Pam – Page 94 – New England's Narrow Road

My Thoughts on Trees and How They’ve Changed

tree branches in winter — Leafless Tree in Winter

I’ve always loved trees. They are just so amazing in many ways. But now that I live in a place where I have to burn firewood in winter, I look at trees differently. I look at a tree like the one pictured and think, “would that be great firewood or what?” Actually, I don’t know what type of tree this is, but probably it would be great firewood. If I had to guess, I’d say oak.
Without leaves, I have trouble telling an oak from a maple. The beech, with it’s smooth bark, and the birch with it’s white, are no-brainers, but the rest of them leave me baffled.
I don’t know how people go out and hook up their maple syrup collecting apparatus in Spring – and can figure out which trees are the maples.
Being a Florida transplant (even though I grew up in the northeast) I have to learn the tree types that grow around me. I have an acre of land now and out back I have a forest, with some trees that are dead or dying and when I have them cut down, I’ll use them to heat my house.
Trees are beautiful, but they were meant to be used and I don’t feel bad cutting down a tree to serve a purpose. It’s helpful to thin the forest and allow other trees to grow larger too. Then again, some trees are too beautiful to cut down.

♦The Chore of Stacking Firewood
♦Make Birds Happy With Homemade Suet

How to Remove a Tree (answers.com)
Halkias: A tale of two maples (vtdigger.org)

Teens and Halloween

Halloween is a fun time for kids. Everyone loves to dress up, and many adults attend parties where costumes make the event exciting.

But when the kids reach the teen years trick-or-treating becomes a problem. Kids in their early teens are just big kids for the most part and I always found it hard to tell them they were too big to go out and collect candy. If there are younger kids in the family it might seem unfair to them.

Instead of trick-or-treating have the teenager(s) stay home an pass out candy to the neighborhood kids, or send them to a Halloween party, or have one yourself (brave soul).

Most people who see “big kids” out on Halloween immediately assume that those kids are looking for trouble. Some are, but many just want to get one last year in as a trick-or-treater.

For many years my kids enjoyed these Easy, No Bake, Ghost Cookies which are simply Nutter Butter cookies covered with melted, white chocolate. If you are short on time and need holiday cookies, try making them.

Where Would You Take Your Kids in NH?

Cog railroad and mountains — Cog Railway cars at the top of Mt. Washington, NH.

I am working on an article at the Wizzley site where I occasionally write and there is a new contest coming up with the theme: “Things to Do With Kids”… and I chose “in New Hampshire”.

I have not lived here very long, and most of those years were not the type of years I could spend vacationing and taking my kids places. I plan to include the science centers – and a few of them I’ve actually been to, Ruggles Mine, lake cruises, hiking and the Cog railway, but if any readers know of any great places to take kids in NH, please let me know.

(This is my photo taken this summer. And to think we almost didn’t ride the Cog because of the threat of bad weather! Look at that view!)

One Year Ago…

construction — The Mess I Bought a Year Ago

I came across the pictures of my house being re-sided and it reminded me not only of the mess, but the big snowfall that came at the end of October. Fortunately the guys were almost done with my repairs, but I can never look at Fall the same way now. I keep thinking that we could have two feet of snow in another week – or worse – an ice storm like what they got south of here.
It’s not a pleasant thought and on a beautiful, sunny day like this one, with temps in the 60’s, it seems unlikely. But it is New England and the weather can change in a snap.
This photo also reminds me of all the good changes I’ve been able to make in a year. And that I will still need to re-side the entire back of the house in Spring (I hope).
See a couple more pictures of the before and after when my house was being transformed.