Why we like visual aids… Friday, Jan 3 2014 

Uncategorized acairfearann 14:17

Not directly related to Esperanza, but we have a few similar deeds floating around.  For your amusement! here is a plot description of a nearby property in the early 1800’s.  This is the description in the sale deed of the piece described.  And people wonder why New England property deeds can be so very odd…

“inclosed within the following boundary lines, beginning at the Northwesterly corner and then running East fifteen (minutes struck out, ed.) degrees South six chains and seventeen links then South ten degrees and fifteen minutes West two chains and 82 links then West eighteen degrees North six chains and thirty eight links then West of South 23 links then North 17 (chains) and 45 (links) East 2 chs. 58 links to the first bounds, bounding on my own lands on every side and contains one acre, two Roods, and twenty eight and a half rods of land, and also lands for a road or avenue to said ground, the Northwest line to begin on the Westward bounds of the said lot at 22 links Southward from the Southwestward corner, thence to run West eighteen degrees North about two rods or as far as my lands extend and from said line this road is to extend in width Southward to the now road of travel by the same more or less.”

 

Bachelor Band Thursday, Jan 2 2014 

Modern Photos acairfearann 15:45

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The tom turkey flock (nine currently) out looking for food.  They follow a well established path around the house, mostly staying to the west of it in the woods and hayfields; but they use our drive to cross the road on their way to the neighbor who feeds them.

 

2014 Wednesday, Jan 1 2014 

gardening acairfearann 11:35

May it be better than 2013.*

The old calendar had the new year coming in March.  This area kept that calendar until 1752 or thereabouts, engendering much confusion in those digging through the records of the day.  I confess that January is not the most natural time to start the new year, even if the sun is beginning to swing around.  Winter is really starting in earnest now, we had an early six inches of snow at the beginning of December, but that was followed by rain.  At that time, the ground was not yet frozen and the grass was still greenish in the field.  Now the ground is rock hard and any hint of late green in the grass is entirely gone.  It is cold, clear, and windy.  I am keeping my fingers crossed for one of my clematis, C. montana ‘Mayleen’, it blooms on last year’s growth so if it dies to the ground….well.  Technically, it is a zone 6 plant, I’m hoping the microclimate south of the house is just warm enough.  It managed last winter, but that was a bit milder and the temperature got down to zero but not below.  The weather gurus may claim that the zone here is 6; but neither the plants nor the weather listen to their pontification.  It is zone 5, the old zone 5.  always has been.

 

*I won’t say it could hardly be worse, because it could be indeed.  All things counted, 2013 was a good year.

 

Rose of the Day Monday, Dec 30 2013 

gardening and Modern Photos , , acairfearann 16:38

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It might be ‘Morden’s Blush’ or ‘Winchester Cathedral’ or possibly another that I can’t recall at the moment, beyond it is the old ‘Fourth of July’ rose, a floribunda type that sprawls and blooms with abandon, usually on the fourth of July, and is as tough as nails, name unknown.

 

 

If a tree falls in a forest… Saturday, Dec 28 2013 

Landscapes and Trees acairfearann 13:50

The woods, of course, are far from silent.  Even in a snow storm there is noise: snowflakes falling through the branches with the faintest rasp of ice.  Frozen solid, the crack of a tree yielding to the cold will sound like a light rifle.  On an ordinary day, there is the chatter of squirrels, birds, rustling leaves, maybe even insects, water, a multitude.  But what is wonderful about the forest is that this symphony has nothing, nothing to do with man.  It will go on whether we listen or not.  We can deafen ourselves to it, we have for the most part done so already.  However, we can not silence it.

If a tree falls in a forest, the forest hears.  It could care less if we hear it.  We would do well to remember that.

 

After the Solstice Friday, Dec 27 2013 

Uncategorized acairfearann 20:40

In the monochrome world

Of silent snow

Only the young beech

Flies the fallen’s golden banners

No sunlit shadows

Beneath the wood’s expanse

Black limbs

Against a grey sky.

The earth has turned its course

Still we will wait for

The witch hazel has yet

To forecast the spring

 

THUD Thursday, Dec 26 2013 

Landscapes and Modern Photos , acairfearann 10:12

Well, it had to fall over some day…this big sugar maple snapped about a dozen years ago, the snag toppled the other day in the rain and wind.  For a bit of scale, the young tree it is leaning against is about 8 inches in diameter (dbi). At its greatest, the fallen trunk is around five feet tall and three feet wide.  The second photo is taken from over fifty feet away.  Big snags like this always put me in mind of some of the illustrations and descriptions in Moby Dick, whales of the forest.

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Merry Christmas from Esperanza Wednesday, Dec 25 2013 

Esperanza acairfearann 10:11

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Christmas card from c.1895, it hasn’t changed much. The chair I am sitting in while writing this is different, a few of the paintings on the mantle have been rearranged.  But not all.

 

‘Temperate Climate’ Monday, Dec 23 2013 

Uncategorized acairfearann 11:22

Technically, southern New England has a nice, temperate climate.  Zone 5, just about right for growing a very wide range of plants.  However, ‘temperate’ usually suggests a climate of some stability and moderation….

Below is December’s weather history.  Isn’t the temperature entertaining?  December 17th: 3 F…December 22: 63 F.  No there is no snow left.

KCTNEWHA2 Weather Graph

 

Random Seasonal Photo Friday, Dec 20 2013 

Modern Photos acairfearann 18:07

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Christmas tree, undecorated, from the first landing.

 

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