Firewood & Cold Nights

It's been very cold for this time of the year here on the mountain the past 3-4 days with temps down around 26F at night.  I've covered the water hose with leaves and that helps insulate them from the cold enough to keep them from freezing.  I also have a drop light with a 100W bulb in the water intake area of the motorhome which helps keep the compartment warm enough to keep it above freezing.

My next door neighbor Bob cuts down dead trees for firewood each year and I let him cull the dead trees from out 3 acres.  Over the years he has cut an access road to reach the trees at the back of the lot.  Here he is on the right with his trusty John Deere tractor getting read to cut down an 85 ft oak tree that has been dead for a couple years.  His brother Dave is on the left and was his helper that day.

Dave on left and Bob on the right.

Bob used to split the wood by hand but last year he bought a log splitter to make life a little easier.  All that means is he splits more wood now and it wears him out faster.  

Bob cutting the tree into fireplace lengths.

 Bob, Dave and Annette are working splitting the tree into fireplace sized wood.  Bob actually has a very nice wood stove that he uses as his main source of heat in the winter, with a propane furnace as a backup.  His cabin is well insulated and that helps with the heating bills.

Bob, Annette, and Dave  Notice some of the split wood on the right.

Sunday Bob was working on taking down some more trees on another neighbor's property when he downed a tree that fell against the neighbor's house.  Luckily, there was very little damage and Bob repaired it quickly.  No problem!  He did manage to get five truckloads of firewood and that will help him get through the winter.  They are expecting a cold one again, much like last year when it was bitter cold for weeks at a time. 

I was joking with him and said another neighbor warned me to not let Bob near our cabin on this search for firewood since he was a danger to himself and others in the area.  I had him going for a while until he caught on I was pulling his leg.  All in good fun.

Bob has been a great neighbor here for the past 35 years and has been helpful with many projects.  It is great to have a neighbor like him.

We've been staying in the motor home most of the time since we arrived here in August.  It is much easier to not have to unpack everything and then repack it later when we are getting ready to leave.  We purchased a macerator to empty the black/gray tanks into our septic system so it's possible to use the motor home.   We do use the cabin for other things as well as when we have company, since there is more space there.  It works out great for us this way.

We are planning on leaving the cabin on Wednesday morning and heading for Concord, NC to visit with Larry Jr. and Barbara and their families for 3-4 weeks before continuing our journey back to Tucson for the winter.  Hopefully, we will arrive there around the first of December and I can resume my newspaper delivery.

We've been having goodbye lunches the past few days and I will write about them later.  This has been the shortest time we've been at the cabin since we've been fulltiming and time has gone by in a flash.  It seems like we just arrived here and it's been almost 2 months.  

That's it for the night.  Hope you all are enjoying the beautiful fall weather and crisp nights.