Life in the Bristolwood

I loaded my photos for yesterday’s entry last night, then rested on top of the bed…BIG mistake. Within a few short minutes,  I was out like a light! So, you shall experience a little Sunday stroll through the woods with me a day late!

We piled the cherry wood we had cut up at Mark’s mom’s house just beside the garage.  That wood is such a pretty red color, and each time I pass by it, I pick up a piece and smell it.  Mark thought that behavior a bit odd until I convinced him to smell it. He said it smells so good. And fruity!

On my way down into the woods, I passed by our big Hickory and there was one nut down on the ground.  The nut is surrounded by a thick green husk.  I love these nuts. They are so sweet and tasty!

As I entered the woods, I saw one of my favorite things to photograph….one of Nature’s still lifes!  The textures of the red leathery leaves provide an interesting contrast to the deep reddish-brown decomposing tree trunk.

We bought our land in 1991.  The man we bought from belongs to a family who has lived in this region for generations.  His father owned over 400 acres of land on our hill, which we were told was farmed until the 1940′s.

In the 1980′s, the fellow we bought from decided to have a bulldozer come through the woods to cut paths for snowmobiles.  It was his idea to turn the land into a large snowmobile resort.  For one reason or another, the dream never came to fruition, but our property has some nice trails!

Because we take firewood from the woods, we clean up the woods a bit, making it neat and tidy. The result is very nice….

 At this point, I should interject that we do leave some trees standing for wildlife. 

Here is a portion of the fruits of Saturday’s labors!

Although the pieces of wood on the pile do not appear to be very large, they are fairly large, indeed!  Much of the wood you see was taken from a tall red oak.  It was a tree that had double trunks.  It must have contracted a disease or something caused it to die…thus, the whole kit and caboodle tipped over, taking a couple more dead trees along with it! I cut down as far as I could, but there is still about six feet of firewood on the ground.  We will try to lift the truck off the ground to stand it upright so I can finish cutting.

As we walk through the woods, there are many dead trees still standing. This is another tall red oak that is dead.  We generally leave these trees,  and after awhile, they come down all on their own, allowing me to  cut them up without having to fell them first!

Well, that is a birds-eye look at our woods! Hope you enjoyed our little stroll!