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(Here’s what’s happening in our world this week, including the continuing adventures of Charley, the little black cat that Tim sent me the day after he passed. Read all about her shenanigans here. -jb)
This week in our world, we’re busy getting ready for winter. For me, that means moving, splitting, cutting and stacking wood. For Charley, that means brushing up on her relaxing-by-the-woodstove skills. She’s making really great progress.
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Most of the time, whenever I sit by the fire, she’s immediately on my lap. This works great for both of us. She gets a place to light, and I get a warm and toasty fur blanket. Right now it’s warm outside, but we’ve had a few cold days and a few fires so far this September.
She’s already made it quite clear that she won’t tolerate any wood in her space. Not even one chunk. Have I not learned my lesson yet?
When not unwinding by the fire, she’s usually lying in her bed on my computer desk or on her cat condo in the living room. Most days, the neighborhood cat known as Daddy Spot will stop by for a confab through the window. They seem to enjoy each others’ company.
Sprucing Up the Woodlot
As for me, I decided to spruce up the woodlot this year and make it better and more practical.
If you’ve been following the Gazette for a while, you know that after Tim passed, I was a little intimidated about the whole wood process. That was always his department. But since I can’t really afford propane, I had to take on the wood task, with him guiding me from the great beyond. (I do have a propane furnace, but only use it for backup.)
Tim had showed me how to use a chainsaw, and after brushing up on my skills, I think I’ve got the hang of it again. As I’ve mentioned before here on the Gazette, the wood gave me something to focus on after losing Tim.
As with a lot of things, once we get past the fear and intimidation of doing things we’ve never done or don’t normally do, they can be a real godsend. I love the whole process of heating with wood. I find the focused task of cutting and moving wood to be therapeutic. When the world gets overwhelming, I go outside and move wood. Or as I like to call it, stress-stacking.
The first couple of winters after Tim passed, I had enough of the wood HE cut to get me through the winters. Last year, I accumulated enough to get me through the winter, but then got involved in staining the house — another project that was suddenly mine. It’s been 30 years since Tim and I built our log home ourselves, so it’s in desperate need of some TLC. I got one side stained last year and hope to do another this year before snow flies.
Here’s me last year, power-washing the logs before staining. I don’t think I really wrote about this last year, but I’ll write about it once I get into it again — AFTER the firewood task!
Anyway, because of the staining project, the mountain of wood I accumulated last year never got stacked. So I dug out a plastic sled and ended up hauling wood from its mountain out front around to the back door and then inside to the woodstove. Through the snowdrifts. That was no fun. Not doing that again.
But aside from that, my wood area really needed to be revamped. So I cleaned off the space on the south side of my house, put down a blanket of cedar wood chips, and invested in some nice metal wood frames.
All summer, in between posting winery lawsuit stories, I’ve been moving the mountain of wood, first to the frames on my deck and then to the ground next to my deck. I’ve still got some to haul, but here’s my current progress below.
I wasn’t sure about the woodchips, but so far I really love them. Before, it was a muddy mess there. I put down some black plastic under the woodchips, and I’m going to install some of that rubber-type edging around the woodchips so they don’t meander over the bank.
I also hauled Tim’s big woodsplitter out of the woods and have been learning how to use that. Again, I was super intimidated about using it, but once I got the thing going and figured it out, I find that I really love splitting wood!
I especially love splitting wood into kindling. It is so much fun! I might fill up a frame with just kindling.
I’ve still got a bunch of wood to cut and split — some I acquired from the farm and also the tree that my brother Dean and I hauled up here after it toppled over onto my driveway in the spring. But overall, I feel much better about my wood situation and the upcoming winter this year. Thank goodness!
Next time: An update on the bathroom mirror duct-taped to my Subaru and Charley seeing things that aren’t there … or are they…?
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