Firewood!

As of today I have enough firewood to last us for quite some time.  I've said earlier that the wood I scavenged won't be near enough with this new fire pit, so I looked online to buy some firewood in bulk rather than piecemeal and save some time, money and worry.  I'll still scavenge the downed limbs I see on the curbs when convenient but having enough on hand is comforting.  First of all, I planned ahead and ordered a rack for the firewood that arrived last week, assembled it last weekend (it can be glimpsed empty over at the last garden blog entry), and have it placed along the fence line near the fire pit, both for convenience and it was only one of two places seriously considered for the rack.

I found several places in my search for firewood, most similarly priced, but settled on this one.  I contacted them and ordered a face cord, 4' x 8' x 16" of stacked and split wood, 1/3 of a full cord.  It cost 159 dollars for kiln-dried mixed hardwoods, and it was delivered today while I was at work.  It took my wife and I the better part of an hour, but we got it all stacked, stored, and swept up.  The rack is 4' x 8' but the bottom is off the ground quite a bit so it wouldn't hold all the wood.  You can see some placed to the left that will be used up first, and also about the same amount as that in the garage with the other fire wood.  I also bought a 17" splitting axe to make bigger pieces smaller.  Yes, for firewood I'm all in at about 280 bucks for the wood, rack and axe.  The fire pit is about 170 bucks all in with accessories.  Um, maybe I shouldn't think of the money.

But it was very worth it for me, with my wife's support, to not worry about how much I'm burning or having to pick up smaller, more expensive bundles of wood for the rest of the year.  From what I scavenged last year I have enough for probably 2 conservative fires, now it's a worry I don't have and won't for some time.  Plus, just the enjoyment and how much more often and easily we can relax around a back yard fire pit is priceless.

Come on over.  Sit by the fire.  Let's talk awhile.  It usually ends up pretty okay!