Snow Sculptures

Hanging Ten

Say Aah

Cool Cat

On Edge

A Change Of Scene

Winter approaches and Nature's Artwork has a definite wintry change of scene!

If we get a thaw, we may see Nature's Artwork again.  If we get more snow Mother Nature will close the exhibition  for repairs. Do you see what I see?

Leaf Littered Lane

Each season of the year is special in its own way if one takes the time to take a long look.  The center of the lane marks the boundary of our land.  We hold a right-of-way to use the other half of the lane but it matters not since our neighbors are  easy to get along with.  Leaf litter will be harvested here when the coming frost leaves the ground and we begin gardening once again.  For now this is a truly beautiful place to walk on many levels.  The scents and sounds created from moving across the fallen leaves and needles are tranquil and sooth the soul.

The white pine nurturing our transplanted arbutus is dropping its old needles at the same time that the hardwoods are shedding their leaves.  If one looks at the upper part of the tree, occasional clumps of brown needles can be seen still attached to the branches.  It may be that the new green needles push away the old growth after cutting of their nutrient supply and taking it for their own use.  Unlike the maples and oaks, a white pine is always fully clothed in green.  The brown mass of discarded needles is deep and slippery.  To be honest, I must admit to pulling the dropped needles away from the arbutus leaves.  Evergreen, they must have uninterrupted access to sunlight.  Covering needles are not moved very far.  Their decomposition will build acidic soil necessary if the arbutus is to flourish.
    

It does not get much better than this long view.  The ridge belongs to another friendly neighbor but we look upon it as our own.  Our view is free and we do have permission to walk the ridge.  Coyotes, bears and perhaps wildcats call this area home so we tend to enjoy it from a distance.  In my younger days, a hike to the top of the ridge was safely completed.

Garlic went to ground today in the manicured planting bed to the right.  Twenty-seven rows were spaced eight inches apart.  Placing two sections of fence, one rotated 90 degrees from the other, on the surface of the ground creates graph paper with two inch spacing.  The end of the handle of the stone fork quickly punches planting holes.  Place a hole, skip three, place a hole defines the rows.  From a row hole moving along the other axis, skip two and place a hole results in six inch spacing within the row.  If all two hundred seventy plants emerge, the order of the planting will be either too fussy or impressive.  More work remains to be done here now.  Molasses mixed with water will be sprinkled on the surface of the ground.  That mix is reported to encourage beneficial soil organisms.  Screened hardwood leaves will cover the surface.  We would rather mulch than weed.

Snowy Lane

Our snow covered lane looks like what Robert Frost must have seen just before he wrote that poem.  We will stay away from his words but this might just be an experience shared but in different times.  A curve takes the lane out of sight and that creates mystery.  Just what is it that lies around the bend?

It seems like only yesterday that building this wall filled my days with quiet time alone in the woods. Stones have been scattered nearby, ready for when weather permits more stacking.  This section of wall has reached its end so new work will start at the end and build back towards the center.  An end will create an opening that will allow me access into the woods with my truck.  For now, the wall is standing watch to see if the  right of way users can read the signs.

When this area is cleaned up it will become a beautiful spot to sit close to nature.  The broken white pine branch needs to be pulled clear of the gaping hole in the trunk.  We hope that the deep hole into the trunk heals somewhat so that we do not get to watch this tree die at the hands of another.

The dark cylinder above the center of the wall is a remnant from logging that was done by a previous owner years ago.  That cherry trunk end was destined to be firewood but it fell from the truck.  I rolled it to the edge but its owner never bothered to retrieve it.  More than a decade has passed, the land has changed hands several times, so I guess that I can safely claim a piece of aged cherry.

We plan to introduce trailing arbutus to the area between the wall and the tree.  If patience rules, we will place seed from our transplanted patch.  Otherwise, more transplants may find a home here. Winter is not officially here yet but we are already impatiently longing for Spring.

Checkmate

This stone wall defining the limits of the right of way is marching down hill.  If I did not thoroughly enjoy solitary time spent in the woods, this project might appear just a little crazy.  Finding all of these stones that were long ago carried to field's edge does forge a connection with the amount of  work early farmers dedicated to clearing their fields.  In a way this stone deserves to rest in a wall rather than in a heap that is covered over by fallen leaves.  Soon no one will be able to know for certain just when this wall was laid up.  Moss and lichens will find a foot hold and  cover much of the face of the wall.

When we first found this land, this area was a favorite destination when walking about.  Several stones were placed at the base of an oak tree forming a seat.  Time spent motionless sitting with my back against the tree trunk seemed to quiet the soul.  Now the end of the wall forms a seat.  Top stones have been selected with an eye to their form.  Undersides are recently exposed flat surfaces while the top sides are weathered natural faces.  Stone bearing fossils are also placed here.  The fossils will soon become softened in relief by the weathering action of wind, sunlight and rain.

