Splitting wood

Today I finished splitting some of the older wood we had sitting in the backyard. After I stacked it in the wood pile, I started splitting and stacking some of the wood I got last weekend from down the hill. If I can get all of that wood split and stacked, we should have enough wood to get through the winter (including the wood that's already split and stacked out back). Once that's done, I can start splitting the oak from the next-door neighbor and stack it out of the way to await next winter.

Because our only other heat is a fuel oil furnace, we really appreciate our wood stove. We figure that burning wood saves us about 100 gallons of fuel oil each month during the winter. Because we don't buy any of our firewood (scavenging it from around the neighborhood, instead), the heat from the wood stove is the next thing to free. With fuel oil prices where they are now, I'm especially looking forward to having a toasty fire in the stove this winter.

In the meantime, the work involved in splitting and stacking the wood is providing some much needed exercise. So, I can save money, conserve fuel, and get in shape, all at the same time. What more could I ask for?