Snow fading fast

With far less snow visible, work began in the woods and garages. It's never too early to prepare for the next burning season! Here are three bags of birch bark brought up from the woods this afternoon. Nature's greatest fire starter always does wonders in the stove.

Today we also worked to fill the garage space with bark bags, wood, and kindling. The east side of the garage looks similar to this pic of the west side.

We fuel our work with some great food, like an apple cake. The parsnips, which stay in the ground over winter, were also exceptional after cooking -- with some NH maple sugar.

Winter holds on

With a temp of about 20 degrees this a.m., snow clings to an old rock. Warmth, rain, and wind will wither the snow later this weekend. We will have a lot of bare ground in a few days.

 

Winter sunrise, spring sunset

The last sunrise of winter appeared through the east screen in the kitchen this morning.

A few moments ago, the first sunset of spring occurred. We've made it through ten winters at Hardwood Hermitage! We will gain 4+ hours of daylight by the time summer starts!

Snow removal

A small storm arrived Thursday, with eight more inches of snow yesterday. That makes 10 inches recently, giving us a bit more than 50 inches for the season. Here is a before-after duo of pictures from the south side of the house to document snow removal work this a.m. The pictures don't look too different, but a lot of snow is gone in the bottom picture!

Waiting out Winter

Some light snow expected today. We have not yet reached 3 1/2 feet on the season, so we'll likely end up well below average. On a walk yesterday, a short rest at a favorite spot led to a picture of the forest's most productive raspberry patch. In less than five months, we might get a gallon of berries from this area.

Enough cold remains for the stove to receive plenty of work. A lovely piece of paper birch is pictured here shortly before confinement in the flames.

Fire and Bread

The morning's low hit minus 23, but things are improving some with clear skies. A fire has boosted the indoor temps nicely. We should be above freezing outside tomorrow afternoon.

Rum Raisin bread, baked this morning, also helps hold off the chill.

Winter walk

We've received more than a foot of snow in the last 9 days. We're still just a bit beyond 2 feet in total for the season, off our historical pace. A walk this afternoon displayed some great scenes of the season.

A unique lunch fueled today's trek: Ham and Vermont cheddah between two oatmeal buttermilk pancakes.