Living on the edge of a beautiful forest

Living on the edge of the Boreal forest; 

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly! 

There are endless discoveries, those which provide a sense of undeniable beauty, those hiding within the denseness of a darkened forest, no matter what season.

Truly, there is such a thing as fast becoming in a state of awe, just while momentarily standing quietly in the carved forest trails, witnessing the breathtaking 100 feet plus trees who have been breathing oxygenated life into our area for many years.

As you've seen glimpses of our gorgeous forest which surrounds and consumes a few acres of our property, those in our recent autumn posts, how about the long overdue glimpse of what it resembled shortly before all the late spring and summer foliage appeared?

It's a thing of wonder to capture the abundance of change each new month brings, with so much scenic vistas all bound up in four distinct seasons within any given year, and to watch the life forming and living within, fully dependent on its environment. 

 Ontario's white trilliums, our provincial flower, 

explodes on our forest floor in spring! 

Gorgeous!

As winter disappears, and spring arrives shortly after the great thaw of all things snowy white, truly it's really spellbinding, to witness just how much thick foliage grows, closing a window to the more wide open spaces for pathway visibility out there. 

I very much enjoy sitting a while and taking in moments of forest loving sessions, peeking "through" the forest, wondering what's happening out there today, who might come to call, or whom we might not wish to call actually. There is such peace residing in the boundaries of nature, and great solace in also knowing "what" resides there within those clusters of the Boreal forest out yonder.

Last week while walking the trails with my hubby, a rather large white tailed deer bounded off, leaving both of us in awe. Maybe he was the deer who had visited me briefly one weekend morning, the one I ran for the camera only to find him gone, and the one my kids teased me incessantly about for weeks to come. I have news for them; "He's real kids! Even your father saw him this time!". (grinning) 

Our entire family worked hard this year, rebuilding and forging new trails and tending to their continued path clearing growths as we are able. 

Until a few folks came over and enjoyed these same trails with ATV riding aplenty, there was only one timing when we wondered if we would lose these new forged trails for good, like the last time we attempted such a thing the year before. Here's what they looked like after a one week trip west, at least what we returned to. (Sad face inserted here) Soon, and after several redneck rowdy ATV riding sessions, all was well again, and continues to be to date. Yay!

These Autumn days continue to offer us some pretty spectacular scenes of beauty, but just a few months back, here are the real photos of what remains "within" those more dense scenes surrounding out trails, the nasty mounds we never got to on the grand list of desired and hoped for forest clearing. 

There will indeed be more clearing and more work next spring to rid our forest floor of the clutter which remains there, for now. Foliage has grown over these mounds, hiding them for now, so they no longer bother us. In summer however, these types of mound messes can provide forest fire issues, so next year we're hoping to have them tended to and eventually forever gone.

The thick and lush forest foliage allows us to know its spring clearing timing. That is, after the mushy snow sinking, and before the dense, bug infested door slamming. 

During our summer and fall seasons, we no longer dwell on spring chores, rather we can simply meander within the trails, admiring everything anew awaiting us there each time we set foot out back. 

Meanwhile, those grounds are so much better than they were before we did our damage last spring. 

We'll keep plugging along, mostly making every attempt to grab our shoes, and get out there to walk our one kilometer plus trails daily. We have big plans for this area of our property, well, someday for sure. 

This winter we will tap some dozen tall maple trees in the hope of our own maple syrup, but also, we've decided a lovely "studio" getaway would be just perfect for my hubby and I to get away and work on our many future creative projects, he with his art easel standing near window, and for me, well the sky is the limit on that one. 

With four very distinct seasons, here's four of the same views of our back property, photos all snapped from the back deck of our home looking out to the forest where our trails await our explorations, and never ending adventures. 

(So which photo below is your favorite season?)

Our forest in four seasons;

 

Spring

Summer 

during our worst drought

 Autumn 

in its full color splendor

Winter 

in its snowy white beauty.

Well, I hope you enjoyed this little seasonal tour of our forest property. It is such a privelege to live here, in a glorious and most beautiful residential setting. I will never take for granted this property, something my hubby and I would have begged for so long ago when all of our children lived at home. It was a dream of ours to end up on a larger piece of property....someday. 

I suppose, this really is our "someday". 

Thank you God! 

These autumn days

 Winter is an etching, 

spring a watercolor, 

summer an oil painting, 

and autumn a mosaic of them all.

