The Great Outdoors

As I mentioned, Spring is here. As much as I love the snow and am sad to see it all go, it's great to see more sunlight and to have warm weather, for a number of reasons, the most of important of which is that the kids get to go out and play with reckless abandon.

The mornings are my favorite times. The beauty of a Vermont morning is hard to put into words, especially when you live back in the woods as we do. The music of the birds fills the air, and cool morning feels good. I might even begin writing outside. Now there's an idea.

Okay, enough waxing poetic. Spring also means a whole slew of practical issues. The grass is starting to grow, the garden needs attending to, and home improvement begins full tilt. Am I man enough for it all? I need to be, my family needs me to be.

We had a huge problem with our driveway earlier this month. Since it's essentially a dirt road, with hard pack nearer the house (listen to me, like I'm an expert), after the snow melted we had some serious mud, which I think is worse than snow. This presented me and the kids with an opportunity to get outside and try to make a difference.

So, with shovels in hand, we went out and filled in the potholes. It amazes me how much fun it can be just doing seemingly mundane things when you have kids around. We filled in holes and patched up grooves, and though it looked terrible, I do believe we solved the problem. Over time I think the ground will smooth out, but at the very least, we won't get stuck.

At least not yet. Until the next time, thanks for reading.

The Rains Came

If you can believe it, we finally got some much needed rain. After the winter that we had you'd think we'd be set for moisture well into July, but after a couple of scorching April days, things were getting pretty dry. Now that the rains have come, I think we can get the garden in full swing. I've been tilling the soil even though everyone is telling me not to. I'm getting into it, though, and have even found enjoyment in the laborious process of weeding. Go figure.

Will try to post more on this site, there's so much to say. Until then.

Firewood

The snow has is finally beginning to melt and we can see the ground, which pretty much means one thing - mud season. And along with negotiating our way through the muck, it’s time to start thinking about getting firewood, which is proving to be a difficult thing.

Wood is so expensive these days, it’s outrageous. Makes me wonder if it’s an economical alternative, but we like it. It makes me realize how lucky we got last year in getting our cords so cheap. I wanted to get the same this year, cut blocks that I can split myself, but realize how unusual it was and have no expectations to do the same. Besides, without a truck, I’m pretty much useless.

So I’m faced with two possibilities. I can buy tree length or cut and split. Tree length is obviously cheaper, and there is a remote chance they’ll deliver it, but I’d have to get a chainsaw and then split, and I’m not saving horrendous amounts of money. The other choice is get it cut, split and delivered. If I can find it at a reasonable price, then that’s probably the way to go, since I’d have time to do other things, even though I love splitting it.

I understand people’s reluctance to divulge their sources. Wood is precious.