House Evolution and the Woodpile Calling Me

The grass is finally turning green, and I'm guessing it has a lot to do with the rain over the past few days. There are people around us with pristine, beautiful lawns and I can't even imagine the time and effort (or expense) that it took to maintain them. Either way, ours is finally getting green.

There was a time when I wasn't sure what to make of it all. The grass was brown and there was no sign of it changing. We have grass issues, and it seems like the wild strawberries are simply taking over. For the record, I like wild strawberries, the question is, do I want them taking over the yard? I'll have to do a little more research on this one.

In the meantime, it appears that we might finally get a stretch of sunshine. It had been raining for the past few days and in retrospect, we needed it. There was even a fire hazard warning issued, so we had to be wary. With the nicer weather I can finish painting the clapboards I replaced on the backside of the house. I tore out a bunch of them to put ice and water shield on the frame, and my initial plan was to replace them all, but it was a lot of clapboards, thus lots of money.

I reused most of them, at least the ones I didn't destroy removing them, and it sure saved me a lot of money. Those feet of clapboards really add up. I did, however, get away from cedar, and saved even more. I finally made it over to Britton's and it was good to see those guys. It's been awhile, though it's a little depressing with the downturn and all.

After some touch up with caulk and wood filler, I think I'll start painting the backside of the house. It's going to be a project and a half because I have to paint the trip around the roof, which will require me standing for long periods of time on the 30 foot extension ladder. Never a fun thing, at least for me. It'd be nice to build a scaffolding but I'm not sure if I even could or if it was worth it. So there's the trim, and then the exterior staining of the entire side. I'll do as much as I can over the course of the summer and we'll see where it goes.

Then, of course, there's my woodpile. I found another guy who will sell me a truckload of log length wood, and he told me to call him in May. Now I've set myself to have a buttload of wood, all of which I have to cut, split and stack. My approach will be to block up what I've got ASAP, move it into the woods, and then get another stack. I figure we can store wood for long periods on our property, and you just never know when you're gonna get more wood in the future.

My wife thinks I'm crazy, but I have OCD issues when it comes to firewood. I can't drive by a woodpile without craning my neck and breaking out in a cold sweat. Maybe my wife is right.

I'll try to cut wood over the next few days and we'll see where it gets me. Until then, thanks for reading.

has not been as ideal for me to cut wood, but such is life. There are plenty of other things to be done.