Good timber does not grow with ease:
The stronger wind, the stronger trees;
The further sky, the greater length;
The more the storm, the more the strength.
By sun and cold, by rain and snow,
In trees and men good timbers grow.
Douglas Malloch
On May 15 2016, we woke up for the first time in this house. Mean Max May temperature is around 15 degrees, with the Mean Min for May around 4 degrees (the alliteration is for free). We saw a
pile of wood out the back and assumed we'd be right for winter. Not so! The wood was crappy pine and the handy hydronic heater was clogged to the hilt with resin - thanks previous owners! So all the way through that first winter we would have cold wet wood delivered and then hilariously Anthony would chop it with an axe by fading light in the rain to feed the poorly ducted device and we would huddle and strain against the cold. That long winter we used around 6-8 tonnes of wood, always playing catch up.
Over summer 2016/2017 we stocked up a little better with around 8-9 tonnes of wood, a bit drier and pre-whacked by Anthony as part of a hillbilly fitness regime. With the heater cleaned out a bit (via
hot hot log burns and some chimney sweep action), it was a much better winter, but we still found ourselves scratching about towards the end of the big cold for some clean dry wood.
So from about Sep/Oct 2017, we have been taking regular deliveries of wood, and stacking and cutting it judiciously to help our winter-selves keep everything warm and toasty. Another firebox sweep session sees the heater finally burning bright, clean and efficiently with a much better air flow now that it's not clogged to the hilt with pine resin!
So soon we will face the winter of 2018 with around 10-12 tonnes of cut, dried and seasoned wood - burning less of it more efficiently and enjoying the hydronic system as originally intended (the anti-rust treatment and replacement of components also helps a lot).
We are sorting the wood into immediate use, intermediate use and eventually long term (e.g. 2019). The broken ankle debacle has put the project back a few weeks, but now Anthony is happily chopping and stacking again -
singing all the while and loving the smell of fresh cut timber, the sound of crashing trees and his best girly by his side.
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| Been sitting on the runway for about 5 months now (about to be chopped) |
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| Dry and getting drier by the hour (the mid to late winter source) |
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| Small cut and ready right now for efficient heating |
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| Burn bright you beautiful burning thing |
The garden is going great with tomatoes and corn coming online - it is really a nice time of the year (and Kelly agrees).
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| Rain in the foreground and sunshine in the background - hello Autumn |
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| We foresee many jars of passata in our future |
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| The giant hairy galoot - so cute |
