Filling the Woodbox for the Last Time... Hopefully

We've had a bit of a cool spell over the past few days, and we've been burning wood once again reasonably regularly to the point that it's foiled my plans of retiring the stove for the season. In fact, I had to fill the woodbox yesterday and hoped it wouldn't come to that, but with the cooler weather, it's been nice to have a fire going. Don't get me wrong, I like the weather, it's nice and cool, making work in the yard much more bearable. I am not looking forward to the heat.

Speaking of yard work, it dawned on me that I need to start splitting the wood so it will dry enough by Winter. I figure the wood I split now will be dry enough in December/January, when we'll need it since we have about two cord, give or take, leftover. I have to start somewhere, though I've gotten about a cord and half split thus far, but when I look at the pile of blocks, I realize I've got my work cut out for me. Do I really want to get another truckload? Speaking of which, haven't heard from TB about my next load, but we'll see. I could always try Andy.

Finally tuned up the lawnmower, and it runs much smoother. I think the old gas in the engine does affect the performance, no question, and this season I'll make sure to Winter it properly. I am wary, however, changing the blade, only in the sense that I worry about not putting it back in properly. It spins so fast, and that blade is sharp. With the cooler weather, mowing the lawn is much more bearable, and I did most of it yesterday, with just the patch near the garden left to do, which I'll try to finish today.

The back of the house still needs painting, and unfortunately the clapboards will need to be replaced. As I mentioned, I don't think it's economically savvy to replace the entire boards, just the warped sections. So I'll take them down, cut off the bad parts, and fill in the gaps with new boards. It's going to take me all Spring and Summer to finish, so I'll take it slow and go with the flow.

Still trying to figure out where to get my kindling. I'll keep visiting Britton's but they seem to be a bit anemic in the the scrap wood department. I did have this idea of making my own. I have several small blocks from last year in the basement, and I will try to chip away at them and make small shavings for next season. If it works, that would be great, but we'll see.

Until then, thanks for reading.