Winter's wood lines up

Lee finished splitting and stacking the firewood for next winter this week. There is something that gives you a sense of comfort just seeing it line up to dry in the summer sun. This batch of wood is all from a Tri-axle load of tops we had delivered about a year and a half ago. They were lumbering just up the road from us which made it convenient to get. I don't know how many 40' logs there were but I know Lee is glad to see them all converted into small burnable pieces.
We have an old hand made splitter, which makes the work a little
easier, but it is still rough work. They say you get warm twice when you burn wood to heat: once gathering and splitting the wood and the second time burning it. I do know it is a constant task to make sure we get the wood cut far enough ahead to season well. Green wood will burn, but not very hot and it takes more of it to stay warm.
The chipmunks love the stacks of firewood to hide under and keep the dogs busy chasing them around and around the piles. Last night the dogs chased something a little bigger as we sat on the porch. A mother bear and cub appeared and I had to do some quick dog calling to keep them from getting into too much trouble. Thor, the three-legger is not at all afraid to give chase.

I told him when he came back, "You don't have many legs left you can loose, so don't be chasin that bear." He just panted at me not at all absorbing the consequences of his actions.

There is a mother bear with three cubs not far from here. It seems the bears have survived and thrived through the winter. Mountain girl, Paula, logging out.

Road Rally Saturday

Saturday was the day of the race and the constant hum of traffic in front of the cabin was confusing at first to the dogs and annoying to the humans. The dogs are used to seeing a couple of cars a day and we saw more cars in one day than we will for the rest of the year. It didn't take long for the dogs to just sit and watch from the yard as the masses went by. They didn't bark unless a car slowed down or tried to turn around in the drive.

The amount of dust made by this constant traffic made it difficult
to work outside. It also made us glad we don't live in the city where seeing a constant stream of traffic is normal. Although, I doubt most city traffic drivers think they are part of a road rally and drive speeding around turns meant for 25 mph at about 50. You have to be so careful if you travel against the stream of traffic that you aren't run off the road. After last year's accident I was more than cautious. Mountain girl, Paula, logging off and glad the rally is over.

Leetonia Work

Scooter loves to help and is posing in front of the dumpster and on top of some drywall in the trailer. I wish I could get him to unload it for me. Everything in the dumpster has been torn out of this cabin. It don't take long to fill up a dumpster. All the carpet and much of the walls and ceilings in some rooms are now resting in the dumpster.
The second picture shows what a room looks like in progress. This one has been striped to the bones and is being wired and insulated next. Soon it will have a drywall ceiling and knotty pine walls.
The last picture shows some cabinets in a cabin I just finished working on. We put knotty pine on the ceiling, remodeled the bathroom, painted the walls in the entire camp, but on a steel roof, gutters, rewired, and replumbed most of the plumbing. It was quite a job. The owners will be seeing it for the first time today and I know they will be surprised. Doing the creative parts and seeing the finished product is the rewarding part of my job.
Tearing out the old, moldy, scratchy insulation not so much fun. But you can't have one without the other and Scooter makes sure
to keep track of us the entire time. He makes an excellent clock and lets me know when 5PM rolls around. He bugs me if I run long and I often must. He looks forward to going home, eating and sleeping the rest of the evening.
Today is the road rally up and down the mountain. I do not like the traffic or the noise. So I will be tolerating it as well as possible. Mountain girl, Paula, logging out.

Muddy Mountain

Thor thought he would give everyone a big hi from his big head. He has doubled in size since we got him last November. Three legs doesn't slow him down a bit. He spends as much time as possible trying to catch rabbits, squirrels and chipmunks. So far he has only caught one small baby bunny, which amazingly enough he brought to me. I saw the gray body hanging from his mouth and expected to retrieve a dead animal. To my surprise, the small rabbit was hardly wet and not a mark on it. So Thor may be renamed the gentle giant.

The township has been grading the other side of Cedar Mountain and it has made for a muddy, sliding mess after the recent rain. I had to put
my truck into 4-wheel drive to navigate over the mess. Today it has dried up a bit and is much safer.

Next weekend is the road rally. If the State does not fix the end of the road near 414 there will be lots of screaming. I have called and complained about the size of the holes and so far have not seen any attempt to repair it. You have to go less than two miles per hour over much of the last 2 miles or risk ruining your car or truck. Our township does a stellar job with the rest of the road and it is very disappointing to run from a nice dirt road into moguls.

I have been very busy working this month and it seems I haven't been able to post much in the way of news to the blog. I may just have to start including some of the work I do, since that is where all my time is being spent. Thank goodness I can enjoy the woods even if it is only to drive back and forth to work. Mountain girl, Paula, logging off and working hard.

Frost and Hummingbirds.

This morning we woke to a heavy frost on the truck and some cold temperatures. It is supposed to get into the upper 20's again tonight so a fire in the fireplace will be happening again tonight.

During last nights fire we had some entertainment. A bat swooped through the room and awoke three dogs. I opened the back door and Scooter and Thor tried to catch the bat every time it flew over. I was armed with a broom and a hat. I have had success catching them in my hat before. After a half dozen attempts the bat decided to go up stairs. I looked for a long time and found the bat hanging near a picture.
I nabbed it in the hat, but the thing squeezed out. The bat then returned downstairs for another round with the dogs and my broom. I smacked it to the floor and it slid under the stove. I looked everywhere with a flashlight and moved the stove, but the bat disappeared again and I didn't find it. So I sleep with the bedroom door closed and expect to see the bat again tonight.

Lee has all her hummingbird feeders up and despite the cold the numbers of birds are increasing daily. She has a total of 14 feeders up and the cabin is starting to feel like a hummingbird hive once again.

Well, we are stoking up the fireplace again tonight and hopefully will not have the winged visitor. Mountain girl, Paula, logging out.

Happy Mother's Day from Leetonia

The apple trees are blooming and it is a beautiful day in Leetonia. The wind is gusting up to 3o so it is a bit windy. You can see how the trees are starting to green up and it won't be long until the forest is shady once again. It always seems so much darker in the summer. The advantage of the dark is it is always 10 degrees cooler in the summer as well.
The last picture shows the road coming into Leetonia from the south. There was quite a few people up for Gobbler season this week, but I noticed them all heading home by noon. Hopefully, to spend some time with their mothers. Mountain girl, Paula, logging out.

May Day surprise

This morning at 1:30 am I was awoken by barking dogs. I yelled at them to be quiet and when they continued I knew something was probably outside. I looked out the back door first and saw and heard nothing. I was just about to give the dogs a false alarm scolding when I turned on the light to the front porch.
Two porcupines had come through the dog door and now couldn't get out. I own a gun for a couple reasons and this was one of them. I don't enjoy shooting porcupines, but they destroy everything I own. So they are now resting in front of the door getting ready for a trip far away from the dogs.
Cleaning up after them is hazardous as you can see by my boot you are just as likely to get quilled moving them. Also they leave quills everywhere if they are disturbed. These quills can get stuck in a dog foot or in your finger as you pick them up. So I have hundreds of small quills to pick up off my porch. Leo hides when I shoot the porcupines, Scooter doesn't care and thankfully it didn't seem to bother Thor who after being shot himself, I worried might be gun shy.
I am going to leave you with a more pleasant picture of the Fire Cherry blooming on the side of the mountain. Our recent rain is greening things up and bringing some color to Leetonia. Mountain girl Paula, Logging off and picking up quills.