Splitting logs and clearing the mind [EN/FR]

in Discovery-it2 months ago (edited)

A Sunday like this one, I could do 50 in a row without any problem. This weekend, we hit the road to our tiny house. In December, tree trimmers cut down a lot of trees on our land. Now, we need to split the wood so it dries faster and can be stored.

So we arrived Saturday night at the tiny house. It was about 5°C inside. We lit a fire and cooked dinner on it.

Watching the flames quickly put us in a meditative state, and fatigue set in. It didn’t take long before we decided to go to bed. Fortunately, we had sleeping bags resistant to the cold of early March. Without them, the night would have been much more difficult.

In the morning, getting out of the warm sleeping bag was a bit difficult. Outside, everything was frozen, it was -2°C. Inside, it was 4°C warmer... But behind the trees, the sun was beginning to rise. I knew it was going to shine all day and that by rising above the trees, it would warm us up.

Around the cabin, it’s a bit messy at the moment. I’ll have to come back to give it a good cleanup... but that’s not on the agenda yet.

For breakfast, we heated some croissants on top of the stove. It left some grease everywhere, but since the stove is cast iron, it won’t hurt it. On the contrary, it will even help clean it later.

And to warm up quickly, there’s something better than staying in front of the stove: splitting wood. At 8:30 AM, we got to work.

Around 10:30 AM, a well-deserved break was in order. Under the mild late winter sun, you can feel that spring is starting to show up. I even spotted the first butterfly of the season!

There is still a lot of wood to split... and not the easiest. They are wide and flat. As a result, they don’t absorb the impact of the maul’s blows well. Which means you have to work much harder to split them.

By noon, we had already made good progress. My muscles were seriously starting to ache. It was 8°C, but I felt like it was 20.

After eating to regain some strength, we started stacking the wood. Without a wheelbarrow, it was even more exhausting. We had to make several trips, carrying about ten logs in our arms each time.



The work was exhausting. But honestly, it’s an activity I love. On one hand, it’s incredibly satisfying. On the other, it allows you to reconnect with nature and release built-up stress and anger.

And then, the weather was on our side. And just for that, I feel a good dose of gratitude.


Version Française


Un dimanche comme celui-ci, je pourrais en faire 50 d'affilée sans aucun problème. Ce week-end, nous avons pris la route vers notre tiny house. En décembre, des élagueurs ont coupé beaucoup d'arbres sur notre terrain. Maintenant, il faut fendre le bois pour qu'il sèche plus vite et pouvoir le ranger.

Nous sommes donc arrivés samedi soir dans la tiny house. Il faisait environ 5°C à l'intérieur. On a allumé un feu et préparé le repas dessus.

Regarder les flammes nous a rapidement plongés dans un état méditatif et la fatigue s'est installée. Il n'a pas fallu longtemps avant qu'on décide d'aller se coucher. Heureusement, nous avions des duvets résistants au froid de ce début mars. Sans ça, la nuit aurait été bien plus difficile.

Au réveil, sortir du duvet bien chaud a été un peu difficile. Dehors, tout était gelé, il faisait -2°C dehors. A l'intérieur, il faisait 4°C de plus.. Mais derrière les arbres, le soleil commençait à se lever. Je savais qu'il allait briller toute la journée et qu'en montant par-dessus les arbres, il allait nous réchauffer.

Autour de la cabane, c'est un peu le bazar en ce moment. Il faudra que je revienne pour faire un bon coup de propre... mais ce n'est pas encore au programme.

Pour le petit-déjeuner, on a fait chauffer quelques croissants sur le dessus du poêle. Ça a mis un peu de graisse partout, mais comme le poêle est en fonte, ça ne lui fera pas de mal. Au contraire, ça aidera même à le nettoyer ensuite.

Et pour se réchauffer rapidement, il y a mieux que de rester devant le poêle : fendre du bois. À 8h30, on a attaqué le travail.

Vers 10h30, une pause bien méritée s'est imposée. Sous le soleil tiède de fin d'hiver, on sent que le printemps commence à pointer le bout de son nez. J’ai même aperçu le premier papillon de la saison !

Il reste encore beaucoup de bûches à fendre... et pas les plus simples. Elles sont larges et plates. De ce fait, elles absorbent mal l’impact des coups du merlin. Ce qui veut dire qu'il faut s’acharner bien plus pour les fendre.

À midi, on avait déjà bien avancé. Mes muscles commençaient sérieusement à tirer. Il faisait 8°C, mais j'avais l'impression qu'il en faisait 20.

Après avoir mangé pour reprendre des forces, on a commencé à ranger le bois. Sans brouette, c'était encore plus fatiguant. On devait faire plusieurs allers-retours, une dizaine de bûchettes dans les bras à chaque fois.



Le travail a été épuisant. Mais franchement, c’est une activité que j’adore. D’un côté, c’est incroyablement satisfaisant. De l’autre, ça permet de se reconnecter à la nature et d’évacuer le stress et la colère accumulés.

Et puis, la météo était avec nous. Et rien que pour ça, je ressens une bonne dose de gratitude.


The English translation was done using the DeepL API, and the images were taken with my smartphone.

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Your land looks so natural and peaceful. Chopping all that wood in such a setting, and on a beautiful day seems so meditative. Also, those croissants look so delicious! Thank you for sharing.

Thank you for going through this and taking the time to write this comment! Yes, I really like this place. It's hard to live there when it is cold and the weather is not cooperating. But when the weather is nice, it is a joy!

I can imagine the home does not have much insulation, so must get cold in the winter. That stove looks like it could keep the inside nice and cozy though. I always remembered sleeping the best near a fireplace on cold winter nights.

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Beaux paysages mais il fait très froid. Merci de nous faire partager cette beauté.
Regards @genesisledger

Ça je confirme qu'il faisait très froid haha ! Mais le printemps pointe le bout de son nez et les températures vont enfin se réchauffer !

Excellent work, @Cooltivar could use a hand every now and then!

Yes, a great job, congratulations, I don't envy you ^^
I'm in the same boat too, every year the same effort for the winter...

This pile of wood is beautiful! Extremely tidy! Sure, it's tiring, but it's also very satisfying. And a pile of wood is beautiful! 😉

Oh thank you, yes it's true when you finish and see the work done it's very satisfying, here we have a saying and it goes: Wood warms you three times, when you cut it, when you arrange it and when you burn it =)

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