Tuesday, September 9, 2008

Tree Trunks, Firewood, and Illogical Language

We had a truckload of tree trunks delivered to out house last week. Call us crazy, but this winter we're going to try to heat the house with wood, mostly. We'll still have oil as a backup, but it's just too darn expensive. And I like to stay warm.
















Now I know why a cord of seasoned wood is so costly-- it's a ton of work to cut and split! (But hubby loves any excuse to pull out the chainsaw.)












So here's a question-- how would you explain to a non-english speaking person why you cut a tree "down" but you cut the wood "up?"

7 comments:

Christine Mercer-Vernon said...

we heated our house entirely with a woodstove growing up. there was no other heating system in our house (i did live in the mountains). there were big iron vents in the floors from the first floor to the second floor that you would just roll open or closed. it was also our 'intercom system'. :) it was a very warm/hot heat source. we lived in shorts and tees all winter. keep a pot of water on it to keep moisture in the air especially if your kiddies are prone to bronchitis. otherwise, you will be very cozy! plus the extra exercise that comes with hauling wood is nice too.

Unknown said...

wow...that is a lot of wood...my husband loves to split wood too...he enjoys all the hard work and a nice fire...

Gretel said...

Ha, I am just this minute waiting for a truckload of wood for our woodburner - we only have one little storage heater, which takes the edge off, but to get the main room warm we really on our burner. Thankfully ours comes ready cut up! All I have to do is stack the stuff.

Elizabeth said...

When we lived on LI we heated the house almost entirely with wood. 2 fireplaces - studio and living room.
Children said their bedrooms were freezing......
Log fires are lovely.

Jennifer Thermes said...

Christine-- Wow-- how neat! Which mountains? I love those old houses with vents in the floors.

We do keep a kettle on the one small stove we have-- that takes care of half the house. But this year we're putting an insert into the other fireplace. (Our house isn't that big, but it's spread out-- hard to describe!) It'll be interesting to see how it works out. It just seemed like such a waste letting all the heat go up the chimney.

Diana-- Yes, splitting wood is good exercise. And another way to stay warm, ha!

Gretel-- How cold does it get where you are? (Or maybe it's more damp? My husband grew up in Dublin-- he says the damp is worse...)

We had been buying the wood cut up already, but the price has gone through the roof around here. Since we're going to be using so much more we bought this load from a local tree guy for much, much less... of course the catch is you have to cut it yourself! But, like I said, hubby loves the chainsaw. Personally, I love stacking wood. ;-)

Elizabeth-- A warm house and cool bedrooms sounds perfect to me. I'm hoping all the extra work will keep off that winter weight-creep...

Gretel said...

It does get quite cold where we are as we are rural, and yes, it does get damp - our cottage has thick stone walls which keep it at an even temp. all year, but it can be miserable when it rains, without a fire. I stacked all our wood (it arrived as I was last commenting here!) but my back is feeling it now!

Jennifer Thermes said...

A cottage with thick stone walls sounds lovely! It must be so cozy with a fire. And I sympathize about your back... am in constant negotiations with mine. ;-)