redpinemountain.com

Just Another Day

Greetings from the frozen Ozarks where the air is colder than Vermont.  Did we bring this weather with us?  Maybe so because Mountain Man and I have received emails from the locals asking us to please depart and never return.  Last time we were here was the worst winter in decades.  Mountain Man assures me it is my fault because I talk non stop about missing the Northeast Kingdom.

Yesterday morning the temperature was in the single digits and the wind was howling.  I was nestled under my comforter with K-Whip snuggled next to me.  Mountain Man was snoring and stillness pervaded. 

All of a sudden I hear “bark, bark, bark.”  “Go back to sleep!” I tell my loud dogs.  But “bark, bark, bark” continued so I thought I’d better look but there had darn well better be a reason.  There was.  Khrysta was doing laps around the house, stopping only momentarily to look in our window as she sailed past. 

Still in my jammies, I pulled on coat and boots to capture my errant mare.  No problem, she came right away and I proceeded to put her back in her pasture.  “Not now, it’s not time to play yet.”  I told her as she offered me a most engaging rear and wave of her leg.

I settled into bed once more, warming my extremities when again I hear “bark, bark, bark.”  No, it can’t be but it was.  Khrysta cirlcing the house bucking, rearing and feeling fine in the frigid weather.  Once more, I put her in her pasture, shut and locked the gate, and headed home but this time, Khrysta didn’t wait until I’m back inside.  No, she goes to a corner of the field and sails over the fence as if it were not there.  If I hadn’t been so dang cold, I would have congratulated her on giving Grand Prix jumpers a run for their money.

Mountain Man and I spent the morning fortifying the fence line.  Whew, by the time we finished, I was ready for a cup of cocoa and a good book.  I was done for the day.  But not Mountain Man.  He decided he needed to gather wood.  We heat with wood both here in the Ozarks and in Vermont but while wood gathering in Vermont is time consuming and hard work, Mountain Man does have modern conveniences (wood splitter and tractor) but here in the Ozarks, he relies on “Mountain Man Power.”  Grumbling about “dang hay burners” and muttering about crazy horse people, my lumberjack set out on his mission.

We lost a beautiful, old oak tree in an ice storm last year and it is the source of our wood although Mountain Man has told me some of the wood is “punky.”  And while I had visions of a tree with spiked branches, Mountain Man tells me it means rotten.

The outdoor boiler and the wheel barrow Mountain Man uses instead of a tractor.

Just getting started with Logan to help.

Toby thinks just perhaps it may be edible.

Mountain Man gets started.  I wanted to photograph his arm muscles because they are buff but he drew the line at that.

Still a lot more of the old oak tree left to chop. Poor Mountain Man misses his hydraulics.

Then, back to work on the house. 

I had lots of questions about the old porch. As it is now, the old porch is very narrow and in really bad shape and would be quite a task to save. But Mountain Man and I love porches and we plan to put an improved version on the new front entrance. At the moment, we’re still working out the details.

Stay warm everyone and thanks for visiting us.