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"Life doesn't have to be perfect to be wonderful."
- Unknown

"That which does not kill you, makes you stronger."
- Handed down through the ages.

"Life's tough. It's even tougher when you're stupid."
- John Wayne



Hauling Wood

Tom was away this past weekend working on that cabin 2 1/2 hours away (he's since finished up and is now HOME!), but wood needed to be hauled.

We weren't as ready for the firewood season last fall as we could have been, AND we had that cold snap of temperatures below 0° for nearly two weeks. The upshot of all that is that we've needed to get our hands on more wood.

The little cabin we built near town (on my parents' property) has had several stacks of wood leftover from trees that had to be felled when we cleared the cabin site so many years ago. Having that wood sitting there, moldering (it's too big to use in the cabin's little Jøtul) and unused, has bugged me for years. So, inspiration struck the other day: I would start hauling the wood down with the toboggan to bring home
by the pickup truckload to burn! Two birds with one stone, and all that rot!

Of course, my dad couldn't stand by and allow his daughter to do that work all by herself! ;)

Here's an illustration of what happens when you combine a cheap, plastic sled and too much wood . . . DAD! (Good thing he doesn't read this!)


My dad's help was REALLY wonderful! Especially since he took on the task of pickarooning apart all the wood. Remember that mid-winter thaw that we had a week or so ago, and the RAIN that accompanied it? Yeah, well it also cemented all the pieces of wood into one, frozen, solid mass. Here you see my dad working in the foreground with our little cabin, the Håfweh Haus, in the rear.


I couldn't believe all the deer activity by the wood piles! They'd actually been bedding down there at night. This picture is a very POOR example of one of the melted, poop-filled ovals that illustrate a long rest. I put Maisy in the picture to lend (size) perspective, but you can see (or not!) that it didn't work very well.


Red-faced and sweaty, Dad and I share a job well done! Tucker observes. ;)




Tom has since unloaded this first of what I hope will be three full loads, and I look forward to things being much neater and cleaner in the woods around the little cabin this coming spring and summer!


5 comments:

  1. Good job guys! That looks like pretty hard work and I bet those logs are HEAVY!

    What a pretty little cabin too.

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  2. Wow! You are a hardcore woodswoman, that is for sure. And, your Dad will probably be chopping and hauling wood until he is 150 years old. I loved seeing the Hafweh Haus. I miss it!!

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  3. Gosh, I had no idea you two were having such a good time while I was inside by the fire lying on the couch eating bon-bons! (Sorry to have missed it :o(. )

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  4. Oh i remember the day when we use to haul wood. Not fun.. One winter we cut and chopped 31 cords of wood

    For my birthday that year i got my very own chain saw. Lots of work but is so warm ..

    Hey you... where are you on face book?

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  5. Hi, Ruthie - Nope, they were light after years of drying. UNFORTUNATELY, my hubby was right, and there are hardly any BTUs in 'em. They just kinda melt in the wood furnace, and there aren't even any coals left in the AM. :(

    Claire - don't we know it! (Dad.)

    Mama Pea - okay, let it be said that even tho you, my dear mother, felt HORRIBLE that day, you made a delicious dinner for us: wonderful green salad with homemade dressing, garlic-cheese bread, and homemade rich Cream of Tomato soup! AND, a fresh Rhubarb Upside Down cake fresh from the oven!

    And, Jean, 31 cords?????!!! That's just cruel & unusual punishment!!! I'll bet you had a good supply, though, to last a couple of years then! That would feel SOOO good! FB: I'm there with my full name. What about you? I've searched with your name but haven't found anyone I thought was you. Are you using the kennel name, instead?

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If you are familiar with me and where I live, please respect my right to retain some anonymity by not referring to me by anything other than Chicken Mama nor mentioning city/town/villages by place names. Thanks!