I took this photo yesterday when Kate and I were moving another load of firewood from the big pile on the ridge above the farm (this is directly to the west of the house and barns). We have a large woodshed (8' deep x 32' wide, or 2.4 m x 9.7 m) right next to the outdoor wood boiler, but it can't hold all the wood we use, so periodically during the winter we have to restock the woodshed from this pile. We started off with 24 cords of wood, and at this point I bet we end up going through almost all of it before we finally shut down the boiler in April. (A cord is a stack of wood 8' wide, 4' high and 4' deep, or 2.4 m x 1.2 m x 1.2 m.) One of the very nice things about our outdoor wood boiler is that I don't need to split the wood before using it; I can put these big log pieces right in the firebox. That saves a tremendous amount of time and labor.
Since I took that photo, we got a couple of inches of snow overnight, followed by freezing rain this morning and then just plain old non-freezing rain on top of everything. It was a lot of fun doing chores outside in that mess!
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The new Shelter Challenge started Monday, January 9 and ends at midnight on March 18. Grand prize in this round is $5,000, plus $1,000 for weekly winners and $1,000 for state winners. There are also other categories ... please see the Shelter Challenge website for details.
*** Okay, this is important, folks: We are now LISTED UNDER OUR NEW NAME, ROLLING DOG FARM. State is still NH for New Hampshire. ***
Please remember, you can vote every day ... consider bookmarking the voting page to make it easy.
We won $1,000 as a weekly winner in the last contest, and thousands more in the previous contests. The Shelter Challenge really does bring in a lot of money for the animals here!
You can vote in the Shelter Challenge here.
So glad you got at least that job done b4 the really icky weather hit. Spring is coming, really. Soon. (kind of) but it will come eventually.
Posted by: Anne in FL | January 29, 2012 at 06:54 PM
Oh, my...but great exercise.
Great bonus not having to split all of that wood. I remember what a chore that is!!!
Posted by: Glenda | January 29, 2012 at 09:32 AM
It is so interesting to see how much is entailed in the day to day doings at RDF. I give all of you kudos for tackling so many jobs, many of which are difficult!
Give Wilbur a big hug from me!
Posted by: Ann | January 29, 2012 at 12:26 AM
I bet you and Kate (pardon the pun) slept like "logs" that night!
Is Wilbur now home and how is that poor mouth of his?
Posted by: Kathleen Rivard | January 28, 2012 at 10:23 AM
I have only recently been posting but have been a long time reader (since your Montana days). I really enjoy how with a little bit of time and research you find solutions to keep it green as possible. It can be done on a large scale as RDF proves. Kudos to Rolling Dog Farm!
PS-sneak an extra hug to the Wilbster, please......
Posted by: Mary H. | January 27, 2012 at 04:21 PM