Wildfire Defensible Space...

8:29 am - 39 degrees out - clouds are moving in...

The last several days we have had sunshine! The nice weather was needed after several weeks of rain and snow. With this gorgeous weather, we have taken full advantage and have been busy outside working.

Tony cut down some more trees to help improve our defensible space around our home. A few years back we had a DNR (Department of Natural Resources) Fire Forester guy come out to look at our place and let us know how we would fare if a wildfire came through. The outcome of that visit was the knowledge that we would be on our own. We were told that ground fire crews would not be sent out due to the steepness and inaccessibility of the mountain ridge we live on. They may send out an aircraft to drop some fire retardant on our house but that’s about it. On the positive side, the DNR guy did say that we had a great start on the defensible space around our home and had the right to stay and protect it. {Click Here} to read more about that visit.

Down came six small Alder trees and one large Douglas Fir tree, and it took us two days to get it all cleaned up... 

...well almost all cleaned up.  We still have the large rounds in the driveway that need to be cut up and split into firewood.

Even though we are tired and sore from working nonstop for the past several days to get the trees down and cleaned up... progress feels good!

Getting Ready For Winter – Cleaning The Chimney...

6:04 pm - 46 degrees - foggy, raining...

Sunday was the last day of dry weather before the rain came, and with it more cold temperatures.  Even though we've already had a week of cold temps, Tony didn't want to use the fireplace until we had had a good day of rain.  Everything has been too dry and the fire danger lever has been too high to take any chances.

We heat our home with a wood stove from roughly around September until May.  This ends up being one long continuous burning season.

Having a wood burning fireplace definitely has its ups and downs.  The warm glow of a fireplace is one of nature’s simple gifts... if you can ignore the mess and hassle that come with their daily operation.

Though creosote inevitably builds up over time inside the chimney and chimney cap which can become a very serious fire hazard, by using only properly split and seasoned firewood, you can slow the creosote accumulation.  If at all possible, try to steer clear of the slow, smoky, smoldering fires; these tend to create creosote rather quickly.  Clean, hot burning fires are the ones that generate the least amount of creosote.

There is no one-size-fits-all rule when it comes to how often you should clean out your chimney.  We just happen to do it at the end of every summer, right before the cold season hits - Tony climbs up our steep metal roof to clean out the chimney and chimney cap (which is 34 feet up in the air) - something that we feel MUST be done before we can safely use the fireplace.

Learning How To Use A Crosscut Saw...

10:45 am - 48 degrees - overcast...

While we were at Tony's parents' house, his dad brought out one of his 5' crosscut saws - he has a collection of them.  Grandad showed the kids how to use the crosscut saw by cutting a round off of a downed tree.  

By the end, they were getting pretty good.

Winter Is Here...

4:55 - 30 degrees - snowing...

Yesterday we spent the majority of the day moving and restacking firewood.  We have almost 6 cords moved and stacked with just over 2 more cords still to go.

It started snowing yesterday...

...and by this evening we have 13” of snow and it’s still coming down!

Today the kids stayed home from school and thoroughly enjoyed their first snow day.

Fall Is Almost Here...

3:37 pm - 63 degrees - mostly cloudy, light breeze...

The nights are getting colder, the mornings are getting darker, and the rain is slowly returning.

Yesterday was a soggy, soaked to the bone, wet reminder that Summer is almost over and Fall is nearly here. 

Jack's second soccer game (they won 11-5),
 and we all got soaked to the bone!

As much as I love the lazy summer months (although this summer was insanely busy and very short), I have to admit that I am happy fall is here.  Yes, I enjoy all the Northwest rain, listening to it hit our metal roof (one of my favorite sounds) while we’re inside all warm and cozy (not outside getting soaked to the bone).  I live for the occasional thunderstorm and truly am a homebody at heart.  I could curl up on the couch and watch movies with my hubby and kids all day with the flames blazing in the fireplace.  The crispness in the air, the brilliant colors of the changing leaves, the fall scent outside, the spicy scent in the kitchen from all the fall favorites being baked, I love it all!

