Tuesday, 8 September 2015

Too early, Claude!



The first delivery of Oak arrived yesterday morning; our bigger pile of Chestnut arrives a bit later on.

This summer I (chain)sawed and split all our remaining huge Chestnut tree trunks, and now have a big stack of 33 cm dry logs ready to use. I shan't buy my wood in tree form ever again; far too much work.

Above is about 6 cu metres of Oak, I have another 8 cu metres of Chestnut coming, and the 'ready to use' logs makes up another 3 or 4 cu metres. I think we'll survive.

I'm not thinking about winter just yet .... it's far too early, for gawd's sake!



32 comments:

  1. Do you ever collect apple wood to burn? I remember a Daphne Du Maurier short story that involved an apple orchard, and the wood was supposed to be favored for burning because it smelled nice.

    And speaking of apples! I made homemade fried apple pies today! I'll be posting photos and a recipe on my blog tomorrow. They were delicious.

    Have a great day!

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    Replies
    1. Sadly we had a tree die just last year, so the wood will certainly be going on the fire. 'Fried apple pies' sound good, I shall take note.

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  2. Winters here are getting colder each yrar, i hope i shall not need wood for heat. too complicated for me.

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    1. Our recent winters have been reasonably cold and reasonably short.... I hope it's a trend that continues.

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  3. Lovely dry firewood, stacked and waiting for winter. Now that's a sight to gladden (and warm) the heart!

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    Replies
    1. Yes, nice to know it's there, but not really looking forward to having to use it.

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  4. It's a wonder there are any trees left in your part of the country? Do you really get through that amount of wood during the winter?

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    1. Having taken a balloon flight a couple of years ago, I can confirm that this area is 90% woodland. Mostly Chestnut, Oak, and Pine. No shortage yet.

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  5. You need to think about it in the summer so that you don't worry in the winter
    We've just moved to a stoveless cottage and are concerned about the winter, keeping ourselves warm and our environment aired and healthy.

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    1. How will you heat yourselves. Electricity, or gas stoves perhaps?

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    2. oil central heating..rather badly placed in the living room...not so bad in the rest...and a mock fire in the living room....electric,where it used to have a stove,in the living room. Cooking is unfortunately electric too, with those damnable glass stove top that doesn't let you boil...making jam making very difficult

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  6. What makes a 'cord' of firewood? I was just wondering that the other day.

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    1. Don't know. Here wood is measured in Stères (stairs), which is 1 cu metre. I always imagined that 'cord' was to do with length.

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    2. Some people around here deliver firewood by the 'load'. That's pretty open to interpretation as well.

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    3. A ' cord ' is 128 cubic feet, 4 feet high, 8 feet long and 4 feet deep !! The name cord is probably from the use of a cord or string to measure it …… Wikipedia is a wonderful thing !!!!
      ….. looks as if you will be warm and toasty this winter Cro. XXXX

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    4. I do hope so, and thanks for saving me from consulting Wiki.

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  7. A very impressive display of wood. Ours was Olive last winter and it's still all to play for this year once the turf has gone.

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    1. I've never seen a turf fire, it sounds very 'homely'.

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  8. I'm with you. It is too early to think about firewood, but it is better to be prepared.

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    1. I try not to think about winter until it's winter.

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  9. Maybe for winter but we are ready for fall here.

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    1. One of my neighbours has just gone past to mow his Chestnut plantation. That's a sure sign of approaching Autumn.

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  10. We had our wood burner chimney swept this morning Cro so I suppose we are thinking about winter.

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  11. I once knew an elderly couple whose cottage was on the edge of a UK national forest. They actually heated their home from burning fallen branches they would pick up while taking walks through the forest. Think they had a Rayburn stove. It all seemed very romantic, but as I now approach an elderly time of life, I realize that their thriftiness grew from necessity and must have been hard work.

    Enjoy the late summer days in the pool.

    Best wishes.

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    1. When I was young, when we went for 'family walks' it was always expected that we would bring back a log or two each.... and my people were quite 'solvent'.

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  12. It was damned cold this morning (about 9.00 a.m.) charging downhill on my bike. Warmed up a bit by the time we got home 2 hours later and I have spent the afternoon 'recovering' in the glorious sunshine. We'll need to source some wood next year, enough in our pile to see us through Spring though. (That's a lot of oughs in one sentence!)

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    1. I take Bok for his first walk at about 7.15 am each morning.... IN SHORTS (me). I refuse to wear long trousers for at least another month, but this morning..... Phew!

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  13. There is nothing better than a log fire on a cold winters' evening. We had one in our last house and it was wonderful once it got going, but eventually, with advancing years and the creaking joints that come with it, we succumbed to a gas "logs" fire. We have the same thing in our present house, easy to maintain, but just not the same !

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    Replies
    1. We now have a wood burner instead of the open fire, but that's just so the house doesn't burn down whilst we're out shopping. I miss it though.

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  14. Yes, dear OH started on the wood store today, clearing out the old sawdust and cutting the smaller stuff we use in the kitchen range. We have a pile of old oak in the field a friend donated, which is to be cut up, plus we have ordered our usual 20m3 or so from Marcel, who has barely raised his prices in 13 years, although his capacity for the usual post-work cognac increases with age...

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    Replies
    1. Claude apologised when he put the price up about 5 years ago; it hasn't changed since. And he doesn't even get the cognac.

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