Project: One photo a day (but not necessarily every day)

[vertical_doug]

Some rough weather the last two weeks. The woodpeckers will be happy.

You have to get the chainsaw out and cut up some wood to chop for the fireplace.

[j44ke]

You have to get the chainsaw out and cut up some wood to chop for the fireplace.

Can't burn the pine in the fire place, though I probably have enough here to frame a pole-barn for the tractor. But yeah, the cherry will get cut up for firewood and the hornbeam will get turned into table legs by my cabinetmaker friend.

I can hear chainsaws up and down the valley here this morning.

[monadnocky]

Can't burn the pine in the fire place, though I probably have enough here to frame a pole-barn for the tractor. But yeah, the cherry will get cut up for firewood and the hornbeam will get turned into table legs by my cabinetmaker friend.

I can hear chainsaws up and down the valley here this morning.

This is interesting to me and I'd love to get your take. There are folks (who appear to be pretty in-the-know, and some who have taken an empirical approach vis-a-vis annual flue cleaning) who swear that burning properly aged pine is no worse compared to hardwoods. I've never burned pine in my stove, however aged, but I'm wondering now if the aversion to it is largely a myth....
???

*Edit: all of these folks readily admit that the BTU value per volume log isn't nearly the same compared to hardwoods, but make the claim that there's no more danger to the flue, given aged wood and burning hot.

[j44ke]

This is interesting to me and I'd love to get your take. There are folks (who appear to be pretty in-the-know, and some who have taken an empirical approach vis-a-vis annual flue cleaning) who swear that burning properly aged pine is no worse compared to hardwoods. I've never burned pine in my stove, however aged, but I'm wondering now if the aversion to it is largely a myth....
???

*Edit: all of these folks readily admit that the BTU value per volume log isn't nearly the same compared to hardwoods, but make the claim that there's no more danger to the flue, given aged wood and burning hot.

I think there is a difference between a stand-alone wood stove and a fireplace - and then a difference between a fireplace and this Morso insert that we have. I think the people around here who are burning pine are doing it because that's how they heat their houses or at least, that's how they reduce their heating costs. We even have a fair number of people running wood-fired boilers. They burn everything. They just need to keep everything going constantly so their system works or their house stays warm enough the pipes don't freeze. And if the chimney cleaning sections of the hardware stores are any indication, they clean their stove pipes or chimneys a lot. At least annually, and in the case of the wood-burning boilers, maybe more than that.

I just don't need the hassle. Pine is just too dirty. And the Morso guide says explicitly not to burn softwoods. I don't understand the details of the design, but it has some recirculating re-burning arrangement and that lowers the velocity (think that's the right description) of what goes up through the stove-pipe, which in turns increases the likelihood of resin accumulation. The residue in the stove after burning is just gray powder, but hardwood doesn't leave resin in the pipe like pine. And with all the dead ash around here, I don't have any problem sticking to the menu.

I already have more wood than I can store and this last storm add half again as much as I already have. There is no shortage of good firewood around here.

[echappist]

Continuing with the winter theme, phenomenon known as steam fog on Lake Michigan yesterday, as my flight approached MKE airport (located less than two miles from the lake shore).

[rwsaunders]

Clear, cold and sunny morning with the Cascades in the background.

[rwsaunders]

Too much slop on the road to ride which on a day like today, always leads to a nice walk in the woods.

[rwsaunders]

[rwsaunders]

[j44ke]

took my coffee to the gravel pit

[echappist]

(image of a Kit-kat bar)

Those things are devilishly expensive when imported. A packet that sells for ~350 yen retail is at least $6-7 Stateside. On the one hand, I really should have loaded up on them, but it's probably better for my waistline that I didn't.

[rwsaunders]

[j44ke]

[Diablo de Acero]

1074B2F5-FB68-4A8E-B078-30ED80DA0E87.jpg
This was from last week's frigid weather. The Lake Erie shoreline.

[j44ke]

1074B2F5-FB68-4A8E-B078-30ED80DA0E87.jpg
This was from last week's frigid weather. The Lake Erie shoreline.

Wow. There should be sled dogs and polar bears.

[j44ke]

[robin3mj]

1074B2F5-FB68-4A8E-B078-30ED80DA0E87.jpg
This was from last week's frigid weather. The Lake Erie shoreline.

We had one winter in Chicago where the lakeshore looked similar. Some parts were downright otherworldly. I’ll have to dig out a photo or two.

[bironi]

Clear, cold and sunny morning with the Cascades in the background.

Wouldn't those be the Olympics?

[Ras72]

2185FE8B-C5F3-4CA5-89A7-12224E28D55A.jpg

The world is an amazing place and there are good people in it.

[Diablo de Acero]

We had one winter in Chicago where the lakeshore looked similar. Some parts were downright otherworldly. I’ll have to dig out a photo or two.

I read that in the west section of the lake the water receded completely in some spots and people were looking at bare bottom surface of the lake. The pictures that I've seen are pretty crazy.