However... in order for us to have those warm, flames blazing in the fireplace, we need dry, seasoned firewood and our woodshed is still in the planning stages.  So Tony had to run out yesterday morning and try to cover the majority of our firewood with plastic and tarps to help it stay dry. 

I cannot wait until Tony’s woodshed is done!  So far he has marked out an area that is 24’ wide x 16’ deep.  Hopefully posts will be going in this coming week – that’s weather dependant of course.

Mountain Chores...

7:45 pm - 59 degrees - clear, calm night...

...firewood splitting and stacking continues.

For the past month, in between work and other activities, we have been spitting and stacking firewood (I saw we, but it's mostly been Tony).

I started out splitting the huge pile of rounds with an axe.  After about an hour, my arms were killing me.

Some friends lent us their log splitter, which has made the chore of splitting firewood a breeze!

  

Tony only has a few more rounds to split and then firewood will be done.  Then we need to stack it all.

Firewood Cutting Is Underway...

12:43 pm - 60 degrees - lightly raining...

A wood-burning fireplace is one of the simplest joys of the winter months.  It’s also a lot of work.

For us, our wood burning fireplace is currently our only source of heat, so falling, cutting, splitting and stacking firewood is an important skill for us to know and do.

  

Tony does all the falling of trees and cutting those logs into rounds.  Thankfully we live on many acres of wooded forest so we are able to start at the source.

  

I help Tony with the splitting.  Even when log rounds are small in diameter, it makes sense to split them.  Splitting speeds along the drying process and improves the burning qualities.

And we all pitch in to do the stacking.

Even though the ideal time to cut firewood is in the late winter and early spring months (this allows for the maximum drying time), we usually have so much going on, that we don’t get around to cutting, splitting and stacking our firewood until the end of July, beginning of August.

So firewood cutting for this coming winter is underway.  Tony spent last weekend cutting this pile of logs...

...into this pile of rounds. 

Now the splitting and stacking starts.  How much wood could a wood stacker stack if a wood stacker could stack wood?  We’ll soon find out...

Firewood...

2:16 pm - 83 degrees - scattered clouds...

The firewood cutting for this coming winter is finally underway... well sort of.  We're just starting to haul it down to the house where we can start to cut, split and stack it.

Winter Readiness...

3:02 pm - 54 degrees - scattered clouds, windy...

The first week of October, we were having 70 and 80 degree days, but according to the latest weather report that’s all over for the year.  Fall is finally here.  

The cooler temperatures and rainy days are on their way.  That means old man winter is just around the corner.  Literally, winter could be here in a month!

This summer and beginning of the school season, we have been swamped with project – unfortunately most of those have been off the mountain.  So we’re running behind on our winter prep.

We bought our property back in 2005, and every winter has been different.  We have had everything from little to no snow up to over 10’ deep snow with 14’ deep snow drifts.  It is hard to determine what type of winter will be in store for us this year.  Regardless of what Mother Nature brings our way, it is best to prepare for the worst. 

To get ready for winter we have been cutting and stacking firewood and kindling, which is a never ending project, and we are way behind on our firewood supply this year.

Our kids and my dad picked grapes so my mom, sister and I can make some more grape jelly.

We’re still working on getting our electrical system up and running.  This has been a slow process...but we’re getting very, very close!  Actually having a real fridge will be life changing! 

16 deep cycle batteries are in place and hooked up.

Power cord is installed that will run from the
batteries to the generator shed.

Building up a rock foundation for the generator shed.

Drainage ditches need to be cleaned out, so the yard and driveway won’t flood.

The freezer (which is in our storage unit) needs to be filled so Tony went out and shot an elk during muzzleloader season.

Yard debris after the latest wind storms needed to be picked up, but we waited to do this project until the burn ban was lifted so we could sit back at the end of a long day to enjoy a campfire and the gorgeous view.

