I can't even count the ways life has changed for us since moving north 18 months ago. And one of those ways has much to do with living in our treehouse.
Gutting out our old fireplace and replacing it with a forced-air fireplace has done more for us than heat the house. It has turned my hubby (who, if you IL friends remember correctly...hated to mow the lawn!) YES - Dean...into a LUMBERJACK! My man loves to go into the woods to cut down trees! And not only does he cut them down, he splits the wood into nice burnable pieces, built his own trailer to haul the wood from the forest, admires his outdoor woodstacks on a daily basis, has cut enough wood to heat our home this winter and next winter, and has my children doing real chores!
Dean and Sam spent the whole day in the forest today cutting up fallen trees and came home with a whole trailer full of wood. Upon arrival, Dean also gathered Elle and Jack, who helped Sam stack all the wood you see in the picture above. That's right...my 3 children stacked every piece of wood you see in that picture! Dean did not help them as he was busy splitting the big pieces. I did not help them because, well, you know...I'm just that way....and it was cold out. Anyway, they worked for 3hours on that wood pile! They were so excited that they kept coming to get me to see how big the pile was getting :o)
And the rewards are amazing. It has been snowing lightly on and off for 24 hours, and we still haven't turned our furnace on. As a matter of fact, our furnace has not been on yet this fall! (except for the 2 weeks Dean was out of town on business and not here to maintain the fire) It's like the NienHouse challenge...how long can we go without turning on that gas-guzzling furnace? The fire you see in the picture was taken tonite, with the wood that Sam and Dean cut down today :o) It's a very typical scene in our home these days.
I often feel bad for not being more "green". But I am getting better at recycling, and we have replaced most of our lightbulbs with the energy effecient kind. And then I look at what Dean is trying (and really succeeding!) at doing with heating our home with wood, and I think of all the gas we WON'T be using this winter, and then I feel a little more "green" :o) More green for the environment, and more green in our pockets!
For the men out there who might be interested, Dean has cut and split 4 chords of wood. We have wood piles around the side of house, out in the woods by our house, and in our garage. It's quite amazing.
And nothing like living in the burbs!!!!!!
4 comments:
Yeah! Very impressive! I love that pic of Sam laying in front of the fire on a HARD surface! That tells you how much he loves being there.
I always loved having a wood-burning stove when we were on the farm. There was sometime cozy and special about it. Have fun!
Way to be GREEN! (you could sort out your paper products and burn them...just a thought!)
I love your fireplace, and how good it feels to have the whole family involved. Our wood pile fell over and I had the kids restack it. Felt like pulling teeth but when we got down, they were so proud. We had a fire yesterday, on a cold rainy day, so cozy.
Oh my GOSH! How wonderful! I am telling you we want to see you guys so bad!!! Are we gonna try with the dog or what? I just miss you! I am so impressed! Now all you have to do is grow some veggies! Kidding. Really, cutting and stacking all that wood is plenty impressive! And what a good way for the kids to take a role in caring for the house and family.
SO COOL.
ps
I hate forced air.
Hi, Just found your blog and love your fireplace! My hubby is talented like yours is... such a blessing, isn't it! Will be watching to see what else is happening in the treehouse!
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