In which we truly understand the meaning of "A Full Cord of Wood."
Jim's dad came out with his shovels and rakes and implements of destruction on Saturday to begin the job of pruning the orchard. He dodged my camera, but he was so inspirational that soon there was a crowd in the orchard, busily chopping, sawing, and snipping branches.
Some were more adventurous than others in their pruning focus.
Others were determined not to miss important Spring Break Slacking Time, and took a more relaxed approach to clipping suckers from the pear trees.We still aren't sure what types of trees are up there, nor can we tell (yet) which trees are which. We suspect that the most upright of the trees is probably a cherry.
Most are probably apples and pears.
At least one tree has a large collection of peach pits around the trunk...so either it's a peach tree, or the local squirrels are playing an elaborate hoax on us. 
Later in the day we had a cord of wood delivered, and Jim and Willie and I took an hour out of an already tiring day to get it all stacked in the nice, dry woodshed. Sure enough: it poured down rain about an hour after we finished! 
I found this photo on an artist's website . (click on it to enlarge).
I don't think we'll ever get this fancy with our woodpile.
Wow, imagine that, buying a cord of wood. HM! We have been trying to lure the moisture out of our soaked wood from the pile that's been sitting uncovered in rain for 2 years. Not working. The fire is cold, and it drips water the whole time it "burns". Hm. No such thing as duraflames here, or else we'd have one per night.
ReplyDeleteTalk about good luck, though...the chimney sweep came! Did I tell you? Dressed in a funny chimney sweep outfit just like a storybook, black with brass buttons, and he carried a ball on a chain adn a metal flower on a cable. I let him in and he showed me all the tips of the trade. He scolded me for burning wet wood, saying it's a danger, you'll catch your chimney on fire. He then showed me a moisture-testing device that you press into wood. He pressed it into his hand to demo. It read, 33% moisture. I said "You need to drink more water dude."
It was fascinating. I was so fascinated, he asked, "What, don't you have chimney sweeps in America?" Well,.....uh...yah, I guess....but none have ever come to my home unannounced.
Dry wood, what a nice idea. For now, my man is sawing what we have and bringing little blocks inside to dry.
The orchard - I was looking at my fruit trees today and wondering what to do with them. They say this is the time of year to prune, but ...what should I cut? I mean, they don't have suckers, they just have branches that look orderly. I don't know if I should bonsai them or not. Maybe not. What I do know is my fencing man looked at them today and said "Your horse is gonna eat those, you should put tree protectors on them." I said "Will do."
It poured rain here too, for the last couple hours of their work. It was so windy and sleety that I went upstairs to check on my laundry in our unfinished room, and the wind was so fierce in there, I chickened out and ran for my life back down the stairs. I tell myself this house stood thru the wars, but I also dared my man to go up there, next storm.
BTW, the fencers called my chili "Fire Soup".
HMPH. My man said it was a creeping warmth, but he's getting used to my liberal use of the spice rack.
Next time I'll give them something much more innocuous. Pastries or something.
Next time (Friday?) they help me build manure boxes! Yay!
~lytha