Summer Break...

3:20 pm - 92 degrees - sunny with a light breeze...

It’s hard to believe August is almost over!!  Maybe it’s true what they say about getting older; the hours in the day wiz by and weeks turn into months in the blink of an eye because summer has certainly flown by! 

Although I love the heat and sunshine, and the sound of kids playing outside all day, the end of August signals the start of school, the end of sunshine at 9 pm, and the beginning of our descent into winter.

Here are a few pictures from our busy summer...

Tony graded the driveway (over a mile long) a few times this summer and then the kids and I get to clean all the gravel off the bridge.

We went on several family hikes this summer including another trip to the Ape Caves!

Firewood is a never ending project of falling trees and cutting them up into rounds...

...then splitting the rounds into firewood.

Summer time is all about playing in the water - trips to the creek, river and lots and lots of water fights!

 It's just not summer if we're not outside bbq'ing!

We love to go for drives and wander around looking at and enjoying all the spectacular sights around us!

Tony spent just over an hour driving the 8 foot copper coated steel rod into the ground using a fence post driver.

Getting some of the parts of our power system organized - a pile of cables and wiring, 24 batteries (3 groups of 8) and 8 solar panels (5' x 2'6").

Some concrete, framing, plywood and the room under the stairwell is almost enclosed.  A little more work and then the "control room" for the electrical will be done.

And of course, we made several fun trips to the beach.

Firewood...

1:52 pm - 80 degrees - sunny...

The firewood cutting for this coming winter is underway.  In past years we have aimed to have all the firewood done by Memorial Weekend, but that has never happened.  So this year we’re giving ourselves a realistic deadline.  We are going to have a minimum of eight cords and hope to have the majority of that cut and split by the end of next month.
 

Besides getting all the firewood cut and split, Tony wants to build a firewood shed so we have somewhere to stack the firewood besides under the house.

While Tony has been busy cutting and splitting firewood, I’ve been busy splitting cedar rounds into kindling.  A warm cozy fire in the fireplace is a great idea, but sometimes that fire is a challenge to start.  That’s where kindling comes in; kindling is an excellent way to start a fire on the first try.  Even though kindling is essential to heating one’s home with wood, it’s often overlooked.

We store our kindling in 5-gallon buckets and crates for a couple of reasons: kindling is inconvenient to stack; stored vertically, any dampness tends to wick away faster; and its an easy chore for our kids to fill a 5-gallon bucket full of kindling from the kindling crates and then bring it into the house.

Firewood Supply {Kindling}...

4:28 pm - 53 degrees - clear with a light breeze...

A warm cozy fire in the fireplace is a great idea, but sometimes that fire is a challenge to start.  It doesn’t matter how much firewood we have if we can’t get the fire started!  Even though kindling is essential to heating one’s home with wood, it’s often overlooked.

So while Tony has been busy splitting and hauling firewood, I’ve been busy splitting cedar rounds into kindling.

 

We've currently have just over 6 cords of firewood split and stacked.

 

My father-in-law picked up a hatchet at a garage sale for me!
Soooo excited, it makes splitting the cedar kindling much easier.

 

one bucket of cedar kindling and one bucket
of mixed cedar kindling and odds and ends.

We’re storing our kindling in 5-gallon buckets or boxes for a couple of reasons.  Kindling is inconvenient to stack.  It’s better to contain it in a bucket, cardboard box or other container.  These hold the kindling until it can be transferred to a kindling bin in the wood box, or it can be set inside the firewood area to be used as needed.  Also, if it’s stored vertically, any dampness tends to wick away faster.

Uses for Wood Ash...

9:50 am - 58 degrees - windy...

With the nights getting colder, our fireplace is being used more regularly again and the more wood we burn, the more wood ash we get.  Each cord of firewood burned leaves about 20 pounds of ashes or more, depending on your fuel source, heating appliance, and wood burning skill.

