We've Been Busy!

You are probably looking at this picture, and saying to yourself, yeah it's a pile of wood. We look at this pile, and see big dollar signs! We have the ability to use wood as a heating option in the winter months. We had a reality check last winter when we ran out of wood and had no choice but to use the gas heat, and let me tell you of the sticker shock when we received our monthly bill! Let's just say I could have bought 3 months worth of groceries with what our bill for a single month was. We cringed every time we heard the heat kick on. This is what kicked us into high gear for this year. We did not want to run out again next year, especially since I will not be working.

So now we have about 1 and a half cords of this wood cut and split, we still have about 3 cords of wood left to cut and split. On top of this pile that you see, we still have about 4 more cords of wood to go and pick up! The best part is, it is costing us only gasoline for our trucks to pick this up. They say wood heats you twice, once when you split it, and once when you burn it. I need to clarify this, wood actually heats us 3 times, the first is when you pick it up, second, when you split it, and finally when we burn it. I will say though, the satisfaction we get when we see the pile grow, because when that pile grows, we know our heating cost is shrinking.

My husband splits every bit of this wood by hand. This is a time consuming, back breaking job, and I know that he does this for all of us, to keep his family warm. So instead of spending my time, inside the house, we have turned this project into a family project. Even our girls will help in this. They will help when picking this up at different locations, and help stack the cut pieces. They never complain when doing this. In fact there are always interesting conversations that take place when we are all together helping each other. Which just goes to show you, that kids just want to spend time with you. Monetary value isn't necessary. Plus, we know that we are helping our girls to be self sufficient when they are older. When they are on their own, they will be more than prepared to face obstacles, live life, and save money.

I'll take more pictures when this pile has been cut.