Firewood!

I love the sight and sound of a crackling fire in the wintertime.  I know all the stories about how it's not cost effective, etc. But it's aesthetically pleasing, and satisfies a need inside me somewhere.

Today, my next-door-neighbor and I tramped around the outer edges of the property, and collected a good variety of dead branches and small trees. So I now have a good collection of hardwood firewood that is well-seasoned, and most importantly, FREE. :D

I told him I'd buy him dinner tonight as a thank you for his help with it.  We had pretty well filled up the bed of my truck with dead oak, cherry and ash  saplings and brush for kindling. Then we stood outside, not really noticing the cold, and cut it up with his bow saws.  There's a nice stack out there now, and we're going to do it again in January, probably.

Of course, I've been back inside for almost an hour, and am still chilled to the bone, but it was a fun activity, even if it was a cold day (I don't know why we couldn't do this when the temps were in the 50s, and had to wait until today, when the cold front was moving in).