A wonderful day spent in the woods

[Backwoods Savage]

What a beautiful day we had yesterday! It was sunny most of the day and the temperature got up to 38 degrees! It felt more like 50 so I guess we're getting used to the cold okay.

We have a lot of white ash that have been hit with the emerald ash borer so they are all dying. Therefore, we're cutting ash and I cut quite a bit yesterday! After quitting the job early so I could hunt last evening (saw several does), I got to thinking about how much I've cut already this year. We don't usually start cutting until December, but already I have about 1/4 of a year's supply cut. It is stacked but not split yet (we split our wood in the spring). That is a good feeling knowing that the wood is there already and most of you know this is not next year's wood I'm cutting as we have a pretty good supply on hand already.

But what a joy after cutting, I come into the house and I am a bit sweaty and the boots and gloves are a bit wet also. I slip the little soapstone blocks (bought from Woodstock) into the boots and another pair of smaller ones in the gloves and they dry fast. I sit near the stove for a bit relaxing and soak up the warmth. Feels Great!

Then after hunting, I am a bit cold, but come in to that wonderful wood heat. Can it be beat?! I highly doubt this.

What other joys has your wood stove brought to you?

Do you have next year's supply of wood already on hand? You should, or at least have it ready by Spring.

Do you find enjoyment putting up your wood supply?

 

[LLigetfa]

I always hated the transition time and wet gloves/boots. I much prefer when it is cold enough to stay dry. As for the soapstone blocks, small rounded river pebbles work really well too and they're free!

I buck up my wood in the winter and leave it in the round until spring. As much as I hate wet mitts, I also hate to sweat so I usually get my wood split before the hot weather comes. I have next winter's wood all split and laid up in the shed and a bit more split but still loose piled outdoors. I intend to get another 12 cord this winter to stay well ahead of the game.

You're right about the rewarding feeling of wood heat. It truly does warm you twice!

 

[BrotherBart]

38 and raining here today. The closest I will get to the woods is looking at them out the window.

 

[smokinj]

To much snow blowing for my saw! But great just taking a break indoors.I think iam working on 2010 wood now, will know more in febuary. About 25 cords split on hand and burning season full swing right now.

 

[Zzyk]

My wife asks 'when are you going to get a day off?'

I said 'you remeber last Tuesday when I was getting wood, well that was it'

 

[gpcollen1]

On Thanksgiving, I noticed that mom's neighbor had some trees taken down. Long story short, the neighbor was only going to use about a cord or two and i could have what was remaining - maybe a cord or two of maple and cherry. So I drove back over on Saturday with my girls - dropped them with mom - and loaded up the trailer. What a nice day to be out there loading - same day as you. I still have one more load to get...

These 2 cords or so will be added to the 1.5 cords of red oak that I got from a tree that dropped in my yard - add that to the bunches of ash and other large red oak rounds I need to split. I think I am at about 5 cords or so for next year. Looking to get up to 7 cords or so - so only about 2 cords away. I'll know better when I get to splitting some more around Christmas.

Then I got to spend a icy / rainy / windy sunday doing nothing but feeding the stove - ahhhhhhhhh.

 

[LLigetfa]

So I drove back over on Saturday with my girls - dropped them with mom...

and here I thought this was going to be all about gender (neutral) equality and was thinking "you go girl".

Oh well... they probably had fun and you did too. That's what counts.

 

[awoodman]

I remember how nice it was in the house we lived in 6 yrs ago. It was in the city but had a creek in the back yard with hundreds of acres behind us. I eventualy got an ATV and built a bridge across the creek. The bridge was about 30'long and about 8' off the creek. This creek turned into a river during a down-poor.
Any way their was a lot of dead and dying oak trees I took out of their. I bought a Brave log spliter I would take up into the woods and have a good ol time.
I and a friend had trails all over back their, and deer was everywhere.

We sold the house after 18yrs. got a place in the country (40 miles away) and have no house payment. Now I get free wood from a friend who ownes a tree service. Of all 23yrs of burning wood I have never bought any.

 

[homebrewz]

Thats a really good idea about the soapstone blocks.. and the other person who mentioned the river stones.
I'm going to try that. Just make sure the material is either from the igneous or metamorphic group.

 

[Adabiviak]

I split some wood today, and I totally enjoy racking it up. Most pieces I recognize from where I got them, so fueling the fire always triggers the memories of where I got them (a knot from a bike ride a few years ago, the oak that fell across the road that I got to first, the pine that had to go from the front yard, etc.)

I appreciate the wood stove the most either during dinner and movie night or after snowboarding. We have central heating, but when your toes are cold, it's just not the same to stand on the register as it is to put them up in front of the fire.

Besides typical fireplace enjoyment, I love trying to get the hovering blue flame by adjusting the wood type, burn times, and ventilation. I've probably done it around a dozen times, but you'll get a single, large blue flame hovering in the center of the stove. Otherwise, just watching the fire come off the upper ventilation pipes like it's a propane burner is fascinating.

The big boys of next year's supply of wood are going on their second year of seasoning (unless this is a particularly cold winter) in the front yard.

 

[Cedrusdeodara]

This is my first year of cutting/splitting for heat. I have to say, it is a great workout. It is amazing how great of a cardio workout it is to swing a Stihl MS361 into a large pile of wood. I know the blade and machine do alot of the work, but the constant tension/vibration/flexing become a hell of a workout. I have to take a breather every 15-20 minutes and I find myself sweating like I did when I used to run on the treadmill (the one where my wife now dries our bedspreads and sweaters). On a frosty cold morning, nothing raises the temperature quicker than working a chainsaw.

Oh, I am not even getting to the splitting/stacking/moving part of it.