Sunday Reading - Still Here

Thank you to everyone who commented and wished us a Merry Christmas. I know my extended break on posting also seems to have creeped in to comment replies as well. No real excuse for that but this break during the height of the Winter is really doing the trick and I believe that within a very short time I will be back to almost daily posting.

I am now even contemplating the first of the seed planting for Spring. I know it seems early yet but trust me it really isn't that soon for some of the plants I grow.

While the wood supply really hasn't dwindled over much I am nearing the end of the pre-split stuff I had stock piled. Pretty much like clockwork this always happens about January or so every year. My typical game plan is to have a cord or more of split wood that has been stacked and curing from last Winter and I begin the season by burning small stuff I cut weekly with the split stuff I already have stock piled. The large pieces that have been cut this year get stacked separately and saved for a splitting weekend when it is raining or generally too muddy to get out and cut.

That hasn't happened this year yet. I still have plenty of small stuff but the supply of split and cured wood from last year has now been depleted  and it looks like a good day or two of splitting action is called for.

I am also running about half a cord over in usage this year even though it has been almost as mild this Winter as last year was. I like to blame the Mrs. being constantly cold for this fact but the real reason is that I am actually in the middle of another experiment. One I kept under wraps to limit panic from the wife.

So far this Winter we have been heating entirely with wood. Not an ounce of propane has been consumed for heating purposes and other than limited bathroom heating for before the Mrs. takes a shower the electric space heaters have remained off as well. Now you might wonder how I know we have not used any propane or that the thermostat hasn't been cranked when I wasn't around. Well it's simple I have shut off the valve to the propane furnace and removed the breaker from the box for the furnace line.

I almost relented last week when we had temps in the teens coupled with 45+ mile per hour winds but we survived.

If I can manage to make it through Winter on five gallons of gas, some oil additive for that gas and manpower alone a new level will be reached for sustained living in my opinion.

It seemed like a good time to give it a try anyway.

Keep Prepping Everyone!!!