Friends and Firewood

As you saw in my home improvement post, we've been busy ever since we got back here to La Roda. The work we were doing in the patio was put on hold when Miriam visited and this past weekend it was up to me to get things finished up... I couldn't have chosen a hotter weekend all summer, I don't believe! I never started before 6pm, and worked until dusk, but all the same sweat was pouring down my face, arms and legs by the time I was finished. It looked as though I'd showered or come back from a run! Still, there is something satisfying about sweating over this kind of project. When I did finally finish the wall it was Monday and the temperatures had gone down; I was disappointed to find that at 1pm when I finished I hadn't even broken a sweat!

The walls in the patio weren't the only project for this weekend. My brother-in-law, who has olive trees, saved the trimmings from the annual tree pruning for us. Although we offered to go to his cortijo ourselves to cut and haul the wood back to the house, he ended up doing it. So this weekend a cartload of perfectly cut firewood was delivered to the garage. After having cut it all and delivered it, I wasn't nearly bold enough to ask for help stacking...so I was on my own to transform the messy pile in the garage into nicely stacked firewood in the patio. Of course, I also had to do this before nightfall and before the following day so Angelines could put the car in the garage when she got home from work!

Splitting and stacking firewood was an annual chore living in Sierra Valley with a wood stove, though not one I particularly looked forward to. The splitting was always a chore, but I actually kind of liked working out the puzzle of just how to get it all neatly packed into our woodshed. All the same, I could never really grasp why my parents seemed to get such satisfaction from looking out the back windows at our shed-full of split fir and pine. Now I get it. After toiling away with my 1/2 cord (more or less) of cut olive branches I must say I feel quite pleased every time I walk out to the garage as I am reminded of the nice, warm fires we'll have this Christmas. :)

Although for the majority of this work I was alone, I did have some help. Our neighbor, Jesuli, had stopped by the bar to say hello to Angelines and she promptly sent him my way to help with chores (!). He offered to work on the wall while I stacked firewood. I was at one end of the patio and he at the other, but it is inevitably nicer to work when you know you're not alone.

...and when I finally finished it up, here you have it:

Really this looks like less wood than it is... It took me about three hours to stack it all.