Firewood Season

Yes, it is time to stoke the furnace and get heat into the house.  Unfortunately,...

We are still getting the firewood cut, stacked, dried, and moved into the wood storage area. 

As always, we are late with most chores - not because we are lazy, old and slow (well, that could be part of the problem), or just relaxing too much - no, we just have a lot of chores.  And, at times, priorities are pushed down the line of our ever-expanding 'to do' list.

Glenn did have a huge pile of long wood cut from his logging operation from last fall/winter.  So, the wood was waiting for firewood making.  I guess we could say the pile was drying out.  Of course, cut and split makes the drying process faster and more complete.  In reality, firewood should be cut, split, and drying one year ahead of its use - never gonna happen, not at our farm.

Finally, this week, Glenn was able to get his help (a hardworking high school senior) to forge through and complete the splitting (via mechanical means - so much easier - I know, I use to split firewood in my younger years, by hand,  with a splitting maul) and stacking of most of our firewood for this season. Then, they filled the firewood storage area at the house. This area holds about one week's worth of our firewood needs - obviously, temperature dependent. The colder, the more wood is needed.  The rest was stacked in the tin storage building or thrown into a heap.  But, all firewood is split - yeah!

However, before the furnace can be fired up, Glenn has to reconnect the hot water heating system.  He severed the system by cutting out a heating unit while he was renovating Matt's bedroom into the guest room.  In addition, Glenn needed to replace a very noisy valve with a new, more quiet one.  I hated the banging and loud racket that occurred every time the circulator turned on.  It took several trips to several plumbing supply stores to find the correct valve.  Valve is now in our possession.

Now, to find the time to reconnect valve and heating unit.  And, time is running out. Even though today is a shirt-sleeves kind of day, freezing temperatures are in the forecast for later this week. 

One saving grace is that we have a small, gas fireplace that will take the chill out of the air on the main level of the house.   I stress...take the chill out, not the freeze out.

Bang, clang, bang...what is that sound?  OMG, Glenn is actually in the basement, while I write,  working on the heating system - GO GLENN!

Actually, one small leak and one quick trip to the hardware store later and he is DONE!

And the firewood, for the most part, is ready (may bit a bit green) and waiting.