My Outdoor Cooktop

This is a bit messy, but I was in a hurry to heat water to do some cleaning. I heated the water because it was COLD and WINDY that day.

There was no power or running water the first several nights we stayed, so I heated water for cleaning and bathing on top of a cast iron wood stove we removed from the house. This was a very effective little "stove top," and I kept the gang filled with hearty meals with it. I cleaned up quite a bit of the yard as I used the twigs, pine cones, and magnolia cones too. I shifted the top bricks to fit the size of the pan or pot I was using.

The Man Amazes Me

You can't see it in the picture, but this remaining tree section was damaged when the others fell. It had a strong lean towards the house. Clint wanted to take it down ahead of another storm with 40+ mph wind gusts.

Clint used strong tow straps tied off to another tree. This isn't to hold the tree up. It's to give enough resistance to help create a turn in the tree's descent which is exactly what it did.

He told me it would fall between the house and the other cedar tree. That's exactly where it fell. He has done this time and time again! It always amazes me!

We prayed before he started cutting and gave thanks afterwards.

Not too fond of cedar trees at the moment...

I had already pointed out these trees to Clint as dangerous and needing to be cut down, but I did not expect them fall within less than 48 hours! Caleb, Bethany, Emily, Hannah, and I were staying in a house with no power or running water. Joshua had an interview and Clint had to work so they did not stay. Clint ended up coming back around 4:30 a.m. after I told him straight line winds at the tail end of a thunderstorm dropped the trees in the front yard. This was not a fun experience. I'd rather see another black snake coming out of the cedars. We are cutting down the remaining trees that threaten the house. Cedars are beautiful trees with a lot of usefulness, but they are dangerous when too close to a house.

So Much Going On!

There is so much going on in our family, and it is keeping all of us very busy. 

It's all good, but I can't share just yet. 

I will share a little bit of it with some pictures soon.

FYI

This starts next week, and I am trying to head off misunderstandings with this post. During frequent intervals this spring and summer, our family will be in an area that does not get the best cell signal. Sometimes it works great, and other times it's spotty. Because of that, if you want to get in touch with one of us, you may need to text/call several times or wait a couple of days.