Wood Weekend

Christmas and New Year have been an gone, we had a bit of a rest other than feeding and moving the animals. Our thoughts this week turned to wood, probably because our supply was dwindling, and of course winter is the time to be cutting down trees before the sap starts to rise again in the spring.

This is our third winter here and we are still not self-sufficient in wood terms. When we moved here there was no existing wood store, although plenty of fallen trees. The first winter we cut some of the fallen wood and hoped it had been down long enough to burn well, it didn't.  Last winter we had cut some wood but not enough to last the whole winter, so we bought half our winter supply in (about 4 stere).  In  spring we decided not to cut wood for this winter but for next winter so that it would be properly seasoned. We have so far this winter bought in 4 stere of 1 meter lengths of mixed wood, although primarily chestnut, we then cut these into thirds.

On Saturday we took a trailer and went to pick up the wood and today we cut it and stacked it, which took us about 3 hours.  We have a good system now, Steve cuts I load the wheelbarrow and then transport the wood to our primary wood store next to the house. When we first came here I could only do a few wheelbarrows before I ran out of energy and muscle power, today I did the full 3 hours with one tea break, although I guess I will be aching tomorrow!

Cutting wood is hard work, particularly when you still have to do all your other daily chores, however it is very satisfying to see the wood piled up. There is an old saying that cutting your own wood warms you twice over, once when you cut and stack it and then again when you burn it.

I also now make my own faggots, no they aren't meat balls, but bundles of twigs tied with string (picture below). I make the faggots from all the branches and twigs from the saplings we cut down around the house. I got the idea for making these from a fiction book I read that was set in medival times, seemingly  in towns it was common for woman to sell the faggots from a basket on the street. We no longer have to buy fire lighters and have no trouble getting a roaring fire going in minutes.

Before coming to France I had never lite a wood fire before and use to really struggle to get them going.  My method now is to put a layer of crumpled up paper, topped by  layer of cardboard, then a faggot and then small  branches, these are all arranged in a wigwam shape. I will try to remember to take a photo of the set fire before I light it and post it here. Until then here are todays wood related photos.