Note To Self:

Next year, make sure the firewood stock is doubled, and make sure it's all split!

Right now, the firewood I have left is buried, tarp and all, under a foot of snow. By the time I get it dug out and split, it's got a lovely coat of snow stuck to it. Then I bring it in and the snow melts, leaving wet wood and puddles in the floor. ugh.

At least I am not trying to drag wood up the hill in this snow, as I have had to do every other year we've been here.

It seems that every year since we moved in, we've not been ahead with firewood. The first couple of years it was due to not really knowing anything about firewood: how much we would use, what kind, what size, etc. Heck, I didn't even know what a cord was. The rest of the time, there were contributing factors, which left me doing my best to gather all the wood on my own, with the help of the girls.

This past fall, however, we managed to lay in a nice stock of firewood. I didn't care that it wasn't split. I only cared that it was brought up the hill, because hauling wood uphill in the snow totally blows.

We did have a nice supply split and stacked, but it went fast. For those of you new to my blog, keep in mind, this is all done by hand: we use a chainsaw to cut the wood, then a wheelbarrow to get it up the hill, then an ax to split it. Sure, a log splitter would be nice, but then would I have these manly biceps? Probably not. But thanks to the Country Wife Fitness Program, I'm buff enough to bust any log!

Every spring, I put off cutting wood, mostly because it's all I think about all winter long, and I'm sick sick sick of it. Not this spring. NO sirree! That wood will be up the hill, split, and stacked, before the first leaf turns. No if, ands, or buts!

I guess that's how homesteading is, though: learning from experience.

Oh, yeah, and about that snow:



What you can barely see in the pic is the fish pond. Remember Little Sis' kiddie pool turned fish/frog pond? That's it. It's 18" tall. It's still standing, not collapsed or anything, just buried. That is a LOT of snow.
And more is on the way early next week. ugh.