Berries looking great

Raspberries are at their peak a bit late, but they are looking wonderful.  Some blackberries also coming in, with a bumper crop expected.  The land and woods just never keep from giving around here.

This batch was picked in 45 minutes this morning, without being more than 100 feet from the house.

Four bags of birch bark

Very pleasant weather has prevailed since a heat wave broke over the weekend.  Birch bark was brought up the hill in the day's pleasing sunshine.  An old dead double trunk was the source for the bark today.  The new bags of the wonderful fire starter will dry out in the strong sunshine after being taken up the hill.

Work never done

Lots happening before the big warm up this weekend.  It's a beautiful morning today, and the high temp won't get too bad -- yet.

With the neighbors on vacation, there's plenty to do in the garden lately.  Three bushels of peas!

Scouting future wood work continues.  This might be the most interesting broken tree ever, a red maple.  It will be a chore to process safely, but this future firewood will eventually be near the house.

Weeding and wood moving

Happy Independence Day! Temps have been rising this week, but humidity hasn't been terrible yet.  Mornings remain cool, so work such as weeding the neighbor's garden and moving some wood closer to the house have progressed very well.  Here are five pictures.  First, three from the garden down the hill . . .

And then two of wood moved closer to the house.  The big pile the moose was fascinated by four weeks ago has become much larger.

Here are 50 split pieces from the diagonal paper birch downed last week.  Lots more from that tree will be up in the next few days.

Plenty of summer work

Shade creates some nice spots to work during the summer.  A diagonal paper birch was dropped recently, with pieces lined up for splitting near the house.  Even during a hot, sunny day, the splitting work would be bearable.  Some of this was split this morning in relatively cool temps.

Trail trimming and forest management, other work that can be done in some shade, is again on the agenda for later this month.  Stay tuned!!

Moose by the house!!!

In tonight's fading light, a moose decided to investigate the area around the house.  He sniffed a wood pile and seemed interested in the wheelbarrow before walking up the hill.

Another June fire

The cool and damp spring is almost over.  It was a lovely a.m. yesterday, with some stump sprout cutting completed.  Today started rainy and cool, so another fire this June is the rule of the morning.  Temps to reach into the 70s for a few days, with plenty of sun, starting tomorrow afternoon.  So maybe the heating season is over today?