Brrrrrrrrr!

October is normally a month of change; changing leaves, gradually downward-headed temperature…..but 20 degrees?  That’s just ridiculous.  The weather prognosticators are predicting 70 degrees again for the first of the week and I just got the garlic planted yesterday–hope it’s okay.  All I can do is try to play by the rules and see what happens.

When I first moved out to the farm I didn’t own a chainsaw.  I purchased a Husqvarna 350 shortly after moving here and used it a little while I lived in the doublewide on the other end of the farm.  When I began construction on the house, a right of way had to be cut for the power company to hook up the temporary pole–my first real lumberjack job!

That day I couldn’t get the saw to start or run worth a crap but I kept on keeping on and finally got the job done.  The trees were small and it was mostly brush that had to be cleared.  The saw never ran right after that and it was later discovered by a mechanic that I had inadvertently put straight gas in the tank instead of gas/oil mix–not a good thing to do.  Seems I had “scalded the piston”.  I was able to use the saw for a few years but it finally crapped out.  I had purchased an electric saw before the Husqvarna to use in my limited rustic furniture making adventures–very handy to just pull a trigger, quiet, and no smell–BUT one is limited by the length of the extension cord and I now have a wood stove.

A recent walk through the woods behind the house revealed several trees down–great firewood trees and further than 100 feet from the house, by the way–meaning that I needed to get a new gas-powered chainsaw.  After researching online for a few days, I decided on a Stihl MS170.  I rolled up all my spare change (usually my Christmas fund), carried it into the bank and deposited it, then went to the farm equipment store and purchased the saw.   I insisted that it be fueled and started to make sure it would run–I was assured that “she purred like a kitten”.

Oh boy, cutting up the tree was fun.  I have a total respect for chainsaws though, my ex had two close calls; in one his boot was the victim and the other one was his jeans right at the thigh.  I tend to keep the chain further away from my body parts.

I have a nice warm fire now!