More Snow!

A few weeks ago, there was another large snow storm – we got over 30 inches in a couple days.

A picture of the house and main barn a few days after the storm.

We already had over 30 inches in a single storm early in the winter. With this latest storm, it pushed us over our annual average snowfall for the winter.

A panoramic view of the snow from the woods behind the pastures.

Another picture of the pastures from the woods.

Starting a few days after the storm, the temperature warmed up and the snow has been steadily melting since then. We are now down to just a few piles of snow near the driveway. This storm may have been the last significant measurable snow of the winter.

A panoramic shot of the pasture covered in snow.

The animals usually stay inside while it is snowing. The chickens also don’t like to walk on soft snow but they will walk on harder packed snow.

The goats don’t really seem to mind the snow on the ground once the storm stops and the sun comes out – here is a shot of the goats hanging out in the snow next to the barn.

Goats hanging out near the barn.

Clearing downed trees

One night, I was woken up at around 3 am with a loud noise (similar to a thunder clap) followed by a loud crash.

Just outside the house, a large chunk of one of our old maple trees broke off the main portion of the tree and fell onto the driveway.

A large piece of one of our old maple trees broke off in the middle of the night.

A large piece of one of our old maple trees broke off in the middle of the night.

With a scheduled meet-up happening at our house about a week later, we had limited time to remove the tree and clear the driveway to provide enough parking spaces.

Click through to see how we finished the process.

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Cutting Down Trees (Take 2)

After a winter storm, we had 2 pine trees snap part way up their trunks and fall over.  Here is a picture a few days after they came down.

Two trees down during a winter storm.

Two trees down during a winter storm.

Long-time readers may recall that last time a tree came down, we were unable to handle it ourselves and instead we hired a tree service for assistance.  This time the trees were not immediately threatening to fall on any of the fences and the trees were a little smaller in diameter, so we decided to try to handle it ourselves.

This was made possible by a new tool we received as a holiday gift..

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Cutting Down Trees

As winter approaches, we have had a number of storm fronts move through the area with a lot of wind.  A portion of our property is adjacent to neighboring farm fields so there are no wind breaks to slow down any strong winds.  We often have a variety of small branches come down after a typical storm.

Recently, we had a larger tree snap near the ground during a storm.  The broken tree was left leaning against another tree and looked likely to fall to the ground during a subsequent storm. Unfortunately the tree was hanging over our pasture fencing so if it fell all the way to the ground, it would have smashed the fence. We couldn’t just leave it alone to fall down on its own.

Broken Tree Partially Standing.

Broken Tree Partially Standing.

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Too Many Leaves!

We have a lot of trees on our property, including a lot of trees around the yard near the house. We like trees and they provide good shade in the summer and habitats for local wildlife.

However, this fall our yard was almost completely covered in leaves. For a good portion of the yard, by the time the trees had lost most of their leaves, the leaf cover was at least 2 inches deep.

Raking the Leaves

Raking the excess leaves after mowing.

Click continue for photos of the massive leaf compost pile.

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Fall Foliage Photos

The past week or two was near the peak for fall foliage this year. The woods on our property have a large percentage of maple trees, so the initial color change is primarily to yellow, but there are also other trees with deeper oranges and reds.

For those who couldn’t make it out into the country-side during peak season for leaf viewing, here are some photos of our property decked out in full fall colors.

Fall Colors 1

Click through to see many more photos of the changing leaves.

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