Got Wood?

Picture Window

The view from upstairs at Jimmie Jacks Lodge. There is a fire pit out there with neatly stacked wood with fire starter in bins in the old boat. Nice place to sit and watch the sunset. With summer solstice almost upon us I am asleep well before the sun sets. Since I'm the breakfast cook I'm up rattling pots and pans in the kitchen at 4am. Easy to do since its light out. Hard part is going to bed when the sun is shining.

Where the Pavement Ends

After driving a cab all day I do not mind a leisurely drive home. Past this point there isn't a lot of traffic. Just beautiful scenery. The 15 minutes it takes me to get home, at 25mph, is relaxing.

On my day off today I scrounged up some egg cartons to make Girl Scout firestarters. I already had a bag of chips leftover from last summer so all I needed was parrafin to buy. These are lifesavers for inside or outside fires. All you do is pour the melted wax in the chip filled egg cartons and let cool.

Happiness is a full woodbox. I'm learning the tricks of heating with wood. I've got a cord of mixed spruce, dry and green birch. Also have lots of birch bark available as the landlords sell wood ($200 a cord) and have a hydraulic splitter.

The firestarters save me from chopping kindling. Once I get the fire started with the starters, some birch bark and spruce I add a couple green birch logs and close the damper down. This banks the fire for 6-8hrs. I bank it full when I leave for work in the morning and 14 hrs later I come home to a semi-warm cabin with a few coals still burning.