August ~ Preparing for Winter

It's August, and more than time to get ready for winter. We still have a bit of wood left from last winter and that is what I'm working on. Shortly, more wood will be delivered and need to be cut, split, and stacked.

The woodshed needs to be filled, along with three or four very large outdoor racks (covered with tarps), as well as the large rack on the porch. A winter's worth of kindling for starting the woodrange fire each morning also needs to be split and stored in buckets and garbage cans in the garage to keep it all dry.

Yes, it's a lot of work, but there is nothing so warm as wood burning in the kitchen woodrange in winter, when snow is falling, wind is blowing, and you're listening to a weather report about the ice storm that is on its way. We have a furnace in the basement which in winter is set at 65 degrees at night, but almost all our daytime/evening heat comes from the woodburner from mid-September to mid-April.

All the wood now being cut/split/stacked will later be brought, throughout the winter, to the lakeside porch and stacked onto a large, easily accessible, woodrack right outside the door. The rack is filled two or three times a week all winter as wood is added to the range every 30-60 minutes from 7 AM to midnight everyday.

Today? I'm in jeans and a t-shirt, ear protection on, enjoying being outdoors while the sun is shining and now setting in the west. When I turn the splitter off to go stack the split wood, I can hear the breeze blowing through the pine, maple and oak trees surrounding our home.


Walking along the driveway, I noticed the last of the wild blueberries still hanging on, and the well-travelled deer path through the "island" in our circular drive (below).

I'm also keeping an eye out for a black bear that was seen by our neighbors, though I expect the noise from the splitter will keep him away. Now, time to split a bit more wood, then back to the quiet of the studio.

Postscript added Sunday, Aug. 23rd: Driving to town just before 8 AM we had a black bear cross the highway in front of us, on the way home a coyote, quite a bit closer, and on my way north, another coyote. It seems to be a wildlife day!