The Good Day All Thread

Hiya Mel, what a load of wood! Do you always use pine wood to burn?

My mate has one of those pellet-burners. It does work a treat, I must say. Good luck with getting one of those.

 

Hi Sjoerd Pine has only become popular since the Pine Beatle epidemic that killed a lot of forest in British Columbia. A lot of people shifted to burning pine. Much is rotting on the forest floor, but dead-standing is still available. We mainly burn four different varieties of wood. A two year cured Poplar or Cottonwood burns with the lowest BTUs, has no creosote but creates a lot of ash. It's nice in warmer temps. Pine is also for warmer temps. Fir is coveted as its density is best for a large amount of good BTUs. We try to save our Fir for the depths of winter. Birch leaves us with a bed of long burning coals and good BTUs, so we tend to put rounds of birch on the fire for overnight, as there is a nice bed of coals in the AM. Our least favourite to burn is Spruce. But...it all burns hee hee. So all is good. Even my poor old big willow is on it's second year of drying as rounds before being split next year for the shed.

So far Hubby is against the cost of buying pellets vs harvesting fire wood. I'm ready for one stove to shift to pellets though, just for the break in always having to source firewood. We will need to have seven times the amount of rounds in the photo to fill the woodsheds this summer. I think our bodies will be the ones to let us know when to shift the stove in the living room to a pellet stove, and I think it will be a cup of tea conversation that starts with "why did we wait so long" hahaha

 

@Melody Mc. that's so much work! Of course, exercise is good for you (until it's too much).

I liked the idea of firewood, but my lungs can't handle smoke any more. Ditto for gas. The pulmonologist thinks it's actually a medication toxicity, but I have to be very careful now. If I was smart, I would have installed solar panels and/or windmills, and done it years ago.

Today I added towel rack and medicine cabinet to the bathroom. Just a couple of things remaining.

I was so impressed with the engineering of the medicine cabinet. It was from Amazon, had to be assembled at home. They made it almost fool proof. Almost - I installed part of it backwards and was left with screw holes in front once I corrected my mistake. I'm pretty good with refinishing things. Those will be gone in a few days with an invisible repair.



The suction-cup based grab bars were useless, so I cleaned up the old one that holds on with a vice mechanism.

Paint still needs some touching up. I'm waiting until windows can be open for a few days.

 

I haven’t switched to pellet stoves. It would mean a whole different application, a total home remodel. Way too much construction for a new pellet stove application. Already added inserts for the double sided fireplace. We have two small wood burning stove inserts in the main living area .The double sided fireplace opens up two sides back to back,heating several rooms in the center of this old museum. HaHa. The other is a small wood burning stove free standing in the opposite end of the house near the kitchen where I can cook on the top of the stove when the power is out for long periods. Good ole cowboy cooking gear. Hee haw…

I only burn oak for a slow burn less storage, stacking and hauling for me. My DH has been disabled for many years and I have generally developed a system that works for me. The wood burning stoves are used only when the power is out in winters which happens quite frequently since winters are typically becoming more extreme and all the power lines are above ground. The rest of the winter the heat is supplied with an oil burner heating system. Something like forced air except oil is used hooked up to a 550 gallon underground oil tank instead of electric or natural gas. We don’t have natural gas lines out where we live. It sounds like we live out in the boons.. well sorta. I like living out in the country especially now since there is so much crime in the cities. And I can grow what I want and have animals I like without interference from any HOA. (Homeowners Association)

WOW Daniel beautiful remodel Luv it …especially adding the window made the whole room look so much bigger..
OK What’s Next ? Just kidding..!
We posted at the same time so I added an edit to add a huge Kudos to you for the new cabinet and remodel. We have one like that and so handy dandy…from Amazon… you have good taste…hehe…

 

Good reasons to live out of town.

 

Looks lovely @Daniel W .

 

Good morning everyone, a grey ,damp start to our day but should have a dry afternoon, albeit a cloudy and sunless one.
Housework duties this morning so it can rain all it likes, hopefully get out into the garden this afternoon but if it's too soggy then I'll escape to my greenhouse and sow some more seeds.

