The main source of heating for my home in Stará Oleška is a wood-burning stove, located in the kitchen. The previous owners left a fair supply of split logs, stacked in one end of the woodshed, located on one side of the back garden. They also left a further supply of logs, mostly not split, sitting in a pile in the middle of the back garden, partially covered by various pieces of unsightly plastic that were doing very little to keep them dry.
Over a couple of days, very soon after moving here in mid-May 2017, Sybille and I, aided by two wheelbarrows, successfully moved all of that pile of logs, from the back garden, stacking them neatly with the other logs in the woodshed. The unsightly plastic was then deposited in the appropriate recycling bin in the centre of the village.
I regret not taking a photograph of the pile before we shifted it, but the photograph above shows the bare patch where it once stood, before I tackled the surrounding jungle. The photograph below was taken after the grass received its first hair cut of 2017.
Whilst this photograph, taken in early October 2017, shows that the bare patch had by then, begun to recover.
Because of all the logs left by the previous owners, heating the house for the first few months of this winter, has cost me absolutely nothing, beyond the effort expended in moving the pile from the garden and splitting all the unsplit logs.
Propped against the woodshed, were these longer tree branches, to which I added various pieces of scrap timber that I found in other corners of the garden. Early in October 2017, aided by an electric chainsaw, I reduced all of this timber to the correct length for the wood-burning stove.
Here is where the timber once stood.
And here it is, cut and stacked inside the woodshed. Because most of these pieces are relatively thin, they have been especially useful in getting a fire going, before adding heavier logs.
By late November, my supply of free logs was beginning to run low. Martin Tonder, the real estate agent who sold me the house, had previously told me that there would be no problem getting a further supply of logs as there were several people in the area, who were in the business of supplying them. So I tapped into his local knowledge once more.
Martin recommenced a Mr Kopecký and kindly arranged for a truck load of logs to be delivered to my back garden, on Tuesday 5th December 2017. Here they are beginning to be delivered 🙂 If any reader would also like a log supply, Mr Kopecký’s phone number is 605 298 734 🙂
Here is the pile, immediately following delivery.
Whilst here is the view in the opposite direction, with the woodshed into which they needed to be transported and stacked.
Single-handedly shifting this lot, one wheelbarrow load at a time, took some serious effort.
At the end of Wednesday 6th December, there was still all these to move. Eventually, when it started to rain, I covered up the remaining pile as best I could and waited until the elements were more favourable.
I started again on the morning of Saturday 9th December, only for it to start snowing at lunchtime 😉
Further wintry weather has intervened, as illustrated in my previous post. Then I went to the UK for Christmas. However, since returning to the village to celebrate the arrival of the New Year, I’ve had two further sessions in the back garden. The second of these was yesterday on New Year’s Day when the final wheelbarrow load reached the shed. The results of my labours are difficult to photograph because the shed is so full. But the photograph below is the best I can manage.
Finally completing moving all my new log supply and successfully getting it stacked in the woodshed, has made a very satisfying beginning to 2018. Št’astný Nový Rok! Happy New Year!