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Sunday 21st -1C/30F. It feels much colder indoors overnight. 15C/60F upstairs. 14C/57F in the kitchen and lounge. 7C/45F in the unheated bathroom.
I loaded the stove last night. To keep it going after bedtime. It had burnt right down to ashes this morning. That "somebody" actually did the washing up! I had time to kill while I made sure the stove was going to burn unattended. I just hope I don't become nocturnal!
Up at 6.30. My shoulders were aching slightly. I lit the stove at 7.30. Going well. Nose bleed. Probably the exertion from hours of splitting logs and pushing heavy barrows uphill. I had moved my splitting activities to the "patio." Where I could toss batches of logs directly from the trailer to near my splitting anvil: A hefty, forked length of chestnut tree trunk. The greater the resistance to the heavy splitting axe/maul the better.
Straight logs make very poor anvils. Because they themselves split so easily. I placed the barrow for split logs alongside. To stop the smaller firewood from flying everywhere. Though it was a bit noisy at times. As chunks of wood ricocheted off the side of the barrow! 😎
My morning walk became a climb as I decided to reach the forest by the direct route. Which involved climbing on ploughed fields. With just the right amount of frost to make them navigable. Albeit decidedly lumpy. Requiring care in placing my feet to avoid injury.
One I had reached the summit I escaped back down the steep track to the next village. Image above is about 1000 yards from the summit back down to the road. Where I am standing. It remained grey overhead with few birds visible. Though fifty-odd, noisy geese crossed in a chevron. A thin, cold breeze came and went. The prairies of bare soil did not help to lift my mood.
Fortunately I had built up the logs in the stove before leaving. So a good bed of red hot ashes remained. Allowing instant recovery. Once a few more logs were added. I suppose I was gone for about an hour. The soles of my walking boots were still clean on my return.
10.20. Morning coffee over. I have half a trailer full of smaller firewood but nowhere handy to stack it.
If I stack in front of the existing pile. As I have done in the past. Then it blocks access for the wheelbarrow. If I tidy up the greenhouse there would be loads of room. What then do I do with all my wife's gardening stuff? Which seems to be taking up most of the space.
I am highly unlikely to use use any of it myself. Nobody is going to want to fill a trailer even if it were free. The recycling yard isn't open until Wednesday. I hate treating it as recyclable waste plastic and metal. Yet it has to go somewhere. I had better have a look at it as individual items. Bung anything useful in the shed for another day.
11.15 Well, I managed to make a huge dent in the contents of the greenhouse. Leaving mostly scraps of firewood in full, plastic baskets. The pile outside is mostly cardboard and needs a tour to the recycling yard. Which can't be earlier than Wednesday afternoon after my stint at the museum.
The decades of algae growth on the outside of the greenhouse glass needs attention. In the past it was in deep shade for most of the year. Due to the conifers and high beech hedge. Now cut back hard or removed altogether. Vinegar and warm water is recommended as a cleaning solution.
I discovered enough insect net and a gutter leaf net in boxes to last a lifetime. There were lightweight tarpaulins hidden out there too. Which could be covering the chestnut firewood against the western, gable end of the house. One box of charity shop fodder will be easy enough to dispose of. All Her small gardening tools and other stuff can go in the tool shed. Which I still have to attend to.
All Her long handled tools have been out in the open for years. They face east and are sheltered by the shed roof overhang to some degree. They still look a complete mess. There are so many of them just resting haphazardly against the wall. The space under the overhang has been full of junk for as long as I can remember. I got rid of the rusting luggage trunk months ago.
I have had an idea! There is an old, outdoor, bin bag holder in galvanized steel. The sort of thing they once had in lay-bys. It was here in the garden when we moved in. The tools could all stand up neatly in that under the overhang.
Getting a tool out may prove slightly more difficult but rarely needed. The bottom of the basket is open. With only a few steel slats. So everything will rest on the ground unless I add something. A circle of fine mesh, steel net will do. Drainage, proper support and open to the air. I'll have to make do with the concrete slab underneath. Lots more cleared from the area. Now I need a rest.
16.00 +1C/33F. Thanks to the smaller logs the lounge climbed to over 21C/70F. So I have opened the internal doors to the kitchen to spread the warmth.
Meanwhile I was finally clearing the manageable branches from the remains of the chestnut. Everything left behind needs the chainsaw to make it moveable. It is pretending to be slices over 45cm/18" in diameter. Though the cuts were never quite deep enough to become severed from the rest. One never likes to saw into the ground because stones can soon dull the chain. I shall have to do some levering to lift them clear.
16.15 Quite a busy and useful day. It is already becoming dark enough for switching on the indoor lights. To lift the gloom.
Dinner was a mushroom omelette. Followed by tomato soup and a bread roll. I am having an early night after my strenuous activities.
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