging to last year's leaves caught some of the fresh white stuff.

Signs of life in the woods! Yesterday this little guy was pictured straight west of the house, near our lot line.

Work continues, and plenty more remains.  Enough has been done to have cleared one of the garages.  Lots of boxes, etc to the right, but we hope to get both vehicles parked by the end of the weekend.

We're in!

We spent our first night here on Saturday.  Lots of stuff put away since then, but still plenty to do, especially in the guest room.  It's just a storage site now.

We emptied a lot of boxes just by unloading books

Here's an exterior photo taken yesterday afternoon, with a young oak and the house in view.

Kitty has been adapting to the  new spot.  She's still a bit confused about the place, but that's nothing that can't be solved with some good nap time.

This was last night's sunset.

Really busy weekend

Today and yesterday, we got a lot done related to the move.  Tired, but we're looking forward to being totally done! We think we'll be there full time by the end of the week.  We're having a water softener installed, as well as a system to take the iron out. 

Octopus tree

Here's a favorite stilt-rooted tree.  This yellow birch looks like an octopus at its base.

Here's another big red oak.  The small tree on the left is of the same species.

Still a fair amount of snow around.  Below freezing temps expected for several days, with chance for some additional snow on Tuesday, the last full day of winter.  The rocks under this old wall sure have been cold for a while!

Jotul 370 in place

We figured Norwegians would know something about heating.  This prompted us to get the Jotul 370 wood stove, which was installed today.  We put the pipe out the back to have a nice cook top.  We like the upright style and the large amount of glass.

Herman broke in the loveseat overseeing the Jotul installation.

Another hardwood tour

Two days in a row, the high got around the 50 degree range.  Lots of good sun, too.  A warm-weather walk served as a break from some inside work.  We hope you, like us, never get bored of seeing some of the lovely trees that find a home in Northern New Hampshire.

Paper birch: the state tree, peeling majesty of the woods:

Red oak:  regal and strong:

Hophornbeam:  A small species, but with rock solid wood

Bonus view photo:  This pic was taken in the field of our kind, plow guy neighbor.  Some trees from the Jut can be seen on the left, with some of Lancaster's mountains also visible (note snowmobile tracks in foreground).

Down draft

We really like that lots of light flows through the kitchen.  In order to maintain this openness, we gave up some lower cabinet space and chose a cooktop with a down draft, instead of a hood that hangs from the ceiling.  The down draft fan is very powerful, and the burners sure do work fast!

Big day for deliveries

We're getting closer to having a completed home, thanks to deliveries today.  The fridge, washer, dryer (all LG), and bookcases arrived today.

Here's the kitchen now.  The down draft cooktop vent should be done this week.  Otherwise, we're pretty much ready to cook and eat, two favorite activities.

We hope you enjoy the cherry red washer/dryer!

A local wood working company made the bookcases.  We used red oak for the wood.  The wonderful grain and character of the oaks makes the wood incredible.  Hurray for hardwoods!

Ready for countertops

The work week closed out with a big cleaning job by the contractor.  This was in preparation for countertop installation tomorrow.

Even without blue sky, lots of light was coming in on all sides.

No forest walk today, but here's the view out of our master bath window.  We wanted all our readers to know that the trees are all still there!