Fall and Firewood

Well I finished cutting the Tri-axle load of wood today. It will be about 10 full cords when split and stacked. Since this wood is for next year I can take my time splitting it, although I would like to have it done by late Spring so it can dry out good during the summer sun.

The wood for this year is neatly stacked under the two porches around the house to keep it out of the snow and rain. We will use up the wood by Spring and once again complete the cycle necessary to keep the house warm during the winter. We generally burn any where from 6 to
8 cords of firewood each winter.

My brother, Rob, was up over the weekend and I took him to the Leonard Harrison canyon view. You can see by the picture down the canyon that most of the leaves are gone from the trees. It was a brisk day and it is always windy at the overlook.

The smell of firewood burning in the cabins over the weekend was thick in the air. It reminds us winter is not far off.

I like my winters with snow. Snow you can ski on not ice. But so many winters we get snow and then it melts and freezes into an ice slick. The worst is freezing rain. This turns our tricky narrow roads into a nightmare. There isn't a person up here that doesn't have a story of a frightening slow trip down the mountain roads.

The slow economy gave a bit of a punch to all the businesses around here. Most aren't doing too good except for the ones who have picked up some of the gas workers business. We are all hoping next year will be the end of empty pockets. But regardless, people who leave here are used to tough times and they will make it through better than most. One thing no one can take away from us is this beautiful country we live in. On a cool day with the sun shining through the forest, breathing the scent of pine you feel rich indeed. Mountain girl, Paula, logging out.

Turtle Camp

This picture was sent to me by Jeff Keys who has a place on Painter Leetonia Rd. It was taken sometime late 60's or early 70's of the Turtle Camp also on Painter Leetonia Rd.

The turtle camp got its name from all the turtle shells hanging from the camp. The camp has fallen over since this picture and there is a trailer behind it. A little reminder nothing lasts forever.

If you have any old pics of camps feel free to email them to me I will be happy to include them in this blog.

Mountain girl, Paula, logging off.

Fall drive up Cedar Mountain

It was a beautiful day today in the woods of Pa. The day started with a hard frost and as the air warmed the vapors from the melting frost formed clouds in the valleys. Then the sun burned everything off and we were left with a beautiful blue sky background the the colorful trees.
The ladybugs haven't been too bad yet, although they have been known to come on warm October days with a vengeance. The leaves are falling fast and the bucks are moving quickly in search of mates for next year's fawns.
The bucks will burst across the road in front of you almost anytime of day searching for that special doe. The archers are out looking as well for that perfect buck. Tomorrow and Friday looks like rain and I even heard some nasty rumors of snow. But the weekend looks dry and perfect for campers looking to have some fun before winter. I will probably be cutting the rest of my logs over the weekend. With each leaf that falls its a reminder that summer is over and winter will soon be here. Mountain girl, Paula, logging out.

The Sun is back and so are workers

Today the Sun peeked out for the first time in nearly a week. I will be able to catch up on all my outside work in the next few days.

Also the coring machine showed up in my front yard again. They are taking core samples to find out what they need for making the footings for a new bridge. The bridge work won't happen for two years. I guess according to our township supervisor from planning to building a bridge takes around five years.

Another bridge will be in the construction phase starting next May and its a big one. The steel bridge in Watrous will be impassable starting in May and probably for most of the summer. This means we will be detoured through Galeton or have to go to Cedar Run and up to get to Wellsboro all next summer. Well the fog has lifted and I am packing up to go to work. Scooter is excited he has missed going to work for 5 days. Mountain girl, Paula, logging out.

Wet weather continues

Well, we have had a streak of wet weather since last Saturday. Everything I planned on doing outside has been put on hold. It looks like tomorrow it will be dry enough to bring the electric tools back out and finish some projects. I have a porch I am putting on in Cedar Run. It will have a steel roof and it is nice to get steel done before we have any ice or snow. There is nothing slipperier than a wet or icy steel roof.

The dogs have not liked this rainy weather much and have spent most of their time sleeping on the couch. They run out for a bit and right back in. I am sure they will be glad for a sunny day too.

The deer have all changed colors to their winter brownish-gray coat. I have seen quite a few small deer moving around and a lot of turkey. I suspect the small ones are this year's fawns, freshly out of their spotted coats.

I haven't made any progress on my wood pile for the last few days either. I have about twenty full logs left to cut up into short pieces. Once they are shorter they will dry faster even if we don't get them all split before winter. Driving through the woods even in the rain is beautiful right now with all the color. I am sure it will even be nicer when the sun comes back. Looks like the weekend will be dry but cool with temps not getting much out of the 60's and mostly in the upper 50's for highs. The creek is up above 3...great for you experienced canoers, I would expect the water to drop to a nice level for most people to have a great time in the creek this weekend. Mountain girl, Paula, logging out.

Water, wood and weather

The last day of September, mother nature tried to catch up on the rain all in one day. We had four inches of rain. Pine creek started at around 1 foot high and went to 7 foot in a matter of a eight hour period. It is now back down around 2.84 nice day for a canoe trip. The first picture was taken on Oct 1st in the morning at Cedar Run.

We are busy cutting, splitting and stacking wood for the winter. It got down to 30 the other night and I awoke to a white frosty substance covering the grass. A little reminder winter isn't far away. It is hard when it goes from eighty to thirty, but the change in weather always seems to do that to us.
I am a little over half way through my tri-axle load of logs. I have about 30 left to cut. Those will be used next year as they have to dry. Although, I did notice a few dead logs that might be useable this year. The load they delivered was mostly ash and beech. Those will dry much faster than oak, but not burn as hot. The red oak we have for this winter has dried for about 3 years, which seems to be about right for that wood. It is very slow to cure, but a good burner once it does.

The trees are changing and dropping leaves, which doesn't make for long color. Spring and Fall are some of the nicest times of year here cause the bugs aren't hanging around. The color is
pretty in Fall, but, with winter around the corner, seems to put a bit of a damper on it. Spring heralds the end of snow so I lean towards liking it the best.

If anyone feels like they need a bit of extra exercise feel free to come bye and split some wood. Mountain girl, Paula, logging out and starting the chain saw.