Free Firewood Isn't Free

Someone on a forum this past month reminded me that when I say we have free firewood it really isn't free. 

There's the cost of tools unless you inherited them. 

Maintenance on tools like axes, chain saws, manual cross cut saws, ect. 

There's also the tools that you need to preform the maintenance on your firewood making tools.

Add in gas & oil for a mechanical chain saw. 

Then of course there's the cost of traveling to the source & carting the wood back. Along with the cost of the equipment used to transport ... ect. ect. ect.

So no I wasn't being totally truthful when I post that we have free firewood but this is just about as good as it gets. 

Witness to the construction of a neighborhood.

Hundred year old Maple located in the hell strip was finally after eight years of complaining, pleading, and yes even cursing trimmed.

This tree is actually in front of my neighbor's home (to the left if looking out front door), but if it had split that trunk would have bounced off his home & landed in our driveway crushing our only horse or worse my front stoop.
I think the deciding factor for the city to have it trimmed was that my neighbor's home is in foreclosure.
Bank owned properties are as much of a hassle for local governments as they are for a neighborhood. Banks/mortgage companies can be very lazy about maintaining a property especially ones that they won't ever see any return on.

Race is on to get the logs cut & stacked out of view from the street.

For the cost of a few dozen cookies the tree trimmers were putty in my hands .... actually our driveway was closer then were they had their trucks street parked. If the tree had been Oak there be no way they would have let us glean but we're thankful for the Maple.

Legally I only own half of the drive but since notice of his impending eviction the neighbor has been agreeable to not using the area to park his truck (he has a second drive on the other side) when we've need the extra space.

Log rolled back this little piggy didn't run fast enough home. 

Sometimes you have to factor in a higher cost of keeping the home fire burning.
Thank you my husband you are a good man ... and patient.


~~ pelenaka ~~