Firewood Carrier

I made a firewood carrier following instructions from marthastewart.com.
It has already become so handy. Instead of making multiple trips to carry several logs and fatwood from the outside pile to the living room, the carrier makes it possible in one short trip. I made mine from a pretty piece of canvas that matches our living room.

Here's how to make your own:

Materials:

• 2/3 yards of 45-inches wide canvas (22- X 42-inch)
• 30-inches rope
• 4 grommets and eyelets
• Grommet tool
• Hammer

Directions:

• Cut the fabric to 22 by 42 inches.
• Fold the long sides over 1 inch, and then fold them over again to create a 1-inch double
• Press, pin, and sew.
• Fold the short ends over 1.5 inches, and then fold them over again creating a 1.5-inch double hem.
• Press, pin, and sew.
• Measure and mark 4.5 inches from the corners on the short ends.
• Make small holes where you have placed marks.
• Insert a grommet on one side and align the eyelet on the other side.
• Using the grommet tool and a hammer, install the grommets/eyelets.
• Repeat for all 4 grommets.
• To reinforce the knots in the rope, install washers between the grommet and rope knot.
• Cut the 30-inch piece of rope in half.
• Insert rope into each grommet and tie a knot.
• Repeat for all 4 ends.

Thanks!

Just when I thought my firewood pile was dwindling and we'd be able to see the grass again, Bill claimed a couple of trees from two sources around town. They were placed right next to the firewood pile, and it seems like the never-ending pile. Thanks! ;)

Anyway, the bigger of the two trees is a sugar maple which is rated amongst the top of types of wood that burn the hottest and are best used as firewood. It was a smart call on Bill's part. We bought a maul to split it, but first we need a chainsaw to get these logs into more manageable sizes. This could be an on-going project for some time. This wood will need to be seasoned, and just our luck---someone in town has given away two pallets that we will use to stack the wood on. It just might be a long time before that happens, though.

Shrunk firewood pile to the right, two new trees to the left.

Lincoln Logs

Today I got to play Lincoln Logs. That was one of my favorite games when I was a kid. Did you ever think that you'd be playing it again as an adult without any children around?

Our house is heated by baseboard radiators. It cost us more than we could afford to heat this house since we moved in in late December. The last time our tank was filled, we paid $675 for 150 gallons of petroleum! No kidding. During the three winter months we have been in the house we burned about 200-250 gallons per month; and it was still cool in the house. You can see how expensive it can get! Well, we found an alternative that we are going to try this winter---a wood stove.

We found a very nice wood stove that should heat the majority of our house on Craigslist. I say "the majority of our house" because the house is very large (2900 sq ft) and additions throughout the years have rendered it a very funny shape. We bought a Grandma Bear Fisher wood stove. It weighs 400 lbs. Some of my husband's co-workers helped him move it to our house. What's so cute about this line of stoves is that they sit in bear feet.

These are the little bear feet that the Grandma Bear Fisher wood stove sits in.

We got the wood stove for a really good price and the guy threw in all of his remaining firewood and equipment. We made out on the firewood! I saw an article recently titled Firewood a Hot Commodity as Heating Price Climbs. Yep, not that we have bought firewood, but we are certainly part of the trend that is trying alternative heating sources.

This is only some of the firewood we got, one truckload-full had already been stacked.

I have begun stacking the remainder of the wood. I read how to stack wood in order to have a vertical edge without relying on something to support it. To form a vertical side, you find logs that are about the same height and are uniform in height across the whole piece. They form a pair. Then you stack pairs alternating directions as you go up. It works the same way lincoln logs worked.

This picture offers a visual explanation of how the logs are stacked alternating directions.