Prepping for next winter.

Next winter it seems like one of my longer lived wishes will be granted: I`ll have a lovely woodstove (and a house around it to heat, but lets leave that for now). To properly use a woodstove we`ll be needing a load of firewood, so I`ve been working on splitting and stacking this weekend. The tire-contraption works excellently, and I was beginning to wonder how I`d store and dry the wood. That is when all of a sudden my better halfs father came with a very early birthday present to help me on the way here. The green thing in the picture to have firewood bags in to aid stacking, along with 50 80L bags.

Bagging station.

 I have now nearly 20 bags stored in a drafty and dry old stable where it`ll have a few good months to dry out. I know that it is best to dry wood for at least two years before burning it, but unfortunately I do not happen to have two years right now...

Half the production

The Norway life.

After a month in Norway I have to admit that I do not get around to carving as much as I would have liked. During the week I live in a student house where carving is just not an option, and in the weekends we are often busy with many different things. I haven`t been great at scheduling time to carve. We have been busy doing other things though. During the week we like to take walks in Bergen to get out of the noisy student house, and out of the city air. (Surprisingly, Bergen is one of the worst cities in Europe when it comes to air quality!) There is a mountain just outside Bergen called Fløyen that we like to hike up to in the evenings. The view over the city is just amazing. 

The weekends we like to spend on the countryside of Bømlo, where it is beautiful to walk or go fishing just from the house. 

Today, I spent time splitting wood. We have just made an improved chopping block with a car tire that lies on a slot on top. This prevents the wood from falling over and speeds the splitting up massively. For anyone who has not tried this, I do recommend it. A lot. I noticed that more than half of the time I was not splitting wood, but bending down collecting pieces or rebalancing rounds on the block. The tire-method improves efficiency, by keeping the rounds upright. You don`t have to get down to the ground after every swing anymore.  

First we measured out how high the block should be. The wood we`re splitting is on average 25 cm long, and for me to hit it square the upper face needs to be at ca 80 cm high. This means the block will have to be 55 cm high. After we cut a wide enough section of tree at 55 cm, we cut a circle away around the edge so the tire has a place to lie without shifting much. 

                                      

 The idea then it to stuff the tire full of wood, and split away! I like to walk around the block while splitting, so that I can always hit the rounds close to the tire. This prevents me from hitting the axe handle on wood between me and the round I am splitting.

Very satisfying work. splitting wood. Fresh air, excercise, and immediate visible results. I think I`ll have to fasten the tire to the block with some pins to keep it from shifting completely. I`ll have to be able to lift it off easily though, so that I can get all the bark and dirt that builds up inside away every now and then.