Rain and snow yesterday, more is forecast for Sunday. Today, however, is sunny and if you ignore the cold wind it’s a pretty nice day. I had a chance encounter with mama and papa fox warming themselves in the sun. They were within 25 feet of me but when I pulled out the camera they immediately headed for the tall grass. Maybe I’ll have better luck in the near future and also get photos of their children.
I had another argument about hardwood coals recently. This time with a firewood vendor but, once I explained my situation, he actually wound up agreeing with me. 🙂 It’s like pulling teeth though.
The good news is that I have 6 cords of Ash arriving at the end of April – cut and split. This is still a hardwood but it has a very low coal rating. So, it won’t fill up my stove and I won’t be running around the yard in snowstorms getting rid of burning hot bits of wood that might set fire to out-buildings but aren’t doing anything to heat the house.
I’ll have more than enough time to get the load stacked in the garage and I won’t have any stress this year about next winter’s heat.
The only downside is that I didn’t budget for this. Oh I will manage it but things will be really tight for April and May. I called a family meeting and explained to the 4-legged ones that there will be no luxuries for a couple of months and told them why. It will be different next year, they were assured, because I would start saving early but this year belts will have to be tightened.
It didn’t go the way I had hoped. Apparently they don’t wear belts and their budgets are inviolate. As I said, this situation is certainly manageable but my “team” just plans to cheer me on from the sidelines. The little darlings. I’ll remind them of this next winter. 🙂
This Fundy Migrant's Tale 