Adventures of a Stay-at-Home Mom, Episode 2: Harvesting Firewood.

The girls playing in a tree waiting for dad to cut logs.

Handy husband, today he's the lumberjack. Chopping down trees.

These are the episodes of my life as a stay at home mom. Our latest family excursion was a trip to harvest fire wood. We do this sort of thing yearly. (I forgot to mention in my profile that I'm also a logger), not really, but again I like to pretend. And let me tell you that my "logger outfit" would not  have been runway worthy! (Even though there seems to be a hunting/fishing trend on the runway right now.) Picture very heavy, sturdy and functional Danner hunting/hiking boots, holey jeans, and not the kind that you buy with trendy holes, these are the kind made from many hours of hard work wearing through. Oh and a vintage Chris Ledoux cap, I think it's from like the early nineties. Yes, I was looking really hot.(Please note the sarcasm!) But here's the thing, I'm okay with it! You people that tuned in for fashion posts didn't expect this kind of fashion,I'm sure, but that's me. Logger one day, fashionista the next. So back to the firewood collecting... My handy husband is the real lumberjack of the operation, he cuts down the trees with a chainsaw, cuts them into logs, then the kids and I pick them up and load them onto the truck and trailer. We have a very open floor plan and an efficient wood burning stove, that heats our house perfectly.(We didn't have to turn on our furnace once last season, we are on propane gas and it's extremely expensive to heat our house that way.) So we set out in the pick-up truck and trailer ready to chop down some dead trees. We like Pinion Pine and Cedar trees, both of which are plentiful on some family private property. It's a tradition that we have continued with our family. Handy husband and I both did this as children and remember it at as enjoyable work. You get to be outside in the fresh air, exercise your body doing old fashioned hard work, being together as a family and not much smells better than fresh cut Pinion or Cedar!

This was the first year that our girls were really very much help. It was fun to see them playing, climbing the trees, and helping to pack the logs. They were of course tired and a little whiny as our job neared completion, but the reminder of an ice cream cone on the way home, for a hard days work seemed to stop the whining. We all worked hard and brought home a good load of wood, that in the dead of winter, we will be glad we have. Like with canning, some may wonder why do this sort of pre-historic ritual? When at the flip of a switch you can have nice warm air blowing from your house vents. Well, what happens if the power is out, well it can get pretty cold around here! It is much more cost efficient for us to heat this way, our home furnace runs on propane gas (as where we live natural gas is not an option yet.) The heat that comes from a wood burning stove is very warm and comforting. And cutting, gathering and stacking firewood are great ways to teach children the value of hard work. And so there you have it, our experience of gathering firewood. And so glad it didn't end with a flat tire on the truck, like it did last year! Well, gotta go...we need to check each other for ticks!!

Our best helper of the day!

Nice view of the dry, rustic beauty of the Antelope Valley.

And this is what we came for! All loaded up and ready to take home. 

Think these will work on the runway with a red plaid shirt?  Yep, I'm a logger.  (Ha, ha! When I just said that, it reminded me of the old Ray Stevens "The Haircut Song.") In my best Ray Stevens voice: "I looked him straight in the eye and said, I'm a logger." Sorry, chopping fire wood is also a very nostalgic thing for me. It just brought back memories of listening to funny Ray Stevens songs. (if you have not heard this you should google it, it's pretty funny!) Also these boots make me feel more safe from the rattlesnakes!!