Actually putting an edge on the little hatchet blade happened quickly. Oh it wasn’t the best edge for cutting wood in the short time I used the stone to sharpen the ax edge. I did sharpen the little hatchet a lot with just a little bit of effort. I want to use the little hatchet to cut up kindling, rather than the larger splitting ax for ease of use. Plus Mom does not have an ax yet and will need to split up some kindling for her wood stove. Depending on the size of the fire wood a sharp hatchet can make kindling for the wood stove.
The wood I bought and stored is split into wood stove size chunks. I also got some kindling from the wood guys. Cutting up kindling was a big deal during the winter. All the big chunks of wood in your wood stove won’t burn until you start a small fire via kindling first. So I have to sharpen up the ax and hatchet to cut up kindling for the winter heating season. I’m sure I’ll have to cut up kindling in winter this year because I’m still learning how to get a proper mix of wood to burn. At the very least I want at least a week or two of kindling on hand before the winter heating season starts.
The chimney sweep is scheduled for the 1st of October. I feel as if I’m a bit late getting the chimney/wood stove cleaned but October seems to be the month when I get the wood stove cleaned according to my records. It is hitting the 70’s F. so far this month but the rapid cool down from August to September has been very noticeable. A 30+ degree drop in high temps in less than 2 weeks can make you feel like you need a fire in the morning. With the cut up kindling and burning a few mills ends of wood I can start a nice little fire in the AM if I need it for a little extra warmth.
It looks like I’ll catch up financially this month from my getting extra wood and gravel load to help with very localized flooding from the bad winter of 2016/17. The electric bill in August was a bit high, so August was a bit more costly than I anticipated. I’m caught up on all bills and both Mom and I have on hand what I think will be enough wood for winter. Having the new windows installed really helped with cooling costs. August of 100+ temps and smoke from fires drove up my electric energy use.
I wonder what this winter will be like….Weather forecasters seem to think it will be damp and relatively warm. I think it will be somewhat snowy early and then very cold in SW Idaho. I hope I’m wrong as I’d love to have a half full wood pile for next year.
I suppose there are some people that want an apocalypse/disaster to say “I told you so… I don’t want that at all. I’d much prefer us sniping at each other over the different values of beef, chicken or pork and how to do BBQ properly! Dry rub or vinegar/tomato based BBQ sauce, You know the important stuff!
