Finally

Skeet and Lucy cuddle up to the fire

Cold weather finally arrived this weekend. The pets and livestock have had a small inconvenience rather than a brutal winter so far this year. The temperatures finally got back down below 20 degrees the last couple of days - the coldest being about 13.

The woodburner struggled to keep up because the wood that we've been burning has been mostly maple that had been out in the woods until well past its prime. We have better wood available in the pole barn but a lot of it hasn't seasoned for the two year minimum that we like to avoid creasote build-up in the flue. So...mom kept the logs going into it about every 45 minutes or so for the entire weekend. We did throw in some hickory at night, but our dry hickory supply is small and we don't want to use it all up right away.

We have a lot of hickory, oak, and locust that will be ready for next year. We'd rather be a little chilly in the house than foul up our chimney and worry about chimney fires. We'll be toasty next winter, though.

Sadie eating some hay last month after our only snow (less than an inch) of this winter