Rave came for a visit today. A short visit because she wanted to get back home before dark. Understandable. She helped me prune some lower branches that were blocking my view into the woods. I was getting the larger branches with a chain saw until the battery died.Then we went for a stroll in my woods and help me identify some of them. There were some she couldn't indentify some she made up a name that I can't say here.
We gathered up a lot of small dead limbs for kindling and also found that a lot of my poplar trees are dead or dying.
Thanks so much for your help Rave. I'll repay you by helping you with your shed.
T'was my pleasure, Terry. You had your very first Deforestation Day. It will be one of many. I'm glad that we got a lot of the saplings out of the way and many of those nasty multiflora roses. Those things are
You didn't tell 'em that your chainsaw battery died whilst cutting down a poplar, and so I just reached over and pushed the whole derned tree down. You shoulda seen your expression. That was priceless. I had a good time too. Are those white poplars? Their charcoal makes good black powder
Nope - sorry - They are yellow poplars often called tulip trees.
It would appear that sweet Raven has a salty vocabulary. Whooda thunk it !!!!!
"Salty"?
Sometimes the best words for the occasion are ... colorful. 
There's only one positive thing I can think of about snow, after you get past the "oh, it looks so pretty" stage. As long as you do your shopping early in the season!
Last winter was brutal, so the snow sometimes stayed on the ground for a few weeks. Back in Chicagoland, you wouldn't see the ground from November until March some years. It's nothing like that here.
