Curiousfarmer

Congratulations to John Roelli!  He guessed 14 days and was the closest to 12 days, which is how long it took to burn one of my rows, which is about 80% of a cord of wood.  Since John is a neighbor, I’m going to run some chocolates over now, and sweet corn later  when it’s in season.

I’m glad I took the time to measure how much wood I’m using.  It’s about double what I thought.  At this rate, I’m using two cords of wood per winter month.

Photo taken after six days.

Here are your contestants:

Doug, 7 days

John Roelli, 14 days

Walt, 16 days

Hubbard, 17 days

Gordon Milligan, 20 days

Brygy, 24 days

Toasted Tofu, 28 days

For the record, I would have guessed 28 days, which looks now to be more of a wish than an estimate.  As I tell my sons, an estimation is not a wish.  If you consistently under or over estimate, you’re wishing.

It’s good that I’m doing this.  I really need to get a handle on use.  I estimated the large pile I built up over the summer would last 3 to 5 months.  Not a very precise estimate.

It looks like it’s going to last about three months as I didn’t start using it until the middle of December.  Until then I was cutting weekly loads because I had time and the weather was nice.

Thank you to our contestants.  I’ll update again within a week.

How many days to burn the row pictured?  The dimensions are about five feet tall, by sixteen feet long, by sixteen inch logs.  This is about eighty percent of a cord of wood which is 128 cubic feet, the industry standard for firewood.

It’s mostly dry oak, although it was rained on the day before I took this picture.  And now another winter storm has dumped snow on it, but it still burns well.

You can look at this old post for hints.  Also notice the changing color of the lawn.

I’ll start burning this row February  1st.  You have a week to guess in the comments.  The prize for the closest guess is negotiable.  In the past I have given gift certificates to Kiva, and meat.  Good luck!

I hope my old friends guess.  I also hope some of the newer visitors will guess and introduce yourself.  Ever since Bruce King put my blog on the sidebar of his excellent blog, I’ve had more international visitors.

Bruce raises chickens and hogs on some highly fertile bottom ground in the state of Washington.  He also recently purchased a confinement dairy farm.

Click on this link if you want to read more about my Outdoor Wood Boiler.  Below is a photo of the ash pan.  That is the amount of ash after two days, which is about how often I remove the ash.

I’ve started the “combover.”  I wanted to document this moment in time and let you know that, speaking for all “combover men”, ‘yes, we know we are leaving our hair longer and combing it over thinner areas.’  We just want everyone to pretend it’s not happening.  We think of ourselves as thick-haired studs, and would appreciate it if you would pretend to think that as well.

A woman was cutting my hair about ten years ago.  I asked her if my hair was thinning.  She said no, but too emphatically.  I knew she was lying, and I think she knew I knew she was lying, but I realized the delicate dance which had just started for me and would not be finished until I was dead or shaved my head.

The last couple of years my barber has started leaving my hair longer in certain places, and it’s funny how it just falls into place across the thinner areas.  And by ‘fall into place’ I mean, incessant stroking with my right hand in a diagonal, back-to-front motion.  My barber never acknowledged he was doing this, and I never brought it up.  I had joined the “brotherhood of the combover men.”

The hind end of our old Massey 750 combine, kicking out cobs.

You ever notice people driving down the road with a dent in their car, and then the driver does the maneuver, (tailgating, veering into the other lane, etc.), which probably caused the previous dent?

The dents on this combine tell a similar story, except we have an excuse, it’s impossible to see directly behind.  If you ever find yourself behind a combine, look out.

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I have several people looking out for me, and it’s nice.  When they find an article they think may be of interest to me, they tweet or email.  Thank you.  I appreciate it.