Walking in the Woods

We had a lovely weekend. It was a bit chilly-- jacket weather for sure-- but it was clear and even better, Andrew had both days off! He went and cut more logs, then brought them over to the pole barn to cut down to wood stove size and split them.


Maisie is showing off her mad climbing skillz. The pile of firewood, standing over 5 feet high, is now twice this size and still more to go! We still have a fire going just about every other day, but usually doesn't get started until evening, when the temperature drops. Our goal for next winter is to fill up a quarter of the pole barn with wood, which should be plenty. We're planning to clean out the pole barn and stack the wood nicer in the back and keep going until 1/4 of the area is filled and then some. As of now, stuff is piled in there all willy-nilly and we're not making good use of the space. Too many unfinished projects in there that need to be weeded out or completed.

While Andrew was busy splitting and tossing logs, the kids and I stayed out of his way and went for a walk in the woods on the other side of our driveway. We have 15 acres, split in half by a driveway and we live on the right side, the other is all wooded. Makes for great hiking when all the poison ivy is dormant and no mosquitoes to swat away. There's an old dirt road that goes up and circles but we veered off when we saw fresh woodpecker holes. I showed the kids how the birds can tell when a tree is hollow and filled with bugs to eat, so then they peck away at the trunk to the bug-filled center and eat. The kids stuck their fingers in the holes and could feel the hollow inside the trunk. Then they looked around for more woodpecker holes, old and fresh.

There are huge trees on this half of the property. Love this triple-trunked one! Of course each of the kids had a turn standing in the center for a picture. It was too high for me to climb in and the trunks were too big around to grip, so no picture of me.

Evelyn, monkey that she is, climbed up again after we were done with the pictures and getting ready to walk on. "Peek a boo!"

I love, love, love this picture of the kids! One of those rare moments when all 4 are looking at me and smiling all at the same time! Definitely frame-worthy!