The tide is high--it must be spring!

Spring has truly sprung, ushering in the annual basement flood. I went to do laundry this morning and found an inch of water at the bottom of the stairs. Time to hook up the sump pump, one of the many rites of spring.
Yesterday I heard woodcocks buzzing in the early morning and at dusk. Today, it was flocks of robins and a horde of grackles, creaking in the treetops. And the jonquils are sprouting up in the woods.
I still have to get the fire stoked in the morning, but let it die down through the daylight hours. By dusk, as the damp chill returns, it's time to relight the stove. The forecast is for a few inches of snow and rain for tomorrow, so I've stacked wood around the stove to have a ready supply of dry heat!
The yard looks tired and trashed from the winter; wood chips and bark litter the driveway, twigs and dog poop decay on the lawn. I started in on my spring cleaning today, neatening and tidying the place up.
Soon it will be time to ready the garden beds, but half of them still lie dormant under the snowbanks.

Woodchick

Overwhelmed by the pile of wood I needed to trim down, I asked John for a chainsaw lesson. And after using the machine, I have a new respect for how people managed to harvest wood in the good old days. Yes, it was much faster, but man, what a heavy thing to wield, all while a whizzing chain is flying around. I did only a small amount and then handed it back over to John, my arms like macaroni. I figured it was too dangerous for me to be using if my arms were tired. So now I've earned a new nickname, Woodchick!

Stacking Winter Wood

Ah, another summer chore that I'm finally getting done in October! After chunking up Big Bertha, with a lot of help from my father and brothers, we finally got most of the wood split last weekend. The pile sat in the center of the driveway for a week, with John and I trying to noodle our way around it to park the cars. Each day, after work, I'd stack a little more until darkness called a halt. Today we made some serious headway. Unfortunately, a fair amount still needs to be cut down to fit in the little Jotul. We will be all set for wood for the next two years.