As the temperatures dropped and winter started to set in this year, we were a little nervous for three reasons:

1. Insulation – We’d never been through a winter trying to heat this house before. We’d taken our house from 0% insulated to 100% insulated, but the only way we were going to find out whether we’d succeeded was to live through this winter and see whether we could keep the house warm.

2. Woodstove only – We’d also assumed that our new woodstove would be enough to keep our house warm and toasty for the winter. With no back-up heating plan, we were hoping that my research about wood heat was right.

3. Firewood – We’d cut and stacked over six cords of wood, which we’d calculated to be enough.
We were convinced that we’d been making educated decisions, but we weren’t really sure–especially since our firewood was nowhere near as dry and seasoned as it should have been.

Once the first snowfall hit and winter was upon us, we crossed our fingers that our house could hold heat inside, and that we had enough firewood to last through the winter.

Here are our three separate piles of firewood. In total, they were equivalent to approximately 6.5 cords.

Here’s pile #1: We called her Short-and-Stout. Short-and-Stout lasted for a long time. Short-and-stout is gone now. Thanks for keeping us warm, S&S. We love(d) you.

Here’s pile #2. She was called Tall-Skinny-Vixen. She was a tall drink of water. Even so, she still went up in smoke. We just burned her tiny toes last night. Tall-Skinny-Vixen is no more.

Here’s pile #3. She’s called Pangaea (also known as Lonely Mary), and she’s the matriarch of the pile-herd. She was off-limits for many months. But this morning she sighed. With a grimace, she said we could take a few pieces every day if we asked nicely and promised to build her a barn for next winter.

Insulation – The insulation is keeping the heat in so well we’ve put away our winter quilt.
Woodstove only – The woodstove generates more than enough heat to warm our entire house.
Firewood – The firewood has lasted longer than I dared to imagine.

Our two wood piles, Short-and-Stout and Tall-Skinny-Vixen, have served us well.

Our last remaining pile, Lonely Mary, is still standing strong–relatively untouched. She still measures 4 cords and most of her will be around next year, I guarantee it.