~ Stanley Horowitz

These Autumn Days present us with enormously, breathtaking beauty. 

With colors so splendid, even the ground we walk upon lights up our way with its fresh hues of polka dotted autumn palette presence. 

Slowly the earth prepares itself for the colder, much more wintry days ahead, and so too must we take a lesson from this seasonal lead. 

Tomorrow (very early) in the morning, a crew of men will show up to clean our furnace and perform a duct cleaning. I expect them to arrive by 8am, and leave somewhere over two hours later. 

For those who have loved ones with respiratory issues, like we have here, I swear that this is a very necessary and wonderful way to clean house and air before windows and doors remain sealed tightly for several months in winter. 

Our back garden doors look quite funny about now, everyone leaning to the right to see outdoors because the temporary window enclosure doesn't allow for glimpses. I'm sure I'll hear this week from the glass company to plan a time for our new door window to arrive, with its seal all refreshed and airtight again. 

There's just something about having the seal go on a doorway, when a white fog is the usual dismal sight. And, the timing of having this done is so much better than the last time this happened, when the glass on the other door seal ceased functioning, and an entire enclosure was necessary for the workers to remove, and then replace on sight with a fresh snowfall on the ground. 

 

I'm loving a daily walk, weather permitting, around our forest trails. The colors continue to wow me! 

Two days ago, my hubby and I donned our jackets and headed back there for a "forest walk date", small basket in hand, to walk and admire the beauty of the scenery, and to collect a few colorful leaves for pressing. 

We pointed to almost a dozen very HUGE maple trees which we have decided to go ahead and tap this year, hoping for our very own supply of fresh syrup as a result in spring. 

In winter, we will come back here often, decorating two small pine trees out there, and perhaps create a few fairy houses for winter's warmth for a fun imaginative delight. 

Meanwhile, the rains have come, perfect timing for us with all we have done around our home lately. The roofers were able to arrive one day last week, in the perfect window timing of rain both before and after. 

With a 12x12 pitch roofing, the men required a dry or close to dry climb. I'm so thankful for that little reprieve from the weather showers that day. We are all sealed, re-caulked, and ready for winter now. What a surprise to learn once again, two little holes were found anew next to the metal areas up there, perfect for creepy crawler thingies like mice to enter our home for nesting time. Evidence of one in here already makes me wonder how many more may have entered over the coming weeks and months if these hadn't been found, noticed at all, and taken care of. So pleased for these little things in life! 

All outdoor metal items were wiped and removed from our decks last week, just in time for cool frosty mornings to wake up and witness. Our storage room was tidied, revamped and replenished with these items. I've only left our wooden chairs on the larger deck for a bit longer, but I imagine these will even come inside the next week or two. 

Autumn. One cannot help but admire the way it quickly sneaks in after a summertime season, and how quickly it does indeed pass us by! 

In the entire circle of the year there are no days so delightful as those of a fine October, when the trees are bare to the mild heavens, and the red leaves bestrew the road, and you can feel the breath of winter, morning and evening—no days so calm, so tenderly solemn, and with such a reverent meekness in the air. 

~Alexander Smith

O hushed October morning mild...

O Hushed October

by; Robert Frost

O hushed October morning mild,

Thy leaves have ripened to the fall;

Tomorrow’s wind, if it be wild,

Should waste them all.

The crows above the forest call;

Tomorrow they may form and go.

O hushed October morning mild,

Begin the hours of this day slow.

Make the day seem to us less brief.

Hearts not averse to being beguiled,

Beguile us in the way you know.

Release one leaf at break of day;

At noon release another leaf;

One from our trees, one far away.

Retard the sun with gentle mist;

Enchant the land with amethyst.

Slow, slow!

For the grapes’ sake, if they were all,

Whose leaves already are burnt with frost,

Whose clustered fruit must else be lost—

For the grapes’ sake along the wall.

Ten Things I'm Thankful For - Autumn edition...

Ten things. 

Ten itty bitty things are included here; just like a bitty drop of sand picked up washing through our fingers while resting at the water's edge, one can only imagine how many more handfuls we can recall, and offer plenty of thanksgiving for every single day.

Speaking of Thanksgiving, this weekend marks our Canadian Thanksgiving, and our birthday girl will share the festivities of the exact same day this year! 

Twenty. So young, and yet that's it for the teen years, and onto full onboard adult everything. I'm confident she is already fully there with baby and all, just a remarkable gal that one. 

