Wood, wood,
Chop, chop
bNrrrn, nbrrrn
This is the time of year of wood on the mind. The stoves been lit every night for 3 months now and we have atleast 2 more to go. It is another year where there just isn't enough stored by the house and we have to collect and cut more dry wood. As well as making sure we have cut and prepared enough fresh trees for next year.
Collecting more good dry wood in the middle of winter with there having recently been snow could be harder. At least the days are not too cold and we are lucky (in this sense at least) to have many dead elm trees in the village. Most of the large elms died maybe 10-15 years ago when the Dutch elm disease reached here. We have been slowly cutting and pulling these down, especially where they are a hazard for falling on roofs or even people. As they are mostly still standing and without bark they are very dry and stay that way even though it has snowed.
These have been burnt already so I was looking for an elm to cut for supplementing the diminishing stack when I found this one recently fallen in the storm. Perfect!
Loads of wood cut up first to transport it to the house. Unfortunately uphill this time. Not too far but I'll safe the longest bit of the walk for tomorrow.. or maybe I'll use the land rover..
Only needs to be cut to length and split if needed. A good mixture of thick and thin pieces. Soon stacked and ready for the cold winter nights. They say wood warms you atleast 3 times, once when cutting it, once when carrying it and once when its burnt. Though I was using the chainsaw that was stilll true today.
Here, the wood of elm is second only to oak in terms of heat given and coals left. We can leave a fat log in a closed up stove and there will still be coals more than 3 hours later. The branches are great in the bread oven too.
There is a small forest of young elm trees that we are trying to help survive but it seems once they reach a certain height and age the disease takes advantage quickly. This spring we will choose some trees again and sheet mulch and plant some aliums and other beneficials around them. The village would have been even more beautiful with the large trees in full leaf. What we have planted has a long way to go.
There was also one beautiful big Oak tree that unfortunately fell down in a heavy wind storm we had a year back. It will provide us with fire next year too.
Tomorrow I will clean up some pines that I cut in the last descending moon. Pines are our main wood source as the mountain is monocultured in them.
Will let you know how it goes ;)
Beautiful pictures!! What are the temps like where you are? I am excited to see how you are doing!!
Thanks! Can be a big difference in winter temps with nice clear sunny tshirt days and -7c or more nights. Depends on the winds. Right now a bit southerly so milder nights around 0, but excepting some heavy cold and possibly snow from the north in the next days. Usually melts again pretty quickly in the sunshine. We have a bit of a micro climate in the valley so we are a bit warmer and get less snow then nearby.
I do enjoy the variation in weather at this altitude. So many beautiful skylines. Need to post some pictures from the ridge toward the true Pyrenees mountains. They'll still be covered in snow.
Anyways, see you around ;) saludos!
Cardoprimo clearly hasn't got the hang of using the right account at the right time... Lol
I had to look at that a few times! Lol lol so what ates the winter temps like there?! Have you had the bitter cold?
Last night was pretty chilly, still loads of drafts in these old houses to close up too. Must have been at least -5c. Could have been worse. The sun is intense again today but the wind is still from the north.
How is it where you are?
We have had a bit of a cold snap -45°c in late December. We normally don't get those until February. But it seems seasonal now (-15 to -30) and that brings snow! I am looking forward to following your adventure!!
That's proper cold! My metabolisms not really built for cold.. that why I migrated south! Though I enjoy the seasonal variations in mountain weather, normally the winter days are mild enough at least in the sun. Summer can be a bit of a barbecue, learning the art of the siesta helped.
I imagine the snow gets pretty deep there, I presume you are well stocked to survive a days snowed in?! How difficult does it get?
And I'll be following your adventures too, Abundance is possible in all climates! Saludos
Is this your post? Lol
Lovely tree the Elm unfortunately we lost most here in England too. Miss chopping wood for the fire! 💯🐒
Beautiful pictures, where are you? I could hunt down your intro but gotta grumpy baby on my knee! Looks like a pueblo occupada I visited in Pyrenees 2 years ago, Sieso De Jaca, No better feeling though curled up in front of the fire from wood you cut n collected yourself ;-), have to admit this year with new baby I bought wood in for the first time :-O
We are very close to Sieso and have some links with there. Very similar style of village but we are higher and a bit more isolated. We even have the same beautiful recycled chestnut planks..
Don't blame you for buying wood, it is a fairly time consuming job so its lucky I enjoy it as I end up doing a lot.. At least you still get to enjoy the fireside warmth with your baby, that's the most important part of wood. Saludos
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Can people visit your village ?
Yes, people can visit the village! We have people coming from all directions including Workaway volunteers.
[email protected] to get in touch.
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