I know it’s still a little ways off, but I have a whole list of projects, some of which I’d like to complete before winter, some that MUST be completed.

Install gutter apron (PRIORITY ONE, ASAP)
Finish landscaping wall
Transplant hostas and ferns
Make kindling bundles out of the sticks in the backyard
Borrow a chainsaw and cut the logs […]

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My uncle Mike has his very own forest and he has generously shared some pieces of his forest with me!  Now, normally I’d generously share a photo of the pieces of forest with you, but today we had an ice storm and color me indifferent, but I’m just not going back out there.  If this […]

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When Brandon and I learned how much more efficiently a wood burning stove would heat our house than an open fireplace, we were very eager to try it out. Neither of us had any experience with a stove, though. Brandon had grown up with a fireplace, so he had that experience to go […]

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Isn’t that a nice, cozy fire? I’m so thrilled with our new fireplace insert. We need to buy some less expensive wood than the couple bundles we picked up at Quik Trip ($3.99 for a bundle of about eight pieces). I’ve been calling around to a few places and I’ll let you know what we […]

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Last night I wanted to see if I’d left the owner’s manual inside the fireplace, so I opened up the glass door and saw THIS!!!

This praying mantis had made itself nice and cozy inside our fireplace! It’s that time of year when mantids (the correct plural form of mantis - I looked it up!) […]

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