The Woodpile

The nights are getting chillier so the woodstoves are becoming a necessity again.  Mark and Michael replaced the stove-piping that serves as a chimney on the big stove in the living room so it is ready to go.  I built my first fire of the season last night and it felt mighty nice!  The little parlor stove in the dining room will most likely be lit this coming week as another cold front is predicted to move in on the Bayou. The Little Bayou House has no heat other than these two woodstoves so it is quite mandatory that we keep the woodpile well stocked.

Several weeks ago, my brother-in-law and sister needed to cut a lot of small trees from their place and I was fortunate enough to get two truckloads of this wood.  Since my brother-in-law had no idea what size I needed, he cut most of them a tad long for our stoves (ok..a LOT too long!).  This is not a problem, though and I was just extremely happy to see that truck drive up the lane!  This week, Michael and I sorted and stacked the wood.  Large pieces were tossed aside and he will split them before adding them to the stack. He does this the old-fashioned way!  Even though we have a hydraulic woodsplitter, Michael loves to use the axe!  He will split wood for hours on end!   Great Uncle Alfred once told him that getting firewood warms you twice..once while splitting it and then again when sitting in front of the fireplace!  So now, Michael always reminds me of this when he heads out with his axe in hand! While Michael was stacking the wood, Mark cranked up the chainsaw and cut some of the long pieces into ten inch lengths.  This is all my stoves can hold but as small as these chunks are, they warm the place nicely!  A handful of these small logs will last for several hours! So far, we have two woodpiles that are quite large but there is still a goodly amount to be stacked.  I suppose we will be working for most of this next week..cutting, splitting and stacking until there is enough to last the winter.

 I was thinking about how warm our little woodstoves keep the house and how I love it each time I build a fire.  Not only does it keep us warm but the smell of the wood burning gives the place a nice homey feel.  The old woodburner in the living room usually has a pot of stew on top and some sweet potatoes in the Dutch oven!  Life just doesn't get much better! It seems that Old Man Winter is visiting a tad early this year but from the looks of things we will stay warm. Bring on the cold..the woodpile is growing by leaps and bounds!