I do love these guys

Once again I find myself grateful to the manly men in my life.

As I wrote a little while ago, it was clear that keeping a fire going in the woodstove 24/7 during the long deep chill had left me with insufficient wood in the shed to last the rest of the winter.

Most of the suppliers I’ve dealt with in the past will only deliver a two cord minimum of wood. I really didn’t need two cords, nor did I particularly want to have to pay for two cords. A couple of friends on the island recommended and put me in touch with a bloke I hadn’t used before. Well, I will certainly be using him again.

Friday was wood replenishing day.

First Rhodo Dave came over with some rounds from a tree he and Jan had taken down. Every little bit helps, but this will need to season for at least a year (ideally two), so up the back it went where I can remove the tarp in the summer and get some sun on it. 

What I should have done, while he was here, was show him the rhodos. Or rather show him all the flower buds on the rhodos. But I didn’t think about it until after he left.

Check it out! It seems this feeding business really does work. Especially if you double the previous “handful” to allow for my fairly small hands.

I’m particularly looking forward to this one.

It’s some years now since Rhodo Dave picked this one up for me on one of his forays to the great rhododendron nursery on Vancouver Island. I’d told him which colours I like and said I’d like one with a good scent. I deliberately planted it not far from the back door so I could enjoy the aroma whilst sitting on the deck. Until now it has failed to produce one flower, so this is very exciting indeed. (Not that I can remember what colour it’s supposed to be.)

Anyway, back to the wood. Sean turned up after Dave. Despite several attempts, he simply couldn’t reverse in far enough to dump the wood in the shed. So, I ended up with this pile. 

Now, I knew that I could, if I spent all day yesterday on it, shift this lot into the shed on my own, but that would be exhausting and not a lot of fun. Time to send out an appeal to a few manly men:

“Don’t suppose one of you manly men would be able to come round for an hour tomorrow to help me stack a cord of wood? No chocolate cake, but there is some Christmas cake available.”

Scott replied immediately in the affirmative. Ray soon after, followed fairly quickly by Tom. Woot! Three manly men! This job would take no time at all. (Joe was off the hook for the manly chopping he did a couple of weeks ago of the wood in the shed that was too big to fit in the woodstove.)

Nor did it. This job, which would have taken me most of the day, was completed in just over half an hour.

Gotta love these manly men. 

They were rewarded with a slice of my friend Irmani’s wonderful Christmas cake and one of my best anecdotes. Ray enjoyed the latter so much he said he would have happily shifted four cords to hear it. Told him I’d remember that when the next three cords are delivered.