‘To-Do’ list

Today has been the first full day without any rain that I can remember for some time. The sky was clear overnight and it dawned bright and clear this morning, but cold, and the temperature never rose above 8 or 9 degrees Celsius all day. It felt warmer in a sheltered position in the direct sunlight, though.

When I checked my ‘To-Do’ list this morning, I was shocked at just how long it had grown, so I started off by doing the easiest thing first, which was to go up to Rouffignac to send some letters off. Among them was one to the company that’s quoted me for taking out the big old lime tree in front of my house enclosing their signed ‘devis’ (two of). I confirmed to them later by email that they had been sent off, which they acknowledged, so I’ve at last taken the first step towards the work I have planned on my house.

The next thing that I’d decided to tackle while I had the chance was to cut and split the rest of the wood that I had delivered last year so it’s ready for burning. It’s been standing out under a cover for three or four months and the cover has blown off a couple of times in the recent winds, so I knew that it wouldn’t be completely dry. I was surprised just how wet the top layers were, though, so I think that condensation must also have been happening as the temperature has fluctuated.

I needed to get the wood inside for a couple of reasons – firstly, my dry stocks are beginning to run a bit low so I needed to get the wet stuff into my wood store so it will have time to dry, and secondly, it and another pile of pine that I’ve had outside seasoning for over a year were right next to a row of tatty small trees that I’ve asked the company taking down my lime tree to also take out at the same time. As both lots of wood needed to be moved anyway, the best idea was to shift the wood that M. Dumas supplied last autumn inside so it could be used, thus clearing the space it had been occupying and leaving me needing just to find a space to shift the pine to.

Here’s how much wood I now have in my wood store.

It’s difficult to estimate exactly, but I think that at the current rate of usage, I may just have enough to see me through to the spring. It’ll be a close-run thing, though, so I hope that I make it with all of the disruption that I foresee when the work starts to take down the lime tree and ‘terrasse’ my front garden to the levels and contours that I’m going to need for my planned extension. Once again I’m keeping my fingers crossed 😉