This side of the wall serves as a bench.  All of the stones still scattered about will be removed and the area smoothed.  Fallen leaves will be scattered about to hide all signs of my recent presence here.  Then I can come here and sit in the quiet of our woods on most days when I am the only person in the area. There is one example of how not to build a wall in this photo.  A continuous line running from the base of the wall to its top is visible.  Each stone should rest on the two stones beneath it covering the crack.  This is a weak point where the wall will likely fail if I do not relay this section.

The three previous owners of the adjacent field have allowed me to turn my truck around there.  That privilege seems to have disappeared now.  My solution to that issue was to make a place where I can turn my truck on my land.  An overhanging branch needs removal before I can get to a large pile of stone at the top of the hill but the truck is ready to drive out.

Early Stone Work

There was a brief period of time today when it was pleasant to be outside.  Clear skies allowed the ever strengthening sunlight to really warm things up.  Ed could not resist the chance to work with his stones.  No frost held these exposed stones to the ground.  The day seemed suited to gathering stones whose shape recommended them for future wall placement.  The chosen stones could have been thrown in a heap or stacked loosely in a temporary storage wall.

This area consists of the poorest land we own.  A short narrow valley with steep sides is formed between the gravel bank hill and the kame that roughly parallels the bedrock ridge.  There are no old plow furrow edges on this land although an adjacent field is still actively farmed.  It must have been cleared for pasture only but Ed can find no logical reason for the placement of the straight line stone pile down the center of the valley.  The stone here is also of poor quality.  Distorted round broken goonies abound.  There is insufficient Irish in his family tree to enable him to build solid walls with such poor stone, but there must be some because Ed just can't toss wall stone in a heap.

The single stack end makes this wall temporary.  Any stone that is placed in a wall so that it can fall will fall.  If these stones are not soon moved to a permanent placement, a fallen end will mark the beginning of a select heap.  The lone roundish stone is headed to the edge of the garden developing down by the road.  Most of our stone is sedimentary in origin but the round one is metamorphic.  It is much denser than our other stones and is filled with small quartz crystals.  Some time exposed to the weather will polish its surface and it will sparkle at the edge of the garden.

The wind shifted, coming from the north and Ed moved inside.  This day was very special since outside work in relative comfort was possible.

Stone Gift

Breaking into the old boy farmers' network is not an easy thing to do.  That I taught school did not work in my favor in that regard.  Our neighbor has spent his lifetime working two farms on either side of us.  We would wave and smile as he passed by our place but I remained that little known stranger that gardened out of sight up the hill.  This new stone wall is the first time he has seen me work.  It must have impressed him as he offered me access to a stone dump on his lower farm.  Here is my first load of his stone.  Less than one mile separates our lands but his stone is different from mine.  A different part of the glacier dumped his stone in soil.  My stone was dumped with gravel.  It is indeed an honor that his stone is now mine.

The wall now has its second end.  The space between the wall faces is first filled with small misshapen broken stone.  Taking out the wobble from the interior of the wall means the wedges cannot fall out.  Screened gravel is shoveled onto the filler stones.  The next layer of wall will rest upon a smooth forgiving surface.  Weather will settle this fill into the voids.

The second wall end will be finished next.  Then the work will proceed to the center.  By working alternately from both ends, the uneven seam where the halves come together will be largely invisible.  A level string will have to be stretched at the top of the wall to define the correct height of the second end.

My four foot level made its first appearance on the job today.  I have been working by sight alone.  Unevenness in the ground had me questioning the levelness of the cap stones.  There are Irish in my family tree.  Perhaps they are the source of the skill and passion in laying stone.

Stone Pile or Stone Wall?

 In our neighborhood, on this incredibly gorgeous warm  November day, many men are out looking for  deer to shoot. For them that is the reason for the season. Ed spent the day outside  too.  Even though he is working down by the road, he wears a fluorescent orange "I am not a deer hat".  Ed is working on his latest stone wall.  As he works the stone pile is getting smaller and the stone wall larger.  It's interesting that at this point they are both about the same size.  The wall grows faster than the pile diminishes since every trip down the hill brings more stone.

Standing by itself the stone pile looked  good, but now that the finished wall is in the picture it's rough appearance is obvious. When Ed is in wall building mode the stones fall into place like the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. He has a real talent for it and if he is in the groove it takes considerable effort to drag him away even for lunch.  As long as the stones cooperate he will work there, but sometimes as he tires the muse leaves him and nothing seems to fit together. When that happens he goes and looks for more wall stones to add to the pile.  It's nearly 5:00 and darkness is falling.  He is still out there.  He will come in soon tired and smelly but happy.  He spent this unbelievably beautiful November day doing something he truly loves.