Disaster averted ...
3F @ 00:00 and headed for a low of -11F ... can hear the wind howling outside.
Just woke up from an 8 hour nap ...
I ended up getting about 2 or 3 hours sleep Friday night, with most of it tending the fire in the furnace, trying to get it fired up (with wet, unseasoned aspen :confused2
... managed to do that and keep the house above 60F ...
Saturday morning we were essentially out of any firewood here at the house, and only a couple of rounds up at the shop.
Early Friday afternoon I had pooched the chain on the saw by trying to cut through one of those aspen logs that had big chunks of ice on it. Apparently there were some rocks or gravel in it as well, because it really did a number on the saw chain.
Around 17:00 the wife called and said she was about to head out and I needed to come down to the house to tend the fire which wasn't burning all that well and bring more wood ...
I went out to cut some logs but nada ... she no cut. So I sharpened another chain which was about ready to be tossed anyways and went back out. First pull the saw starts to fire, second pull the cord on the starter breaks ...
Managed to get that fixed, which was a complete PITA, cut some rounds and chucked them in the back of the van (tractor is still out of commission) and headed down to the house.
Saturday morning rolled around and @ 08:00 we were essentially out of wood ... with about a 3 or 4 hour window before the cold front rolled through and conditions became really brutal.
I had went up to the shed around 07:00 and got a fire going and got the good saw chain sharpened up but ended up having to cut down the rakers as well, since I had to take so much off to clean it up.
The 'Cake rolled out of the sack around 08:30 and I informed her that we needed to get crack-a-lackin' and commence emergency wood gathering operations. Since she had not yet had her coffee she was not pleased.
I went out and cut down three ash trees at the edge of the woods along the driveway (so they could be loaded into the van and moved to the house relatively easily)
I was in the shop fueling and and oiling up the saw when my young helper showed up with a guy he works for and a pickup bed load of wood - mostly oak - from a tree trimming job. Had them dump it down at the house. Then The 'Cake and I gathered up the ash and loaded it in the van (aka mobile firewood storage unit)
After that I had a spot of breakfast and then cut up the wood that had been dropped out while my sweetie stacked it in the garage. The front blew in right as were finishing up ... like Murph said, it was white-out conditions ... with the snow coming down hard and the wind a-howlin' ...
I was overdue on a little welding project for a TBN friend ... so before I hit the rack I went back up to the shop and glued that together ... and then gave him a call and told he could swing by and pick it up.
By the time I got back down to the house the woman had a roaring fire going and the temp was up to 65F.
At that point I hit the rack and was dead to the world.
Y'all stay warm ... and safe.
