Oct 23 - splitting wood

I had talked to Jim Matthews the day before about using his wood splitter to deal with the hemlock that I'd cut up -- the one that mostly fell down. I correctly assumed that he would be over early so I went up to the woodshed and moved the wood with the wheelbarrow in front of the shed where he could pull in his ATC and wood splitter. Sure enough, as I was moving the wood I heard him coming.

The wood splitter that he has came from Bruce at the lodge -- a 'gift' as they sold the place. It is home made and way, way overbuilt with a massive I-beam, gas engine and hydraulic piston. Although splitting wood can be a one-person job, it goes a lot faster with two since one person can be moving wood while the other is operating the splitter. It made short work of the hemlock which, according to Jim, is very difficult to split with an axe. I now have about 1/2 cord, perhaps slightly more, piled up by the woodshed. It will dry over the winter and next summer and be good firewood for next winter.

It was pretty obvious why this tree fell. It was riddled with carpenter ants, still in there and alive but only moving sluggishly due to the cold. I expect that the standing stump -- all 15 feet of it -- is also full of ants. I have not yet decided but will probably drop that section too -- although one school of thought would have me bait them in the spring, in reality the ants in that tall stump would have spread out to form new colonies once they are active. In the part that we split there were many, many winged reproductives. Those are the ones that fly off and form sub-colonies. Those are the ones that we do not want moving back into our house.

It probably also makes sense to drop the big hemlock beside this one. It is on its last legs (or would that be roots ?) having also been affected by the weight of fill on its roots that came from putting in the septic bed. That is a big tree, diameter two times or more that of its smaller brother that fell down. That tree, cut up, would probably add 2-3 cords of wood to my store for another winter. I'll talk to Jim about that one because the winter would be the best time to drop it. I also know where I can attach pulleys etc. from my recent work with the small hemlock :) -- that will ensure that it drops where I want it.

After Jim and I split the hemlock he asked me if I could help him split some wood at Troup's -- how could I refuse -- and I wouldn't anyway. So, off we went. The Troup's cottage is the last driveway on the road just past Jim and Bonnie. He has a lot of wood piled up with the larger pieces on the top and Jim had told Bob & Lorraine (Troup) that he would split the big pieces once he got the splitter going.

Other happenings from yesterday -- it was a beautiful day. Sandy missed most of the sunshine, working in the basement to finish the painting. It will be dry now and I can install the baseboard.

Jason, Lorraine & Gavin arrived around 2pm and were promptly greeted by Abby. It seems that my application of their heaters worked well because it was about 20C in the cottage, which is high 60'sF. It makes a big difference having the basement heaters on to warm up the floor. Having arrived at a cold cottage before, I know how much better it is to arrive at an already-warmed-up house. I think that Lorraine was back raking leaves within 1 minute of their arrival, however, when we went over for drinks at 6pm I did spy some leaves that she missed ! Tch, Tch.

It's foggy out there now but I am planning on going out fishing. It's supposed to be sunny today and pleasant -- 10C / 50F -- but it couldn't beat yesterday by much.

That's it ...