We're finally 'Winter-ready' with regards to our heating requirements. We have a new woodstore and last year, we almost got to the point of completely filling it up - twice. We didn't manage to fill it because we were also using the wood as we were trying to stack the wood. This year, we're ahead of the game, even though we're not as ahead of the game as we'd have liked.
The target was to cut down a tree per month - and so far, we're at 'March'. There are around 10 trees in the woods that were dead last year and were earmarked for felling. We left them alone as we couldn't process them through the felling, cutting into logs and then fetching them up to the house, and if they are felled, then they are likely to sit on the ground and rot. Also, some of the trees are quite big, big enough to be used for planking and therefore, used for projects around the homestead, so the ten trees will probably only make seven or eight trees when we've used the timber for planks.
I finished filling the woodstore yesterday and it's really satisfying to see when I pass on the way to and from the horses.
Woodshed and log splitter - done and dusty (I know the phrase is 'done and dusted')
Woodstore ready for the rest of the wood we still have to chop and fetch
Now for progress on Ash and the Candy Man:
This one isn't one of my usual serialisation stories. I'm having to move fast on this one because I have a strict deadline - a self-imposed deadline, but it's just as unbreakable as a contractual one.
I'm about halfway through the word-count on Ash and the Candy Man, so I have such a lot more to write - and edit, and send off to proof readers, beta readers and other stuff, then it has to be properly edited, formatted and published.
Don't ask the reason for the deadline, I won't tell you :p
Anyway, I just enjoyed re-reading this little snippet of Ash - and just to reassure you that she's back and just as feisty as ever, here it is:
“So, some fucker is looking for me?” Ash said.
Justin barely heard her because her chin was tucked down into her chest, her folded arms up like a shield, and with her feet on the sofa, it meant her legs were one extra line of defence.
“Whether or not they’re looking for you, I don’t know, but I told you as much as I do know, as soon as I knew.”
“Gimme the phone,” Ash said. She snaked out one hand beyond the two layers of defence and took the phone from Justin.
Justin didn’t question her. She dialled three numbers and held the phone to her ear. After a few moments she ended the call and handed the phone to Justin.
“Are you happy?” Justin asked.
“Does this face look fucking happy, Justin?” she said. “No, I’m not fucking happy, and I don’t think I’ll be fucking happy for a while to come.”
“I mean are you happy that I got the call, rather than me making the call?” he said.
“Oh, that. Yeah. I believed you anyway. It was just a bit of my inner gremlins telling me that you never really wanted me here, that I’ve been nothing but an inconvenience to every adult I ever met, and it’s my destiny to be passed from one adult to the next until I end up in a foster home, or on the streets, or dead, probably.”
“Fuck me, that’s a lot of baggage to carry round in your head,” Justin said. “There’s no wonder your ears stick out so far. With all that stuffing in there, your skull must be deformed.”
Ash lifted her eyes and glared at him. “My ears don’t stick out, you fucking prick!” she said, touching both ears as though she was checking them for extra growth.
“They look like they do with that abysmal haircut,” Justin said. “I thought we’d agreed that you weren’t going to do that shit again?”
“I had my reasons,” she mumbled.
“Yeah, I know you did,” Justin said, his voice suddenly tender. “I’m pretty sure you’ll never be able to explain those reasons, but I’m sure they’re there.”
“Twat!” she said, and she threw a cushion at him, but the mood was broken for the moment.