October 2, 2017 Done With The Wood!

Rounds for next year.

Friday 9/29. With rain in the forecast, I wanted to get more dry pine needles for fire starter.  I gathered three large garbage bags, filled the small garbage can and the basket in the house.  That ought to do it for the winter as I already have several bags in the wood shed.

After inside chores, JB cut the the fir tree into 27 rounds and drove them to the splitter.  I did some splitting and loaded the tractor bucket five times, which JB took to the porch.

By noon, clouds covered the sky and began to drop their load in the form of a light sprinkle just after I brought in the laundry.  JB helped me get the wood onto the porch where I stacked it into 2/3 of the second south row.  The rain was never more than a sprinkle and by 4:00 pm the wind had picked up and blown most of the clouds away.  Our high for the day was 64.

Wild rose bushes account for a large portion of our bright Fall colors.  Such a delight for the eyes.

I think I am finally tiring of splitting wood.  I really do enjoy doing it, and not only for the activity itself, but because it is an excuse to put off other projects which I do not enjoy, as this is the one that HAS to be done.

Saturday 9/30. It was 42 and mostly clear this morning with a breeze, but clouds soon moved in.

I gathered branches from that last tree that were ripped off when JB pulled it down to the splitting area.  Then I split some more wood.  We moved it to the porch in four loads where I stacked it, finishing the outside east row and 1/3 of the inside row.  Pretty sure that is it for splitting wood this year.

The wind wisked clouds across the sky all day and our high was 60.

Sunday 10/1. October arrived with a chilly temp of 38, mostly clear skies and a light breeze, and there was more snow on the mountains.  I put a fire in the stove when I got up to let the dogs out at 4:00 am.

There is an 80' swath of large, medium and small branches on either side of where we felled the sentinel pine tree.  I have been gathering kindling from there most days, but this morning I worked on moving the large branches to the wood cradle.  I also gathered more kindling and finished the row of it on the porch.

Then I cleaned up the splitting area, stacking rounds left for next year, raking the ground, and putting the oil and gas away.  I am DONE!

JB and I worked on getting poles to keep the door open on the root cellar when we need to retrieve dog and chicken food.

JB's brothers have offered to come over to help after his operation.  How cool is that!  His youngest brother will be over on the 16th and stay til the 19th or 20th.  He can help me take down the tipi, tilt the panels, cut some wood in the wood cradle and perhaps give me a break so I can go Down There.  If we still need help, his other brother will come over on the 20th.  Wow!  He has such a great family.

The afternoon brought very dark clouds in from the southwest, but they split and went to the north and south.  Our high for the day was 60.

Monday 10/2. It is 40 and overcast this morning.  Feels a bit empty not having any more splitting to do.

Thought for the day: Kindness works.  It's like a boomerang: It always comes back to you, even if not from the person you gave it to.  Gayle King