Back in the old days, wood ash had many practical uses around the homestead.  It was spread over fields as fertilizer, used in the making of soap, and helped repel pests from vegetable gardens and fruit trees.  Some of these old fashioned uses for wood ash still make sense today.  Instead of putting the wood ashes out with the trash, put your ashes to use in and around your home.  Here are some great modern uses for your leftover wood ash.

Safety first – as with all aspects of wood heating, use vigilance and common sense in handling and managing your ashes.  Store them in a covered metal container set on dirt or concrete a few feet in all directions from any combustible surface.  Even though the ashes may appear cold, buried embers may remain live for days, even weeks.  Because wood ash can be harmful to the skin, always wear gloves when tackling one of these projects.

1 – Dust Baths – place cold ashes where your birds can get to them, the dust baths will control bugs.

2 – Ring Around the Rosie – spread a low ring around individual plants in your garden to deter slugs/snails.

3 – Lawn Fertilizer – wood ash contains 10-25% calcium, 1-4% magnesium, 5-15% potassium and 1-3% phosphorus.

4 – Cleaning Agent – mix with water to form a paste and use on the glass in your wood stove or fireplace.  Ditto for rings left on wood furniture from glasses.  It’s abrasive, so use with care.  Ditto for polishing silver.

5 – Great Fertilizer – for tomatoes, other nightshade veggies, and fruit trees.

6 – Sprinkle on Slippery Walks – it take very little!

7 – GREAT Ice Melt! – it’s alkaline nature makes ice melt, and then if the sun is out, the darkness of the ash creates heat, melting ice more and faster than regular ice melt.

8 – Algae Deterrent – VERY little needed.  1 Tbs per 1000 gallons of water as needed.

 

9 – Odor Control – de-skunk pets by using a handful rubbed onto your animal’s coat neutralizes the lingering odor.

10 – Enrich Compost – before the organic compound gets applied to soil, enhance its nutrients by sprinkling in a few ashes.  Adding too much, though, ruins the mix.

11 – Make Lye for Soap – soaking ashes in water makes lye, which can be mixed with animal fat (tallow or lard) and then boiled to produce soap.  It takes some work and old timers only use hickory ash, but it can be done.
 

Making lye from wood ash.

 

Too Many Projects...

12:04 pm - 70 degrees - beautiful day...

We seem to have too many projects, and not enough time.

Yes, I’ll admit it... we are up to our ears in projects (not including working on the house) and they all feel important.  I know we should be concentrating on just one at a time but it is so hard when so many of them are weather dependant.  Especially right now when it has been gorgeous out and it’s supposed to stay that way for the next week.  So we’ve been working all over the yard, on different projects trying to get them all done (or as many as possible) before the cold, windy, rainy, snowy weather hits.

Here are just a few of the larger outside projects we’re working on...

We only have a few months of the year where the ground is dry enough to move around so we are trying to take full advantage of the gorgeous weather right now and hopefully get a bridge put in.  The plan for the backyard --- you will step out the double doors onto the back patio, which is 40’ wide x 16’ deep.  Straight off the back of the patio there is a 50’ wide x 14’ deep flower bed (where the two rock stars are {click here}) that slopes down to the grassy 50’x50’ backyard (it’s currently more dirt than grass), which will also be surrounded by flower beds on three sides.  Back to the patio... off the right side of the patio is where we are going to put a bridge (wide enough and strong enough to drive a car on) that crosses over a drainage ditch to the garage pad. So yesterday we did a lot of measuring and marking. 

 

We were originally going to make the big bridge match the little footbridge {clickhere} but then Tony found this huge chunk of culvert that is 10’3” long with an inside diameter of 48”.  So we are going to cut it in half and use it to form a rock bridge.

 

Another project we’re still working on is cleaning up the defensible space {click here}.  We still have to remove about a dozen rotten snags, and burn all the huge burn piles.

 

 

 

 

And of course we cannot forget firewood...yes, we are still cutting, splitting, and hauling firewood.  It seems that this is a never ending project!