Since I no longer have a dog of my own, I sometimes take my neighbor’s black lab, Roxy, when I go for a walk.
The weather has been so nice and cool, that we’ve been able to enjoy being on the trails quite a bit this summer (once the dreaded black flies disappeared).
A nice walk
Roxy is always happy to go for a walk, like most dogs. She is very good and enjoys all the new smells and I feel like she would be helpful in keeping the bears away too! There have been quite a few sightings in my neighborhood and although I know that they are afraid of me, I would probably have a heart attack if I came across one on the road out in the middle of nowhere! So I feel less alone when Roxy accompanies me.
Chasing Chipmunks
After we walked about a mile down this dirt road the day became much warmer and I was thinking that the dog must be thirsty, so we stopped at the lake. Roxy’s name is appropriate, since one of her favorite things to do is play with rocks! Even in the water she was searching for a rock to dig up.
Cooling off after the walk
I usually bring my camera, but it’s sometimes difficult to get a steady shot with the dog pulling on the leash. This was just about a perfect day weather wise, and I think she had fun too.
I just finished stacking my cord of firewood. I have been limited to doing a little on each nice day we’ve had this summer- all 3 of them!
Seriously, the rain just won’t quit. My pile of wood was delivered in April after I found the cheapest price in the paper and paid $170 to a nice guy who told me it would be a “mix” after I asked what kind he had. Also, it is green wood, not seasoned, but I figured I’d have the hot, sunny summer to help dry it out. HA!
One cord of “green” wood
So he dumped it at the side of the house in the most shady area of the yard and it has been sitting there getting moldy and full of snails because I only got part of it moved before the rainy month of June arrived. I’m living in a rental, and the wood has to be moved down a hill and stacked near the basement door. Then I will lug it into the basement where my wood stove will be hooked up. After living through a long winter power outage right after I moved in here, I needed to think about finding an alternative heat source.
I finished moving it this past week and it’s a load off my back! In more ways than one.
Wet wood pile
I’ve read that a cord of wood is officially 4 feet wide, 4 feet high, and 8 feet long. It seems that I have at least a cord. In fact it’s a lot more than I expected. The one drawback to the wood I bought is that some of the pieces are huge! They probably should be split. I might have to learn how to do that and see if I can manage. There is no man in my life who will do it for me.
Oh, I do have one other little problem. I don’t have a wood stove yet. *Update: I bought a used wood stove. Read my story “How to Buy a Used Wood Stove“.
More sites of interest to those of you who burn firewood: woodheat.org
A cord of wood
Power Outages in Winter
When I first wrote this post, I was new to blogging and pretty new to life in New Hampshire. I love the state, but living alone with a child and no man to help out was tough. I had to do all the things a husband would have done. From snowplowing the driveway and shoveling out the mailbox to buying and stacking firewood for winter, everything was on me.
For the most part I did okay. It helped to keep me in good shape as long as I didn’t overdo it. I was not young at this point, but having firewood was important. This place was my second rental after losing my home due to my ex-husband’s failed business venture. Right after I moved in here, we had an ice storm and were without power, or heat, for 7 days. I never had a chance to prepare, but it was a cruel lesson that made me take action. The temperature inside my place was in the 40’s. I slept in my winter coat, inside a sleeping bag!
The following winter we lost power for a few days again, but thankfully I had my woodstove by then, and plenty of wood to burn.
With all rain and no sun??? If you live in the northeast you know what I am saying. I don’t remember ever in my life having so many rainy days in a row. To be truthful the sun did pop out for about 4 minutes the other day. So bright that I ran outside and stood there just soaking it up.
Then it was gone.
I’ve been working at the computer with my fleece sweater on as it is 64° inside and not even that outside.
Between showers I have been out checking on the vegetable garden and it doesn’t look too bad considering the lack of sunshine. I believe everything might be twice the size if only the clouds would part.
I pity the vacationers who wanted to spend time at the beaches and the beach side vendors have lost more money than they can probably make up…if the sun shines again.
I like a rainy day…even a few…but a rainy month is not good and we New Englanders are all wondering if summer will ever come to the northeast.
In May I found a guy who charged only $170 for a cord of “green” wood to be delivered so I ordered some. It will have to sit and dry out (fat chance with all this rain we’ve been getting) during the summer and hopefully will be ready to burn by winter.
Wood Delivery
I didn’t grow up with a wood stove, but we did have two fireplaces and I don’t know how much my parents paid for heat, but I remember always being cold as a kid.
This past winter I paid almost $1800 for oil to heat my small house and I kept the thermostat set at 64 most of the time. I also suffered through 8 days without any heat at all in December when a horrific ice storm came through. Thanks to my nice landlord and neighbors who had wood stoves, I was able to sleep on couches and heat canned soup up on the top of their stoves. I had just moved into my place in September and hadn’t had a chance to think about getting a wood stove- so of course that was when I needed it most.
Stacking on Pallets
I’m thinking that it’s a good thing I bought it early because most of the month of June has been too rainy to move the wood to the piles I had started. I’m hoping for sun soon to dry it out.
