Christmas eve work...

The weather lied about it snowing on Christmas eve, so we went outside to work - splitting firewood. Here are the worker bees.

Here is the supervisor and his loyal dog.

Notice a few things? The new machine, the size of the wood rings, and the cold temperature.

After a little hard work, the coats came off as the sweat started to flow. This ring was big (36" by 30") and heavy, and required some human intervention once the 27 ton hydraulic ram made the initial split.

The nice shiny new log splitter? My early Christmas present from me to the family.

I no longer need to borrow or rent a log splitter. It will pay for itself after only 14 days of usage.

I appreciated the willing help from my two oldest sons. (The day after Christmas, they and two of my sons-in-law helped cut and split a giant red oak near the stream).

This is the last of the white oak which died in our backyard and had to be cut down. Very heavy and solid firewood.

The boys still have to occasionally wield the 8 pound maul to do some manual splitting.

Later on Christmas eve, I appreciated my two youngest boys doing a Good Turn by playing Christmas wood elves. They split some more wood and delivered a surprise gift to a neighbor in need. It was a great way to get ready for Christmas morning.