Summer at Last

It is finally getting hot; in fact, the Crick has dried up and Panama is very low. I decided to see how the growing season was coming along.

The new growth in the woodlot is rather disappointing; as you can see, the conifers barely put on any length (incidentally, I love the rubbery feel of new needles--so unlike what they eventually become; it's like bumblebees that only tickle).

This is a balsam fir. There is about an inch of new growth--and this one is in a relatively well-lit spot near the path.  

On the other hand, the red pines in the Grove are candling very nicely: several inches on all the trees. 

Near the house, this black spruce has about six inches of new growth--and it has already hardened off! You can barely see the colour difference; it is about two weeks ahead of the trees deeper in the lot. 

                                                                          And just to show that it isn't all dismal, the flower baskets around the house are doing very well.  We have been basking in almost ideal weather: hot days (c. 30° C) and cool nights (around 12 C). 

June Gloom

Much of the month has been cold and dreary, dark and gloomy; we have had to fire up the woodstove several times. Even the hydrangea seems dispirited! It rained during the trip to Halifax, both there and back again. However, brighter days are ahead.

Spring

After a cool May, we had some glimpses of sun and warmth, but the clouds settled in and it has been overcast and rainy for the last two weeks. The apple tree blossomed gamely, and here it is on one of the brighter days of June.

Sheila's Brush

We had a taste of Sheila's brush--though it's long after St. Patrick's day--and some persistent low temperatures. We've been having wood fires, and we would certainly have fired up the pellet stove if there had been any pellets left.

I'll have to work on my snowflake photography--the flakes really were prominent and fluffy. Here they just seem like background noise.

Spring Cleaning

The snow is gone, it's spring, and we have been cleaning up. Apart from the vast junk heave-ho, we've been crown lifting and then eliminating the boughs; this little unit helps a lot:

It used to jam, but we've figured out its likes and dislikes, and now we cruise along for hours without incident. Like all Champion equipment, it starts readily, runs like mad, and makes an APPALLING noise! The Husky helmet (with ear protection) is NOT just for show.

April Snow

What a difference 24 hours can make. The first week of April saw lovely, gentle spring weather--followed by a substantial snowstorm. Even deep in the woods the snow was in full retreat, and then the storm came.

The sky became overcast and sullen, the colours faded away, and it looked once more like the bleak midwinter.

 The branches of the trees were clear of snow and ice, and the buds were beginning to emerge.  Fortunately, the temperatures remained mild, but visually it might as well be January once more.  Spring comes but slowly.

Ashes to Ashes, Dust to Dust

My BusyBee dust collection kit arrived--hoses and blast gates. There's even an attachment I can fit to the table saw. While I plan to mount the dust extractor outside the workshop, for now I have stationed it next to the thickness planer. It is not only more efficient than the old ShopVac, but much quieter.  True, it is killing me with invisible microparticulate, but at least it isn't noisy. I routed the hose so that I could still use the top rollers of the planer. As soon as I started it, chips began to swirl into the lower bin--and the planer wasn't on yet: it was pulling out shavings that the vacuum had failed to. Having done this much and planed a couple of oak boards to three-quarter inch thickness, I started tidying. At first, I simply swept; the previous attempt at drawing away the shavings had allowed many to escape and drift about the shop. I soon found myself stumbling about in the clutter; once again, so much junk has accumulated in the workshop that I cannot really move about easily. Recalling that the Lion's Club had kindly set up a scrap metal hopper, I began to look about for objects to dump. Most were made of wood or plastic, but a few items came to hand, including this blast from the past. This is the 60 amp switch from the original electrical installation.

It has a satisfying heft, and I was strangely reluctant to part with it, but I will NEVER EVER use it for anything, so out it went.  It was a product of the Electrical Manufacturing Company of Montmagny, Quebec. They seem to have changed their name in 1965, so the switch is presumably older. I also found the original distribution centre, with its six glass fuses still in place. This provided far less than the house needed, even with its minimal lighting. They managed by scabbing on an extra fused holder--a porcelain piece with two more 15-amp circuits. Finally, they ran the wiring for the range directly to the main switch, so it was fused only by the paper main fuses.  Here is the old panel, complete with handy labels. You can still read "kitchen," "upstairs," "dryer," and (rather illegible) "living room/fridge." I well remember the dance we had to do around its limitations--if the pump was on together with the stove, it was important NOT to use the dryer!  Well, we survived.

In any case, the day began with wood working but shifted
decidedly toward trash removal. I suppose that was the beginning of spring cleaning. It is quite cathartic--so many things become burdens:  the alternator salvaged from the Lada in the Canadian Tire parking lot; the front strut for the 1984 Honda, still in its package; my original thickness planer, with cracked bearings and seized drive chain. . . .