New Hampshire – Page 10 – New England's Narrow Road

Burning Wood For Winter Heat

Cordwood under tarps in snow. — Cord wood ready to burn

I’ve changed some things to make burning firewood easier this year. Last year my wood was stacked and covered with blue, plastic tarps. I had to trudge through the snow to the stacks of snow covered wood, brush it off and dig it out, then haul it in through the back sliding door to the living room.

By about mid-winter the snow was so high, and with the thaws and re-freezes, the wood became buried in solid snow hills. I dug out what I could, but mostly I was careful to not use too much. There is always the threat of an ice storm that would cause days without power. If that happened, keeping my small wood stove going for a week or more would really use up the wood.

This year I have a new plan. I had a wood shed built this summer! I also added a door to the back of the garage. I can walk out the back of my garage and within a few steps I will be in the wood shed collecting dry pieces of firewood. This is much better!

New wood shed to keep firewood dry and snow free. — Love the new wood shed!

More is stacked inside the garage and so I feel like I am ready for the winter’s cold. No more shoveling out the tarp covered piles. The wood shed was an investment that I will enjoy for a while.

Fall is Gone Too Fast

Fall leaves and pumpkin — Leaves and Pumpkin

Fall is here, in fact it is almost gone in my neck of the woods. Many trees are now bare, but some still hold onto yellow and orange leaves. The oak in front of my house is mostly green still, so it may be a while before I finish raking leaves.

I haven’t even bought a pumpkin yet. The photo I included here is from last year or maybe the year before. Money is tight, and to splurge on fall decorations like a pumpkin doesn’t seem anything but wasteful to me. I don’t have little kids who would want to carve it, and since we don’t even get Trick-or-Treaters, what is the point? Nature’s decorating is good enough for me.

I always tell myself that I will take long drives and find good spots for photos, but then I don’t. I did get back up to the lake for a few pictures, and that was nice, but the foliage color wasn’t even as good as I had hoped. But I always get outdoors this time of year as much as possible. I grabbed a blanket and had a nap in the sun out at the side yard the other day. I’m grabbing my natural vitamin D while I can.

Apple Picking at Norway Hill Orchard

It’s October and apple picking time in New England. And aren’t we glad that the apples come into season in Fall? Picking at Norway Hill Orchard in New Hampshire is such a treat. Not only does it have a view of Mt. Monadnock, but the hill is a beautiful place to visit. Lovely old (and new) homes line the drive up to the top where the orchard is home to some trees that are over 100 years old.

My neighbor and I headed to Hancock (New Hampshire) mid-day on Thursday, October 3rd, in hopes that it wouldn’t be too crowded, and it wasn’t. But the car paths and “parking” signs we saw as we walked to the through the orchard, told of the many visitors that come on the weekends.

The stand near the road has bagged up apples ready to sell, but we wanted to pick our own. It was a gorgeous, sunny day with temps in the 70’s, so we were not in a hurry. The man at the stand gave us directions to find the Macintosh trees, and also the Courtlands, if we wanted them.

The first trees we found were pretty much picked clean, but after walking further we found trees that were just loaded with gorgeous fruit. The bags fill up fast, and we stuffed them to overflowing. At $10.50 for a peck, it’s not exactly cheap to pick your own apples, but they are as fresh as you can get, and it’s a once in a year treat.

Save money by choosing to fill up the bag with “drops”. Gather apples off the ground, which are still good, but much less money. It’s an honor system, but I think the man could tell if you lied and said they were drops but they weren’t. He looked at our bags and said, Oh, you picked from the trees. He’s an expert!

We asked about the Macouns which would be coming in next, and he handed each of us one to try. I may go back if my bag empties too soon from all the pies, muffins, pancakes, and crisps I’ll be making.

A Spring Tradition Begun Again: Fuchsia Hanging Planter

pink fuchsia hanging basket — Pretty Pink Fuchsia

Fuchsia is a word I always spell incorrectly, but I love fuchsia flowers. And I love the fact that they enjoy being grown under a tree, since I have a bunch of those.
When I first moved to a little town in New Hampshire, I discovered these pretty hanging planters and bought myself one that was red and purple flowering. I decided to have one every Spring for the front yard. Then we lost the house and I rented for ages and my mind was not on decorating the yard, but now I’m back in Spring yard decorating mode. So I had to decide on a color. The nursery I visit is HUGE and they had hundreds of fuchsia’s it seemed and I decided to go with the dark and light pink.
It is happily growing under the beech trees out front and I enjoy seeing it there. They make great Mother’s Day gifts… hint hint.