That’s the get of 12 pallets of various sizes, types and levels of decrepitude. And speaking of that last thing, my back went twang while I was trying to saw through some 4X4s, and I don’t know if I’m going to finish getting it all stacked this afternoon or not. Hope so, because weather is coming and I’d rather not have to dry it out. Certainly I’ll get a start on it. Bet there’s eight wheelbarrow-loads in there. Might actually finish the job for the season, though I doubt it.
We were scheduled this morning for a big 40-bale loadout at D&L’s, but numerous misfortunes reduced us to 10. D is out of the picture, of course, and he’s the biggest of us and usually in charge of bucking the bales up into the stack. No problem, one of our other neighbors volunteered to come do that part. With three of us the way it usually works is that L hauls the bales down from their big flatbed trailer and lays it along the rear. I come along with the handtruck and haul it into the barn, and then D or a stand-in schleps it into a nice neat pile. But we lost our second third person – if that makes any sense – due to a horse accident resulting in a badly broken leg. Really, I don’t understand why people insist on riding those things when perfectly good trucks are available. But then if it weren’t for horses, I wouldn’t be fussing with hay and where would be the fun in that?
Anyhow, L needed hay but a big extravaganza was out of the question when only she, who weighs slightly less than one of the bales, and I were available. So we’re doing it in installments. She could get 10 on the back of her pickup, and plans to do it three more times this week weather permitting.
I was supposed to meet her at her place at quarter to nine, but she got delayed in town so I amused myself cleaning up the stalls. I was just finishing that when she arrived, and between the two of us we didn’t have any trouble moving the ten bales. While the boys were still happily in the Jeep I drove to Landlady’s for belated morning chicken duties and then to Ian’s to finish cutting firewood and tossing it into the trailer. So it’s been a fairly full morning, and I can still look forward to all that stacking. It’s still sunny and I could do a bucket or two of laundry, but that would really tempt the rain.
ETA: Okay, so there’s really lots left to do. I was overoptimistic by a factor of close to 25%. I can get another whole row in there. Sue me.
Since that’s more firewood than you have ever had before, I think you can afford to let your back heal a few days/weeks before you obsess too much over that remaining space.
How is your pallet supply doing?
I agree, Ben. Will probably still have to schlep hay tomorrow, but that’s brief. I’m not in a fever to start another round of firewood, though I do want to fill the hoopshed before winter comes on for real. It’s not a prediction – I never attempt to predict the weather – but statistically we’re due for a really cold one this next time, if my experience with them means anything. Winter of 2006 and 2008 we had lots of snow and weeks where temps rarely stayed above freezing for long. Winter of 2010 we had a couple of whole weeks when nights fell double digits below zero. Maybe I’m just spoiled by living in this nice little cabin instead of the 35 year old RV with no heater and no more than a homeopathic dose of insulation in which I used to make my happy home, but I think I’d have noticed if we’d had such conditions in the last five winters. I’m planning as if I expect this next winter to be payback.
As for the pallet supply, I’ve put a serious dent in it – though I think less than 50% gone.
Joel have you ever thought of making paper logs? I realize you probably don’t have the problem many of us do with junk mail, but on your trips to town surely you could come up with a load of old newspapers or something.
Dean, I think that there’s an order of magnitude less newsprint laying around than used to be the case. Blame the Internet, and blame the newspapers who keep jacking up the price at the same time that they shrink their product. Where I live, our skinny daily paper just went from $1.00 to $1.50! We still buy a Sunday paper, but that has shrank to the size of the old daily paper and probably isn’t long for this world.
Another factor is that scrap paper and cardboard is actually worth money these days. Where I live, the county happily sends a special truck around to pick up paper and other recyclables at the curb, and gets upset at the entrepreneurs who drive around in their trucks to snatch it first. Also churches and firehouses have special dumpsters to collect paper.
Yeah, I’ve no idea where I’d find enough newsprint to make turning out paper logs possible.
If you want to know what your winter will be, check these guys:
http://farmersalmanac.com/weather/
They seem to be consistently more accurate than NOAA or Weather Channel or Wunderground.com for long range forecasts. Or you can do your OWN forecast fairly accurately. What has the local weather been like during El Nino years? You may not be sure how severe this El Nino will be, but looking back at other times when that was the dominant weather factor should be instructive. And since past El Nino magnitudes should have been recorded, you should be able to reach a rather good understanding of what the future – or at least THIS winter – will bring.