Adventures

My Odd Discovery Of Three Purposes For Wood

Shelley

Introducing one of the shortest posts I’ve ever done! It’s about wood.

Not every day, we get a delivery of wood to burn in our fireplace. The delivery truck dumped the pile semi-conveniently right here. The normal storage area for chopped wood is next to the shed behind the pile where one log is leaning against the shed. As you can see, the spot is quite empty and needs refilling.

This delightful pile o’ wood has multiple purposes.

#1 to burn in our fireplace. (Yes, you’ve seen this photo before, but if the color brown fits Terri’s prompt, I run with it!)

#2 to provide Exercise. While the wood has been pre-chopped, it requires extra chopping to fit into said fireplace. That’s where Mr. gets his exercise. As if moving 9 tons of retaining wall supplies this summer wasn’t enough, he thought sawing up and chopping wood would be a good exercise for the winter. And a valid reason to purchase a chainsaw with a 20″ blade. 🪓💪🏻

#3 to provide Entertainment. That’s where I come in. The pile of wood serves as a way for me to create photo captures. Isn’t this cute heart so heart-warming? I should’ve zoomed in instead of cropping it from another photo. 🤣

As I stared at the pile and zoomed in a bit closer with my camera, I ran with some wildly creative thoughts about wood sure to bring a smile to Mr.’s face.

My conversation with myself that I shared later with Mr.:

“Shelley, dear, you can get exercise from this wood pile. All of it either has to be burned as is (which Mr. is maximizing the opportunity to do so) or, it has to be moved to the splitting location and stored by the north side of the shed. I guessed that each piece of wood weighs between 2 – 20 pounds (guesstimate based upon a comparison of me picking up our cats that weigh about 10 pounds each, and I can’t lift more than that so I’d leave those there for Mr.). So, if I carry 5 logs to the splitting spot, one at a time, I’ll get a workout in every day and build big muscles over the winter.

💪🏻💪🏻💪🏻💪🏻💪🏻

And that’s where the end of this odd, yet profound, post arrived and was sent to your inbox today (late for every inspirational prompt below)!

Post Inspiration: Linda G. Hill’s Stream of Consciousness Saturday: Your Nov 11 Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is: “create.” Use it any way you’d like. Enjoy! Terri Webster Schrandt’s Sunday Stills Nov 12  Monthly Color Challenge: Brown (any shade); and Anne for Lens-Artists Challenge #275: Filling the Frame

Published by Shelley

Letting my quirk out one post at a time.

49 thoughts on “My Odd Discovery Of Three Purposes For Wood”

  1. LOL I laughed at your comment about shortest post ever and despite that the number of challenges you were able to address! You surely filled the frame and the little heart is sweet! Have a great week!

    1. Thank you, Tina. I had a busy weekend and still wanted to play along so the logs just rolled into my thoughts and onto the screen for a quick post.
      I went to look for the log again to take a photo and sadly I may have carried that to the splitting pile and it was split and stacked and burned. 💔
      I so enjoyed your take on the prompt. The sunset photo is my favorite!
      I hope you’re having a great week!

  2. Burning wood makes me sneeze and my eyes itch and my entire being feel congested and crummy. Yes I’d have made a terrible pioneer, but that’s the truth of it. However if it works for you then carry on! 🔥🪵

    1. Aw, sorry to hear you’re not a fan of the pioneer approach to heating a home. A wood stove like ours causes less allergens (at least it did for our daughter). I’m with you in those feelings though when it comes to outside fire pit fires. The smoke is nasty to me no matter how cozy they feel on a cool fall night.
      The math of only needing to burn 8 logs/day to heat our house seems a logical thing for us to do at this point in the adventure. 🤣🤔

  3. hahaha. A great addition for both Sunday Stills and Filling the Frame. But my laughter comes from understanding. Prior to heading to Yellowstone, we were asked if we could lift 40lbs. Easy…says me… I was the manager of the grounds and wanted to make sure I set the BEST example. I came ready and able. The heavy lifting came with the wood. We were to stack wood packs and receive weekly loads of 100 + from the vender. My crew of ten called the entire summer, “The Donna Diet and Workout” (but I was just doing my job-lol). They were all were pleased at the end of the summer to see what great shape they left in. I told them later, I too, ended the day with ibuprofen for the first week. It was fun, and a great way to exercise ….without a gym.