My list is l-o-n-g this past while, so very lengthy! And for that reason alone, I'm going to switch up my usual original format below by including thoughts and photos as I think of them, with a quick and simple upload. 

As usual they come in no particular order at all... so bear with me if you please.  

Blessings;
Renee
 
Oh, and p.s., some of the photos aren't great as they were snapped on my iphone camera. But, on the brighter side, I have them! Yay!

I am thankful for;

 1- Smiles found in unexpected places, like when Tim Hortons celebrated their "smile week" by decorating their cookies and donating proceed funds to their special charities.

 2 - New neighbors whose home is poking through the forest edge who will prove to be a great addition to our area. I can't wait until they move in! 

3 - Our four new patio chairs which I have chosen to leave out for another few weeks yet. What a cozy area to waltz out to from the kitchen doors, a great spot for sunshine kisses and fresh air moments.

4 - Our tree faller, who came, who cut, and who cleared all away in an eight hour window of time. He fell trees that looked healthy until one looked up and noted the top halves completely dead, about to fall, perhaps on someone while passing by in the dead of winter. 

Safety reigns high here, so they came down. He also trimmed many branches leading pesky chipmunks and squirrels onto our rooftop on the side of the house, and now that dead hemlock tree out back is forever gone. Thrilled! 

5 - Science experiments in the kitchen are back! I was enthralled by how well she took to this new science textbook, and how much she just loves it! 

6 - An impromptu invitation to ride horses with friends at the barn. Our daughter has grown so tall this past year that she is now officially (and sadly to her) grown from riding the ponies at the barn. These days, it's all about Ozzie the big black horse in the center of the three. Her two good friends are still riding their special ponies, but the one on the far left graduated to our daughter's past horse show pony named Chester. All are happy! 

Another impromptu ride, a "spot lesson" that so many of the girls are taking as an optional class on Saturday mornings, those gals who have spent an individual, intensive half hour with their coach pointing out all the weaknesses each should work on. The line of trees in the background caught my eye, so much color over there! 

7 - Hide and seek with our youngest grandbaby. Oh there you are! (She's rolling folks, uh boy she's really rolling around everywhere these days! :)

 There's also been other fun things that make us laugh, and giggle, and find most precious with this youngun.

 8 - A renewed interest in daily piano playing for the younger two fills our home with music, sweet, sweet music these days. Yippee! 

9 - Surprise photos on my camera! After perusing a lovely website for a braiding tutorial with our younger daughter, she's been hard at work practicing on her own hair. I found this self snapped photo on my camera, proof that she's doing a great job so far. 

10 - Autumn changes in our kitchen; I'm NOT going to celebrate shorter days and our time savings rollback coming soon, however I will celebrate having our return of candlelight dinners. 

Homemade leek and cauliflower soup, with freshly baked scones make for a lovely stick-to-the-ribs evening meal when everyone is home together. 

And then, of course, there are the new to me cookbooks I'm trying out from the library to peruse, list recipes to try, and make grocery lists from. I already know I want the whole grain cooking one for sure. It's just fantastic! 

There you have ten things I'm thankful for this Autumn, with many more behind the scenes not mentioned yet here. 

Oh, sure, as always and forevermore, there will certainly be more to come.

A final note, something I'm very, very thankful for that I'm at last sharing here in the hope someone else may find this useful. 

I'm so grateful for my health, which is vastly improving. The discovery of being estrogen dominant has made me miserable for over a year, or more. Add to that a few womanly complications resulting in a fast slide to anemia, and a hypo-thyroid issue, and it all makes for a recipe discomfort. 

But now, I have good news; for the past three months I have conquered all of these areas of concern while in the capable hands of a GREAT Naturopath, who has really made my life a whole lot better, in more ways than one! 

I am a NEW woman since first attending my Naturopathic doctor. I am. He has boosted me into normalcy again, and I credit him with literally saving me from my earlier misery. 

I am making my health, my nutrition, and that of my family's a higher priority than ever now! My husband also frequents the same doctor, and though it's slower going for him, I cannot imagine not having been introduced to his recommendations, the estrogen detox of body and liver, the IV's that have infused my body with goodness, and the glutathione, a super antioxidant which will hopefully grant me protection from illness. A mother cannot afford to suddenly become unwell. I'm just so impressed! Can you tell?