We don't have a wood stove, but my in-laws do. I love to split wood. Something about seeing it stack up - it's a good workout and you can physically see that you've accomplished something. We usually help them split and stack it each year. This year my mother-in-law is recovering from a broken ankle, so they aren't able to get it done on their own.
Saturday I took the boys over and we got started. We had planned to do this together as a family, but my husband got called in to work, and our daughter was working too. So it was mostly me and the ten year old. He was a great help. He worked like a dog and never complained.
We started by stacking the wood out of the way. There are about 3 cords of wood here, and unfortunately the people who delivered it unloaded it right in the doorway of the woodshed. So we had to move pretty much the entire stack before we could even get started with the splitting. See how high that pile is?
We started by straightening what was already in the shed. The five year old even got involved. He did a great job and helped off and on throughout the day. In a couple of years, we're really going to have a good crew :)
We stacked as much as we could out of the way until we had a path into the shed, then started by splitting this little pile first so the rest of the way would be clear.
It's hard to get an accurate picture of how much we had stacked up. The pile to the right is two rows deep and probably 10 feet long. Maybe a little more. The pile to the left was three rows deep but the first two rows are only half as long as the other side. We didn't want to block the door to the other shed.
Here it is from the outside. The pile at the end that isn't stacked is what we split after we finished the pile inside. There are also two smaller piles inside the shed. We had to stack some in there so we could get through the doorway.
It was a beautiful day. Sunny and just a little breezy. Very comfortable working conditions ... and not too bad for playing either :)
Papa and Bugga pulled up chairs and visited with us while we worked. A friend of theirs stopped by for a visit too.
The little boys kept Bugga entertained :)
The three year old was filling the hose with dirt ...
...shaking it down inside ...
... and then dumping it out again.
After three hours or so, this is what we had accomplished - more than half of the pile to the left is done, as well as the pile inside, and the one we hadn't stacked outside.
The woodshed is filling up. It will probably take another load like this one to finish filling it. I'm hoping to get the rest of this split this week.
We were rewarded at the end of the day with a beautiful sunset, and Bugga took us out for a steak dinner. The ten year old was thrilled with some cash she gave him. I was really pleased with how willingly he helped.
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Well done! I heard Chuck Swindoll once say that the best feeling in the world was one of "accomplishment." And you're right--it is a blessing to be able to see progress. When does winter really "set in" up there?
ReplyDeleteTypically we start getting snow that sticks around more than a day in November, and it's usually really cold on Halloween, if not snowing. But sometimes it's December before we have much snow. We never count on travelling anywhere for Thanksgiving until the week of. That way we can watch the forecast. Sometimes it's better to stay home. But it's not typically like that all month. We can have snow anytime - my dad has even had snow on his mid-July birthday several different years. But that's not typical. We do pretty consistently have snow before November at least once, but it doesn't stay around - usually sometime in September, and we have snowstorms pretty regularly through the end of June. But as far as cold, December through March is usually pretty frigid. April and May are cold and snowy, but we have warmer days in there too. Last year we had about a week of 10-15 below zero at the beginning of December. That was plenty early for the subzero weather. Typically that's January and February. Heaviest, wettest snows usually come March-early May.
ReplyDeleteAnd I was thinking about the "accomplishment" of chopping wood. I was trying to figure out why I like that so much more than housework, and I decided it's because I see the finished work accomplished. The daily chores just get done in time to do them over again, so there isn't that same feeling of "done."