100 degrees

Minus 19 outside this a.m.  On the coldest night of year so far, there was a 100-degree difference between the inside (75 degrees) and outside (minus 25) temps last night, thanks to our wood.  Future seasons of firewood are seen in this picture, along with some early Friday sunlight.

White Christmas streak continues

100% of the Christmas days on Hardwood Hermitage have been white.  This one will be no exception, with five more inches yesterday.  Another half foot or so expected on the 25th.

Here are a few pics taken this morning.

Happy Winter!

Sunlight from the first afternoon of winter illuminated some pretty sights today, without bringing much in the temperature department.  But that's winter in northern New Hampshire!

A young yellow birch, with several seed clusters clinging to branches.

And here are some paper birches this afternoon, always looking grand, whatever their size, whatever the season.

Ready for winter

We have surpassed the 12 inch mark on our snowfall so far this season.  The latest storm dropped about 10 of those inches this week.  The forest looks alive with the spirit of winter, even though the season still doesn't start for nearly a week.

Season now alive with snow and decorations

A few inches of snow yesterday, a bit more today, then more tomorrow makes it look like winter around here.  Then there's the decorated house!

Here's the Abominable Snow Monster, hanging out with some elves and a bear.

Herman, a friendly polar bear, has donned a Santa hat!

The ornament trees are filled with a variety seasonal items.  Some are non-traditional, including a hippo and moose angel.

More progress from neighbor project

A bunch of new future firewood is on Hardwood Hermitage as a result of the neighbor helping neighbor project.  Here's a big stack of lovely wood that will be cut in the spring.  It's a beautiful day for such work:  Sunny and cool.

Some of the wood in the above picture was paper birch cut and split in the field yesterday.

The big red maple logs pictured in the previous post are now cut and split, as well.  Here is a picture from yesterday when that work was in progress.  The Jut is on the opposite side of the rock wall on the right of the picture.

Helping hands

Neighborly work has been happening on the hill.  In appreciation for some of our labor, a neighbor gave us a bit of the wood we helped cut.  Also, he took his big excavator through his field to the Jut.  A very large Hardwood Hermitage red maple took a dive during a wind storm.  Or, a half dive.  The tree was leaning against another tree, so the best way to take that down was with really heavy equipment.  Cutting the maple while at that angle was simply too hazardous.

Two lengths of the tree, each about 15 feet long, now rest near the Jut in our neighbor's field.

 

The crown of the tree remains in the Jut.  There's plenty of good wood that will be cut here. After processing, this 2019-20 firewood will come home in several pickup loads.

Happy (Snowy) Thanksgiving!

Late season brush cutting

The blade may be getting dull, but the brush cutter still has lots of power.  Work in the second half of autumn has several advantages:  More visible ground and a lot less sweat.  The FS131 continues its first year of work on the hill, doing a great job.

Balsam fir is a frequent victim of the FS131.  These two, surrounding a baby paper birch, were promptly dispatched shortly after this photo was taken.

And a young red oak, much easier to spot in November compared to summer's dense weeds, benefited from some cutting of surrounding junk.  Then the deformed but awesome tree enjoyed afternoon sun.

Mid-Fall snowfall

A few flakes fell last night after rain and a lightning show.  Here are the first snowy pics of the season.

Chowdah for suppah

Wood-fired corn and red pepper chowder is being heated on the Norwegian cooker.

Wind creates work

Wind storms rule the hill.  We had major gusts Sunday night and most of Monday.  The forest damage was relatively minor, but every major wind event seems to bring trail clearing work.

A neighbor's paper birch took a dive, with about 30 feet of the tree falling onto our lot and across a major walking trail.

The falling birch didn't damage anything, but nearby, a large pine broken in the wind took out an eight-foot oak -- a very sad event.  The pine also destroyed a few small birches.  This big tree is another one we'll cut out of a walking trail.

More baby birches took major damage from a dead tree that couldn't stand up to the wind.

 

Even with the losses, life goes on in the woods.  And, we never worry about a birch shortage!  Look at how lovely they are soaking up October's last sunrise for another year!

 

Good morning!!!!!

Thoreau would love Hardwood Hermitage

"I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived."   

Weekend work

Like usual, time in the woods this weekend focused on gathering biomass to burn.  Two empty containers sent out yesterday morning were quickly filled with birch bark.  Our fans will remember how we gather the bark from downed or dead birches, then use in the wood stove.  The bark is a spectacular fire starter.

This morning, a large amount of red maple was removed from the hill about 600 feet from the house.  The stump sprouts don't make for the best trees, and the wood will help the stove roar.  The first pic below is a spot prior to thinning, followed by the same area from a slightly different angle after the work was completed today.

The deformed sugar maple on the left of this shot should see great benefits after the removal of the red maple clump on the right (west of the sugar maple).

Piles of cut red maple will continue to be made this week before the future firewood is hauled up the slope to the house.