Hallowe'en

Only two carloads of children this year. I think even the dogs were disappointed. On the bright side, I haven't noticed any fire engines rushing about, so perhaps we have been spared the annual arson. A light rain is falling, so we are probably safe.

New Stove

Finally in! After the old one, this is pretty wild. It is self-feeding, self-igniting, entirely automatic. To the left is the old aperture, very neatly filled in by Jo. The vertical chimney promises to vent better during a power outage than the old side stack, and the draft is controlled automatically.

Fimbulvinter

On Thursday, 18 October, as I was changing the oil on the Honda, I noticed a fine dusting of tiny ice pellets. The following Saturday, I changed the tires on all three cars. The snowstorm on the night of Tuesday the 23^rd caught many people by surprise and there were traffic delays and closures. Overnight on Saturday the 27^th we had an ice storm. One of the lilacs split, a branch was torn from the white pine by the drive way, two young larches were bowed over—and the Internet connection is down. Not even my cell data connection works.

It is 10:23, and the internet is back--for now! It has been out for three hours. I'm surprised to find it has been restored so quickly; the power lines have a substantial coating of ice. The strong winds kept this frozen, even as the temperature climbed; now the winds have died down and the ice is melting again.

Red, Red Apples

The apple tree in the front garden is remarkable; the apples are blazing red every autumn. This little snap doesn't do them justice.

Early Winter

It snowed yesterday, but it seemed unthreatening. It resumed this morning. By 7:00 it was coming down in very large flakes. By 7:50, it had accumulated on the roads to such an extent that they were treacherous. Under a thick layer of slush was sheer ice, and the van lost traction repeatedly. The 45-minute commute took one hour and 35 minutes, though much of the time was lost at the bridge. There must have been an accident; certainly there were a few cars that slipped off the road, and a number that were simply parked, for no clear reason, on the shoulder. SUVs. This is early for such weather. Not a good sign!

Whopping Big Crane

This was supposed to be about trees, but home renovations keep intruding. Here, we position the new pellet stove--with a two-ton shop crane.

I think I'm going to like this new tool.