Two Stihl Saws :: Broken

The sun finally came out and it was a relatively warm (hey, anything above freezing is warm) day for cutting wood. The tractor was successfully making it around without getting stuck, I had found some nice dead and standing locust, there was new gas (it was correctly mixed), and I was actually accomplishing something. All was going well until ... until ... until the saw gurgled a bit and then suddenly locked up! Now I can't even pull the rope out, but the chain still moves freely. Alas, I'm no saw mechanic so this one will be going to the shop (the Amish chainsaw shop that is).

But, that only accounts for the little saw being broken. The big saw broke a couple weeks ago and I just haven't done the repair yet. That one seems to be a simple fix because it is just missing a few screws on the outside I believe, but I'll have the shop check it out to make sure. Hopefully it gets going soon because I would rather cut with the big saw anyways!

The moral of the story :: One saw is nice ... two is way better in case one breaks ... and, it might not be a bad idea to have a hand saw around when chainsaw one and chainsaw two breaks. This is especially true when you rely on the saws for creating heat for the house. Luckily I was able to cut a bit before the break so I have some wood set back ... of course it is the bigger stuff ... where is that axe! It doesn't ever go like it is supposed to it seems, but I will press on.

Just a Farm Update...

Life on the farm has been a bit busy around here lately. Between work at the church, family, and regular winter chores we are sure to keep busy, but when you add in all the spring/summer planning we are going through now and the homework from the GYSMF class there isn't a lot of down time. Lately I have been able to finish our makeshift chicken coop that will get us buy until we are able to build an eggmobile type of structure, finalized some exterior fence plans with a ton of help from the guys at PowerFlex Fencing, and how can I not mention the fact that we are taking in three of our last four pigs to the processor tomorrow. The only piggy left is the boar ... we are just going to try to sell him either to an individual or at the sale barn.

But, one of the most enjoyable things that I have been doing is splitting wood (you can see a bit of my stack in the picture above). Thanks to some great church friends we had a bit over 5 pickup loads of wood dropped off this winter and it was a big help because of everything that we had going on while our Senior Pastor was in the hospitial.

Mostly we have been burning the chunks that didn't need to be split because they were they were on top of the pile and of course took the least amount of work. But, now we are down to the bigger stuff and I have been spending a little time each day out there chopping away with the splitting maul and axe. I don't even know where the maul came from, but my wife found it in the wood pile one day. Someone must have felt sorry for me when the saw my little axe!

I do love cutting wood. I love being outside in the fresh air ... I love smelling the wood all around me ... I love the sounds of the cows, pigs, chickens, and more as I chop ... I love the tired feeling I get as I'm working ... and I love to see the wood fly apart in two pieces. Of course the wood doesn't always fly apart in the picture perfect way. That is what happens when you have some elm mixed into the pile!

Pretty soon I'm going to hit the woods again and build up more of a supply for this year and next. I'm looking forward for those times again...

The Art of The Woodstove

One of the things that I love about being a beginning farmer is that so much of what I'm learning and doing is an art. That doesn't mean that I'm always successful or that I get everything done the way I would like it to be done, but I do appreciate the fact that our farm life is so much more than a bunch of ordered steps. In my case I have experienced and grown up around much of what we are doing, but never have been the "one" doing everything. I would just lend a hand here or there and often observe. Now, I am having to learn how to be the artist...

Case in point. Burning wood in a woodstove is an art. You might as well just throw away that instruction manual or better yet, just use it to start a fire (just kidding). But, really it is an art form to get a good burning fire in a stove. Each stove is different, each home is different, each chimney is different, and even every log is different. You must learn how to make all of those pieces come together to make the picture.

I am slowly learning our stove and the wood. Getting a good hot burn with the stove full open is easy, but finding that perfect long burn position is taking some getting used to (and the manual was worthless for this). Nevertheless it is in the low thirties outside right now and really windy, but in our house it is 73 degrees and rising! I will admit that there is a great sense of satisfaction in knowing our house, that was built by a community of our friends and us, is being heated by the wood I cut this afternoon on our farm!

Hopefully at some point very late in my life I will be an accomplished artist that can pass on a little bit, but for now I'm enjoying learning the art from those around me.

**P.S. Our walls aren't yellow ... they just look that way in the picture.**