More tree stuff, and fox in a tree.....

 January 23, 2025

Excuse me just a tick, while I wax eloquent about this wonderful weather we've had over the last week, and hopefully ongoing for a while!

Beautiful clear mornings, the stars, sharp pricks of white in the sky's inky blackness. The slowly lightening sky, until the orb of day is visible, her 'crinkle' light sparkling through the bare branches of the trees at the SE corner of our clearing, the sunlight hitting the very tips of the tall spruce spires on the west side. Gradually, the sunlight creeps down until it brushes across the solar panels. By then, the whole world is bathed in glorious sunshine.

Some mornings, I throw on a coat, hat and mitts, and just go out to inhale deeply of the beautiful crisp air, and watch the pinkish sky turn to blue. This January is so much more like normal, or should I say, more like winters we have enjoyed in the past. Of course, not being dressed optimally for the weather on these early morning forays, it is so good to come back inside to the heat emanating off of this!

Wood harvesting goes on. Hubby dropped a big, beech tree that has grown along the E side of our clearing.

It was still in relative good health, although signs of the encroaching Beech Bark Fungus are there. We decided to harvest it while the wood is still fairly sound. It is a branchy beast, having grown with full sun exposure on it's W side, so a bit west side heavy. It was relatively easy to aim it's drop zone across the clearing.

We will be beavering away at clearing up sticks and twigs after getting all the usable wood, for some time to come. Apparently the ATV is not as enamoured with this weather as I am, and refused to start when required to start hauling log rounds, so the tractor was urged into action, boosted to start, then the balky hydraulics warmed with a heat gun, then a tow job to bring the ATV back to the garage....frozen carburetor. We used the tractor bucket then, to roll and pile the log rounds into, and ferry them to the pile behind the barn. Believe me, we sure didn't notice that it was cold out!

The coldest morning over this stretch was just -24C (-11F). Most days the temperature rises to the low minus teens C (12ish F). The air has stayed mostly still and calm, so there hasn't been much of a wind chill factor.

This is what we call the 'Glove Tree'.

Along one of our trails, someone in the past has temporarily put their gloves in the crotch of this tree, who knows for what reason...and forgotten them. They are now totally encased in wood.

Another human sign is the 'Sole/Soul' Tree.

The sole of a boot has been nailed on this cedar tree. We routed the Cedar Bush trail to come by it, picking the highest and driest route, as in the spring, it can be quite wet underfoot. The cedar bush is behind my garden shed, delineated by a stone fence on its east and west sides, and seems to be a place in the past, where refuse was tossed. We have found broken crockery and rusted cans poking up in one area of it. 

 Some mornings there has been a skiff of new snow, just enough to be able to see the tracks from our foxes, who have been diligently scouting the perimeter, on the hunt for vermin.

And, finally...fox in the crab apple tree.... (taken through the window..just a short jump up for him.)

Foxy, did you really think you could reach the suet feeder from here????