Repaired Stone Walls

This first snow of 2012 was long overdue and most welcome.  With both vehicles shoveled out and the driveway clear, it was time to walk in the snowy woods.  My destination was the area described in an earlier post, Stone Detective.  Just a few days ago the ground was soft and muddy as the frost had been warmed out again.  About the only place to putter was the fallen end of this wall.  Brush was levered out and carried away and the fallen end stones of this wall were  again piled.  No attempt was made to lay the stones in a well tied together wall.  I was simply curious about the shape,size and number of fallen stones.  Proper building will wait until spring but these moss covered stones have an ancient appearance.

Nature has strongly reclaimed this area.  It will require considerable effort to clear around the wall.  The barbed wire fence is on my side of the property line and it will disappear in stages.  The strands of wire will be removed first.  By rolling a two post section of wire into a loop, it can be unrolled and refastened should my neighbor object.  Four separate loops of barbed wire hanging from a fence post may look strange but they will mark a work in progress.  With the wire and brush out of the way, the wall can be built again.

Another earlier post, Tumbled Down Wall, described the repair made here.  The fresh repair was easy to spot as the patina of the two sections were not a match.  A short period of time has made the difference softer.  We will watch to see how long it takes the repair to match the old wall.

There is little question that these are fox tracks.  Most four footed animals make two parallel tracks when they walk.  A fox places its hind foot in the same spot just occupied by its front foot.  The resulting linear tracks have a unique appearance.  Ed had two separate fox sightings yesterday.  Both involved a fox working for its dinner alongside of the road.  One fox appeared much bushier than the other so they may have been a mated pair.  Several years ago we watched foxes mate in the snow on our front lawn.  Perhaps the two seen yesterday were starting to spend time together.  Winter seems new with a long wait until spring but preparations for the next growing season will be soon underway.