So we just got hit with a winter snowstorm that dumped 20-42" on us in three days. Trees are down everywhere and many lost power for up to 5 days.

People have been dragging their trees and branches out to the curb and the City has been cutting the larger peices up into firewood and leaving them out for people to gather. Since I no longer have a truck, I threw a tarp in the Suburban and have been gathering firewood in that. Last night and this morning I felt like a ghool, driving around the cemetery, picking up piles of cut firewood. But I'm getting quite a stockpile. Going to keep doing it until I'm worn-out or no longer have any room left for it. I have a chainsaw and could run around, cutting up the branches laying everywhere, but why bother when someone else will cut it for me. There's already so much I can't even begin to get to it all before it gets hauled-off.

Also, I've had a wood stove that I bought on clearance at Lowe's four years ago. It's been sitting in the garage, waiting to be installed all this time. Because of this storm, I finally bought the pipe, chimney and fittings to install it yesterday and will be doing that this weekend. I already have the base built (copied the desing of a poster in this forum built on 2X6's and topped with tile).

So this whole nasty storm thing has been a godsend for me!

Don't forget to let the wood dry before you burn it in the house...smokey messy.

Quoted: Don't forget to let the wood dry before you burn it in the house...smokey messy.

Yeah, I've got some stuff that I cut-up last year that'll be the first to go in the stove and I'll save this stuff for next year. I want to try to keep the stove as clean as possible to avoid the danger of creosote-cause fires.

Cleaned grandpas out a few weeks ago, wasn't too bad, but he is a PICKY man about what gets burned:)

Stay warm, where are you located?

i've done the exact thing here after ice storms.  

Quoted: Stay warm, where are you located?

Up here in MT. It's all just about melted-off now, but we got hit pretty hard starting last Friday. The last of those without power just got back up yesterday. I thought it was all kind of "fun". Didn't have the comfort of knowing that my wood stove was up and running (yet), but I do have a kerosene heater and spare fuel and wicks for it for emergencies. Never had to use it because our power never went out (though the neighbors across the street were all out for some time). But it felt good knowing that I was ready to keep warm if the lights went out. It's going to feel REAL comforting when the stove it set up. I'm going to get a couple more cast iron pans after it's up and do some cooking on it as well. I'm feeling more and more self-sufficient these days. Not off-the-grid by any means... but should the lights, gas, and water disappear I'm more prepared to deal with it than most.