We're ready for the winter winds and snow. Knowing that we have plenty of wood and coal to keep us warm until spring is always one of the best feelings of fall.
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My grandparents used to own a sawmill and every fall we would haul load after load of slab wood home and toss it on a huge pile where it would season until the next fall when we would load it on a cart and haul it to the basement where my brothers and I would unload and stack it.
It was one of my favorite fall activities then, and there is still something about stacking firewood that I really enjoy.
I remember helping to stack wood before too when I was growing up. Hubby and I have never had a fireplace or wood stove though, so no wood for us.
ReplyDeleteWe have gas heat, but we're the last house on the electric line; without the motor to push the hot water around, when the power goes off we have no heat. We keep enough fire food on hand for a day or two, but not a whole season.
ReplyDeleteMy grandparents had a coal fired furnace, and I always looked forward to the summer day the men would come and deliver the coal. It came in through a basement window and thundered into the bin (a small room, actually) in the cellar. After the coal was unloaded, my grandmother would take each man a dollar (this was in the early 50s, when a dollar was an hour's pay) and a bottle of beer.
When I was little, we had coal delivered every fall (the coal pile was a little ways from the house).
ReplyDeleteMy oldest brother still complains that he had to use his very own Radio Flyer wagon to haul fireplace loads of coal to the house.
He also claims my mother would say "Watch out for snakes!" and then send him (age 4 or 5) off for the coal.
My husband just split a half cord of wood in the evenings over the past couple of weeks and we have it stacked under our deck. We don't depend on wood for heat...we have a natural gas furnace, but we do have ice storms that knock out the electricity at times. Then we have no heat. We have a gas fireplace in the family room but three years ago we also had a wood stove installed upstairs. It has a flat top so I can also cook on it if needed. It gives me a sense of comfort to know we have an alternate heat source. I enjoy a wood fires even when the furnace is working. There's nothing like the feeling of coziness a wood fire gives when the snow is falling.
ReplyDeleteBlessings,
Betsy
We had the wood furnace burning earlier this week. Yesterday we had to turn the a/c back on. Only in Missouri! Blessings to you my friend!
ReplyDeleteWe purchase our firewood from an Amish sawmill down the road. There are so many of them around here - the wood is what we call 'butt ends'. Its just like slabwood from making 4x4 or the like but they cut it up so its about 18-22" long and varies in thickness. My husband loves not having to saw logs then split them!
ReplyDeleteDo you use the coal at night for a longer heat? I am going to google that, its so nice not to even turn on the heating system.