Getting Ready for Winter

Just in case everyone thought we didn't work while we were on vacation, I had to share these with you. Yes that is a John Deere, actually 2 of them. After all, he needs something to haul the wood in for the winter and to clear the driveway when it snows. Why don't you join us as we get the wood ready. The pile you see is seasoned firewood. It has all been cut into 32 inch lengths and has been out there since last summer. If you throw raw wood into your furnace, you will get a lot of pitch and sap that creates pretty dirty chimneys and fires that burn too quickly. Dave has a wood stove in the cellar. It heats a large hot water heater that in turn heats the house. They also have an oil back up, so they don't have to worry about the house freezing if they go on vacation. The wood pile is about half way down the driveway. Dave has a hydrolic spliter on the back of one tractor, so we take turns loading the bucket and driving the load to the house. Lets go around the back to the right side. Dave and Jill had thought a lot about the shape and function of the house. On the right side, he has another garage door that opens up to a wood chute. Open the door, dump your bucket and voila, you have wood in your cellar. Of course, it isn't done then. Once we get about 4 loads into the cellar, then we stop for lunch. After that, we head downstairs to stack the wood. That way, he can get his supply in for the winter. Then the whole process starts again. We started with about 4 rows and by the time we finished, we were down to about one. Dave says it made things a lot easier with the help. Usually one log will last almost all night, as this is hard wood. I can tell you, after spending some time doing this, who needs Wii Fit. LOL. We all slept well that night.