Sunday, January 9, 2011

Happiness is ...

Fo me happiness is a good supply of Firewood!  This has been true all of the years we have lived here, and knowing we did not have enough to see us thru the winter has been  discomforting to me.

 Not as much as it would have been ten years ago, when we didn't have central - propane- forced air heat in the house and we depended on the fireplace and wood stove for heat.  But still  discomforting!

A I sit here tonight, I feel a pleasant exhaustion from a very hard weekend of work, but a comfortable knowing the wood is up.

Yesterday I mentioned the last 40 feet of the path up as being steep.

 This picture doesn't really show it, but I am standing at the top of the hill and Craig is just making the  turn into the more gentle grade part of the path.  The top of his head would be about level with my feet.

We only harvest trees that have already fallen, and of course they are never near the path.

I'm standing with the cart on the path and Craig is climbing up the side of a hill to a nice deadfall.

After he cut it up, I joined him to get it down to the path.
We have to be careful not to fall, and not to let the logs roll to far astray.


The fork of this dead tree was caught in it's fall by another one a few year ago.









It was quite close to the path.

 In fact some of it was across the path and we had harvested that when if first went down.

Now it was perfectly seasoned and dry because it was off the ground.

The big negative was that once cut up, the logs were on a steep hill below the path.  It was really hard work to bring it up to where we could load it.

Hard work, but worth it because it was a madrone.  Some of the finest hardwood firewood on our land.

In this picture Craig is driving  crate load of wood along the path.

 I went ahead to the bottom of the hard place (where I have to help push) so I could take his picture.










And when the day was done, fat old Merikay poses with the unsplit logs.

Until we get it split I will put  a tarp over it when it rains, and take it off when the weather is dry.

We also stowed quite a nice bit of ready to burn size wood in the woodshed.  So now we should have enough to last us for the bun season.

Happiness is ...



By the way, I have several new followers lately and I want to welcome them to my Wannabe blog.  The encouragement I get from all of my followers helps me stay focused and keep working toward the dream!  If you're also held captive with your house or your job(s), my efforts may help you keep on tack as well.  If you are already "free" you remember how it was!



13 comments:

  1. Plenty of firewood and a freezer full of food. Those are things that provide for comfort and peace of mind. :)

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  2. it is the simple things in life that make us happy..be it a load of firewood or a fridge full of food!..stay warm now!!

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  3. That's one thing I'll miss of this house, my fireplace. Keeps us cozy many a winter night. But...when we RV, we'll have the 'fake' fireplace, and a nice fire ring, right outside our door :)

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  4. I remember those wood hauling days! It was a lot of work, but comforting to have the bin full. :)

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  5. That looked like a hard day's work cutting up and hauling that firewood. Nice job!

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  6. What a beautiful area you live in. It looks like you are already in a national park.

    And now you'll be warm and cozy all winter. It's a good feeling when a job is completed!

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  7. way to go!!!

    what an accomplishment that was! you will certainly appreciate that fire even the more for it!!!

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  8. It looks like you are ready for anything! Wood and food, you will stay warm and full! Enjoy!

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  9. Your land looks wonderful and the wood gathering looks like too much work. No wonder you want to RV!!

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  10. Well done getting the firewood taken care of Merikay! Heidi and I are less ambitious, but still enjoy the look of a fire so we crank up the heater and put on a fireplace DVD... It works well enough for the van :)

    -Mike
    97 Roadtrek 170P "Taj Ma Trek"
    HTTP://WWW.VanTramps.Com

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  11. 40 cloves of garlic?? Holy shimoly! That might just be a bit too much for me. Of course, I only fix two thighs at a time. :)

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  12. That is a great looking stack of firewood!

    It was such a pleasure starting out our travels in the California desert in August. Any wood equalled firewood of the best quality, and breaking branches off of dead trees gave the most satisfying crraack sound imaginable.

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