    1. Hi Donna – thank you for sharing the story of Yellowstone. I LOVE that they called it the Donna Diet and Workout. The DDW is what I’ll think of now every time I carry the wood from the pile to the storage area. Knowing that it works in real life gives me even more inspiration that it’ll work for little ol’ me after all!! 🤩😍🥰

      1. lol Well if nothing else, food will taste great as you will be burning more calories, you can eat more, and you certainly don’t need to lose any weight.

        1. Your words of encouragement were discussed over our dinner last night. 😉😊 I carried some extra heavy logs yesterday that Mr. had a hard time splitting so he said, “We’re gonna be quite buff this winter, eh?” I said, “Did you read Donna’s comment?” He said, “Yes, I did!!”

  4. Wood can provide a delightful workout, and give you some great photo opportunities (in and out of the fireplace). I hope you have a healthy winter.

    1. Thanks, Dan! So far, we’re both feeling the effects of the challenge to relocate the pile and stack it in an organized fashion. I hope you have a healthy winter too.
      PS – I enjoyed your interview with Damyanti – I’m so impressed to read about how much work goes into writing a series of books. You two have done well. 🥰

      1. Thanks Shelley. You know from my book, how important Damyanti has been to me. I was ready to quit writing and blogging when she offered an amazing sign of support.

        As for moving the pile, I like exercise that is kind of the old fashioned way. Doing hard work that needs to be done. I know people who hire people to do that stuff, and then go to a gym to exercise.

        1. Yes, I remember how important she is to your writings. She’s kind and generous and encouraging. You’re so fortunate to have had her as a mentor.

          I agree 100%! I’d like to say it’s cheaper than a gym membership, but the wood we have to use for our exercise is definitely more expensive than any gym membership. Removal of 3 giant oak trees runs over $5k. 🙄😏

          1. Whoa! That’s a high price per/cord. I am fortunate to have had support from all three of the women I’ve featured the past few weeks. A very special group.

          2. The removal of the trees that were located in between a couple of rental properties and the cost to move them to our home after the removal added up quickly.
            Yes, indeed, you’ve found a very special group of friends to treasure 🥰

    1. Hi John! That works too – from what I have seen of those who split wood. I’ve seen the wedge/sledgehammer technique used to rescue the chainsaw blade caught in logs too. It’s an art that I can only contribute to by carrying the logs to the location where all the hard work happens. Oh, and to enjoy the heat created in the fireplace.

  7. Well Shelley, you certainly filled the frame cleverly with wood. I love wood because it has such texture and design. And you found a little heart. Great way to get many challenges into one post. Well done!

    1. Thank you, Anne. I appreciate your lessons on filling the frame and the exquisite examples you shared in your post.
      I chose to roll with the wood this time and was happy to see the little heart as I zoomed in to create the crops. It’s fun to join in on multiple prompts and see what happens.
      Thank you for hosting this week’s Lens-Artists challenge. Well done and so much fun!

  8. There’s nothing wrong with a short post, Shelley. 😊 You guys have your work cut out for you in moving a few tons of wood that far. How many cords are in that pile, wow!! By blade I think you are referring to a 20″ Bar as it’s called on a chainsaw. Have fun! It was 55 or so here today and very windy. Not bad but I prefer palm trees… 🌴

    1. Thank you for your encouragement, John! Yes, we have our work cut out for us. I can’t remember how many cords we think it is. It was a heaping pile in the back of a small dump truck.
      LOL – YES, that’s what I meant by the bar not a blade. I make up words for things I really don’t understand. 🤣 The weather is nice this week so I’ll be making as many trips as I can to help move the large pile.
      That’s a pleasant temp for Michigan in November. The wind can blow on though. I hate the winds like that. I’m sure you prefer the palm trees blowing in the wind. I hope all is well with your dad and your family. I’m sure they appreciate you being there!

  9. You’re so clever Shelley, making a post out of wood. (hahaha! I just read that over and realized I made a pun) I remember moving firewood and that those logs are surprisingly heavy! You might remember my Doberman that used to carry logs around for fun. I guess you could do that too for cheap weight lifting! Lol! I have no envy for your brutal winters but I do envy that wood-burning stove! There’s nothing like wood burned heat.

