Home on the range

We're now solidly into the spring (thankfully) and have been outside a lot. We get out in the winter, too, and we try not to complain about it, but the warm sun really gets us going. What follows are a few photos of our recent weeks since we got back from Philadelphia.

Now that we're not burning so much wood in our stove, it's time to start cutting wood for next year.  In the spring we approach this chore at a leisurely pace, so for a little bet of fun and exercise I've been dropping some of the trees with my axes.  And lookin a bit menacing at the same time.

Don't worry, I always have attentive supervision.

One day a couple weeks ago Hobbs came out to help me with some homework.  He was so happy and active... I have to admit he was a bit of a distraction for me.

He seems to be asking, "Is that all you've gotten done.  Here, let me poop on your computer; maybe that'll help."

This is an axe head that Nathan gave me awhile ago.  It was a big, beautiful, rusty mess.  After some clean up and a new handle, it looks pretty good.  It cuts even better.  Seriously, this is my new favorite felling axe.

I had to rehang my favorite limbing axe, too.  I love this little axe, and learned, again, about using the right tool for the right job.  This axe is for limbing and chopping kindling.  It is NOT for splitting logs.  So... learned that the hard way.

Three rehung axes and a rejuvenated blacksmithing hammer that I can't wait to use.

One day of my spring break I helped Jenn and Zhora transport some hay bales from one farm to their farm.  They have goats now and goats need food.  We went for a hike to the top of their beautiful property and looked out over the valley.

The farmer's market is officially open!  Cold, but open.

Sarah is teaching me to sew and to use her sewing machine!  I LOVE working with her on anything.  It's such an amazing feeling to teach and learn from/with her.  As always, we have close supervision.

We are in the early days of this complex sewing machine, so there are a lot of direction reading breaks.

This is what it would look like if you put a machine in front of a cave man.  Unfortunately, I am not acting.  This is what I actually look like.

April 7.  Happy anniversary 21st amendment!

Take a close look.  This is what the kitchen looks like right now.  If all goes well, in two weeks it will look completely new!  ... Well, not the nasty linoleum, that has to wait, but the counters will be new at least.

Mom and dad came for a visit last weekend and we had so much fun.  This photo is of the result of the fun.  Everyone needed to take a nap!  I think this is after the Cornell Vet Hospital's open house.  Mom helped out all morning, then we toured it ourselves, then we went to lunch, then we worked around the house... then we napped.  That huge box from frozen turkey taco filling is full of papers that I still need to grade.  Teaching is so cool because we get so much time off and tenure is easy and all we have to do is put some overheads up.

We also worked in the yard and did A LOT of problem solving and prep for the concrete counter tops.  It was great to have Dad around for measuring and problem solving.

On the final night of their visit we carved a few more hours out and had a fire and looked at the stars through the astronomical binoculars Ian and Eleftheria got us as a wedding present.  It was amazing to see the Pleiades and the Orion nebula.  Sarah and I are really looking forward to the next full moon!  Hopefully there will be a full moon sometime this summer when everyone is around.

The next day I had to take a little nap after school.

 

Indy tried to help rock my hammock.

Sarah has been talking about this drink for a month or so now.  She and Jenn went to a mixology class at the Argos Inn and learned all about shrub and sampled lots of amazing sounding drinks.  I'm pretty skeptical about any drink made with bourbon besides a glass of bourbon, but I'd heard so much about the Woodsman that I had to try it.  We had a wonderful time sipping our drinks, chatting in the sunshine, and trying to tune out the sound of "jazz" coming from the other room.  It sounded like a bunch of drugged emus running through a music shop.  There was quite a crowd gathered pretending to understand it, too.  Kind of like modern art.  I know... no culture.

And this is from this past Sunday.  Sarah  and I finished up the forms to pour the concrete into for the counter tops.  It was a lovely day, made all the more lovely by working together on a house project. 

Strict supervision.

Not related to the countertops.

Not related to the chainsaw.

FINALLY!

What's next?!

Till next time! 

Spring is coming

We are giddy now, impatiently waiting for spring. Like the bedroom door on a weekend morning, winter seems impenetrable, but we know two things; Sarah will open that door and bring her sunshine smile to our day, and the snow will melt, the ground will thaw, and the world will be green again!  The planting has begun. 

Pruning and Building a Seed Rack.

So regardless of the continuing snow, wind, and cold weather, Sarah and I have begun preparing for spring.  A couple weekends ago we took a pruning class together at Cornell Plantations.  The guy that taught it was awesome, and Sarah had met him in another class she took on gardening.  The class lasted most of the day and began inside with a detailed account of the four defense systems of a tree and how they relate to each other and to pruning.  We went outside then and about 12 or so of us were turned loose on the shrubs and trees along the main pathway into the building!  Needless to say, we all started out relatively hesitantly.  We snipped little pieces here and there.  By the end, we were suggesting the removal of large limbs and even entire conflicting trunks!  It was great.  Sarah and I couldn't wait to get home and put our newly developed skills to use.

This shrub came with the house.  We like it, but obviously it was getting overgrown.  Time for a trim.

One of the rules of pruning is not to remove more than a third of the overall mass of the plant.  With this one, we decided to cut back the canopy and cut out some of the older and conflicting branches.

Yer supposed to be able to throw your hat through an apple tree when you're done pruning it.  With good aim and the right hat, I think this one would fit the bill.

This one we're pruning more for it's aesthetic.  When we bought the house, this poor guy was completely overwhelmed by pricker bushes.  We cut them back and now the tree has a pretty cool bonzai-like look to it.

With the pruning done, we turned our sites on the garden.  We're still a couple months from the last frost, so we headed inside.

 The shop got filled up again.  I wish there was more space and a dedicated place to work, but I have to admit, like everything else around this little homestead, I have a soft spot for it.

 

Sarah and I had drawn up and agreed upon a plan together and then went to Lowes or Home Depot for the wood and hardware.  I stopped at AgWay for some free pallets to finish off the shelves and save some money.

 

While I worked on cutting the cross beams to length and screwing on support sections Sarah put on all the brackets.

 

It was great to work together on the project and there's something about a woman with tools that gets my heart racing.

 

Especially when her work is on the level!

 

For no fee and a little elbow grease we got many square feet of wood for the shelves.  I had to remove a few nails first.

 

Some of the pieces needed to be squared up a little.  Honestly, they needed it.  It had nothing to do with my fixation of the shk shhhhk of a sharp No. 5 Stanley plane.

 

As always, we had lots of help and supervision.

 

And there she is.  Ready to go.  In the off season, she's sturdy enough to be used as bunk beds!