December 10-11, 2010

Sally stayed in town to do Christmas preparation stuff. Weather was pleasant, about 50 each day, and we received a little rain overnight (not enough though).

Lopped Cedars

I took my loppers down the hill behind the barn. This slope is thick in cedars, most of which need a chain saw. I was just trying to clear some of the smaller ones. In spots I had to lop a path just to get through. I don't expect to ever get it in control.

This picture, which is not very good, is of one I cut maybe 4 or 5 years ago but didn't get below the lowest limb (as Ben had directed me to always do). The result is it grows back from the root and the tiniest limbs left growing. Its harder to cut the second time.

When I got to the bottom of the hill I started back up toward the house working just outside the fences. In spite of hitting this area the last couple of years, there are always more. It was getting dark by the time I got back to the house – I had cut 981.

Insulation

Thursday night I picked up two more bags of the R19 insulation I have been adding to the attic. Friday evening I got these spread, and with the help of one piece of R25 left from what I used to insulate the top of the well house I have now completed this job! Now to sit back and reap the benefits -- how long will it take to recoup energy savings of $750.

Load of Wood

We burned wood for three days the past week, and seeing how it depleted my supply in that short time I decided I should bring a load into town with every trip. So I loaded her up and just plan to add it to the stack at the back of the carport.

Split Wood

I started in on the two loads I had cut several weeks back. I thought it was all shorter stuff that could go to Denver or Chicago, but three of the largest logs were nearly 24 inches and had to go into my pile on the other side of barn. The white oak and even the hickory splits nicely. I got about half of the stack done, as you can see here. The vertical stack are the two logs I picked up along the short cut the weekend before.

Chain Saws

I sharpened the McCulloch, gassed it up, and filled it with oil so it will be ready to take back out. I then got the Poullan out, which I don't think I have used in almost a year due to not being able to get the carburetor tuned. At first it ran pretty good and I got two more cedars cut up above the well house. But then it started bogging down and I could barely keep it running, much less cut anything with it. I tinkered with the high setting but failed to get any improvement.

Fire Wood Box

I brought a small piece of 3/4 inch plywood down from the attic thinking it would be a good bottom for a box I could build for the firewood I bring into the house -- just set it next to the stove and keep the debris off the floor. I found some other scraps and hand cut a few pieces so the box would be 25" x 18" x 12" high. When I got them home Sally informed me we didn't need that and there were other things I needed to do with my time. (I'll get it built, just not sure when.)

Walnuts

I cracked another quarter of a bag, but this time the ratio of bad nuts to good nuts was almost 50%. I'm glad I have so many, but hate thinking about the time spent picking up, hulling, and now cracking them to find out they are bad. Somehow the squirrels can tell immediately and just leave the bad ones.