    1. Hi, thank you! I LOVE your pun, that’s a good one. 😂
      Yesterday I lifted some really heavy ones that were hard to split according to Mr. I felt quite accomplished. 😉
      Yes, I remember your dog doing that. My niece’s son’s new dog loves to do that too. Wonder what makes a dog think of the idea in the first place and then shake their tale and say, “This is my thing!” 🤔😂
      Yes, our winters are brutal and the stove is very cozy. We’re happy to have some wood to burn this year! 🥰

      1. Seems to me you get plenty of exercise though, without carting wood around- you’re always busy! As for the dogs it’s a weird thing for them to do. Glad to hear mine isn’t the only one. But yeah, mine seemed proud of the achievement. I’d have been happy if he put them back! Neighbors probably thought we were weird with logs all over the yard. LOL!

        1. We try to get daily exercise. Life seems off if we don’t.
          Our neighbors have a couple of Labs that carry logs around their yard. It appears to be a chore for the lawn mower to have to go pick up all the logs so she can mow the lawn. 😂

  10. You make mundane brown logs for firewood look elegant, Shelley! Boy that’s a LOT of wood! Love the image of your wood burning stove. We just paid our contractor to (finally) install the smoke pipe to our wood burning stove in the pole barn. Hubby dragged that 300 pound old stove from Sacramento and it is finally burning wood! He is also building a woodshed to store the wood. Our stove in the house is smaller so he had to cut the logs down, much like your hubby to make them fit. Great way to stay fit for our burly men 😉 You are never late for the theme, because you have all week to post.

    1. Thank you, Terri! Wow, that’s a heavy stove but so worth it to haul it around and eventually get it placed to heat the pole barn. I bet that will provide a great workspace for your hubby over the winter months. I think my hubby would love it if his shed was heated too. The lifting, splitting, carrying, etc. is a great way to stay fit 😉😊💪🏻💪🏻 Since it’s cool and we don’t have snow yet I’m actually enjoying the little break in the day to challenge my muscles to grow. Once it snows, though. 😏
      Ooo…that’s great to know I have a week to post. 🤔😉

      1. Oh I thought you knew that about Sunday Stills, Shelley. Many bloggers wait until Monday or even as late as Friday to link to SS. Hauling wood is a good idea. Can you believe I’m still dealing with a head cold? Almost 3 weeks in and it turned into a sinus infection. Much better but my walks and workouts were dialed way back. Enjoy your week ahead!

        1. If I knew, which I probably did and forgot, I won’t forget now. We’ve now determined my technique will be too slow so we’re going to borrow a power splitter and move the pile in one day. I believe we both will be sore!
          WOW – that’s a long head cold sinus infection. I’m sending you healing hugs. 🤗🤧 Hopefully you’ll be fully recovered soon and can enjoy your week as much as possible while you finish recovering!

    1. LOL, yes, it does and is. I’m reconsidering how many logs I’ll need to move per day to beat the arrival of snow. 🤔
      PS – I enjoyed your post about your summer trip, so many great photos you captured. Your comments were closed but I could like it. I just wanted you to know that I stopped by and enjoyed sipping my coffee while reading and looking at your photos!

  12. Shelley, I feel cozier after seeing that fire crackling away in your post, but I am weary after seeing that pile of wood that must be chopped up. Good thing it is a chainsaw and not by hand like Paul Bunyan. 🙂 I like the face in the wood – pretty observant on your part!

    1. Thanks, Linda, I’m glad I could spark some cozy feelings for you.
      Mr. actually does use an axe like Paul when he splits them. We may need to use the neighbor’s power splitter if we want to get the pile split faster than our pioneer techniques we’re doing for exercise.
      I’m glad you liked the face too (and that you saw it too!). 🤗😊

      1. Yes, I felt cozy and warm when I saw the stove. That is good exercise chopping wood like that. That’s a good idea as the weather gets colder (not today, but next week for us, plus windy and colder). I did see that face Shelley. Last Saturday I was in a new woodsy area and there was a tree someone had chopped down and in the cut portion, someone had drawn in pen. I took a photo of it – didn’t want to climb into the leaves and brush in case of ticks – I zoomed in instead. 🙂

        1. Good thinking to zoom instead. It’s fun seeing faces in nature’s creations. Odd, but fun too, to see them when someone uses a manmade object like a pen to create the face.

          1. Yes. I should be putting my graffiti and things like drawing on trees into a file to make a post about it one day. You would not believe what people write on.

  13. Well done, Shelley! And at least, unlike cats, logs shouldn’t wiggle around while you’re carrying them and getting your strength-training in!

    1. Thank you, Rebecca!! Yes, that’s true. 😄 I have had to dodge some falling logs if I don’t pay attention to what’s above that can come tumbling down when I pull it out of the pile. Mr. has a large bruise on his arm from that move. We’re feeling quite strong at the moment.

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