 

Mel—Those burners can be expensive that is for sure. I did not realise that the pellets also are very expensive. Such a move would require some thought and calculating before actually buying. Good luck.
I was asking about burning pine because in Alaska it has a bad name because of the chimney fires that you can get when the pine resins released by burning gather on the sides. My Bride had one when I was away working on the North Slope. She found the experience a little unnerving. Haha.

That shower room turned out really nice didn’t it. Well done, mate.

So then Oreti, whatcha gonna plant? Spill the beans…or seeds, shall I say.

 

Sjoerd do you mind if I ask why you were in Alaska on the North Slope ? I remember you mentioned it a couple times before in a couple of your posts. The North Slope is a petroleum reserve and a wild life refuge. I looked it up as my curiosity has got the best of me now.

 

Good morning everyone, hope you're all well.

We are ' suppose ' to be in for a day of heavy rain although at the moment at 7:45am we have full sunhine......so who knows what we'll get.

Oh @Sjoerd let me think ...so far Cleome, Marigolds, Zinnias, Cosmos, Coleus, Salvia Blaze of Fire, Anttirrhiums, Sweet Peas, Bacopa, Gypsophila, Begonais,....can't think of anymore without going to check on the trays. Still have plenty more on my list to sow still .

Salad ---.Lettuce, Cucumber, Tomatoes, Radishes, Carrots, Beetroot and Spring Onions.

We already have established fruit producers...Apples, Pears, Plums, Cherry, Grapes, Blueberries and Strawberries.

 

Pac— I was in Alaska for work in the first place and then, for the Nature. It was an adventurous experience, to say the least…but I went there for the adventure. I was there during the construction phase of the pipeline and then later when the project was up and running.
While there I was able to budget my time between work and knocking-about out in the nature. I still have some great slides of the memorable things that I have seen.

Oreti—Thanks for the description of what you have been planting. I always find it so interesting to learn what others do in their gardens. You have some great choices for fruit. Please keep us up-to-date with how your blooms and veg progress. I just sat here with a massive grin as I read what you are growing. Lovely.

 

Thanks for sharing your experience in Alaska. A life time of memories and amazing opportunity.
Pics always share nice memories.

 

Good Tuesday afternoon all. Currently 8°C and overcast.
A long couple of days with back to work and skating giving me no rest, but we got home from the rink at 5 today and the rest of the day is mine. I ordered pizza for dinner so I didn't even have to cook! I need to go give some attention to my seedlings, then into the shower. I'm beat!
Have a great night all

 

@Sjoerd - I think the pellets are only more expensive in the eyes of those that have been getting "free" firewood from the forests for their decades. ( time...gas....etc. backs...time.... ) Our only alternative to harvesting wood from the forest is pellets or propane. Electric costs a few thousand dollars every couple months to heat a home and is unreliable at best. Our propane bill for hot water and back up heat is about $4000 a year. I can't imagine using it to heat our home.

Chimney fires are a sad part of winters here. We have our personal woodstoves set up for doing an indoor chimney sweep. The pipes are telescopic, and can be removed and swept from the height of the stove. We used to do this every four weeks with the older stoves, but the new ones we have are more efficient and we have hardly any creosote. Birch is terrible for creosote. Especially if the bark is left on.

@Pacnorwest - large open fireplaces are never seen here - as beautiful as they are. They let too much cold air in. Everything has to be contained and well insulated.

We are still slowly tweaking our internet dish. It is getting better which is nice. I'm beginning to see some signs of how things may fare this spring with less snow and insulation from cold. I think all of the strawberries may be gone, but the blueberries, haskaps and raspberries are going to make it. Very different spring for sure.

 

Today I took a nice ceramic plant container to the USPS to return to Amazon. It had a big crack in it. Fortunately, returns are straight-forward. This is my third time in 2024 for flawed or incorrectly shipped goods. Amazon... you are disappointing me!

Then headed to the old place to pick up a better television for my "dog cave", which is also spare room and sewing / computer/ sleeping room. It's much larger and more clear, the better to view detective stories on Britbox.

I starch - soaked fabric for the final sections of the next quilt to iron and cut. Moving along. I do heavy starch, makes better edges for me. I like how it sews. I let the starched fabric almost dry before ironing.

That made for a long day.