Firewood for the Winter

 Since we had to clear a lot of trees from our land before being able to put in a driveway and build we now have a pretty good supply of firewood. Much of it however was really big and needing splitting. The birch logs especially needed it as they will rot if not split and dried properly.

  The boys thought that splitting sounded rather fun. The splitting maul that we had was to big for them so Ken went and got the lightest one that he could find and the boys (Aaron especially) liked that much better.


While Jonathan was busy working on the chicken coop Aaron was busily splitting wood. They had asked Ken if they could earn some money at splitting wood and then offered to do it for a penny a log - Ken was quick to accept that deal. Talk about cheap labor! :-) After doing it a while they did negotiate and get a bit of a raise but it still isn't much. They do think it is fun though so earning some cents everyday works fine for them.

Our neighbor (a very nice man who will turn 80 very soon) enjoyed watching them but then offered to come over and help them split the wood with his gas powered splitter. We said that he didn't need to do that but he insisted and the boys were pretty excited about that.

 Jonathan was in charge of putting each log in place, Merle would split it and Aaron would put the pieces on the pile. They were able to get a bit stack done working an hour or so on two different days. After the first day Merle came and told Ken and I that he just really likes working with the boys as they are eager to do it and he finds that very fun. We are feeling super blessed to have such a nice neighbor!!!

  We are looking forward to sitting by the fireplace one of these days getting warmed by some of this wood.

  We will not be primarily heating by wood but it will be a fun supplement and great for an emergency back-up. I am very excited about having the fireplace. Do you heat your house with wood? Do you enjoy gathering the wood up in preparation for winter?

I am linking this to Simple Lives Thursday