zzrmark

I never had any oil rags catch fire but that was probably because I was extremely wary of it, I have witnessed various types of fire in the boat yards and none of them were pretty. Welders catching stuff alight was possibly the least dangerous. Having a gallon of epoxy combust in a plastic bucket in my first year, 1987, was a particularly noxious experience, polyester resins used to get hot enough that I couldn't handle the tub and had to kick it overboard on several occasions (onto the hard, not into the ocean!).
Such a delightful occupation, if stuff wasn't trying to catch fire you had to contend with the nasty fumes from MEKP, iso-cyanates in the sealants, lead putty, carcinogenic Teak, Oak and Iroko dusts, splinters from Iroko or Keruing turning wounds septic, irritation from grinding glass fibres, diesel fumes, weld spatter, epoxy paint fumes and, my favourite, the barely tolerable stench down in the dill of the Brixham beamer, Geeske.

lizzyq

All our heating is gas fuelled but this weekend was spent splitting wood for a friend and then some at home for our weekly socially distanced gatherings around our fire pit.

OldJuddian

Should the homeowner be worried about a large amount of dry firewood stacked against the house? I remember my home insurance had a question on this.

Pulaski

A good question, but a more likely problem, and a not insignificant one, is that stacked firewood tends to serve as a home for rodents.

Steerpike

And in my neck of the woods ... scorpions and rather nasty spiders! I would pick up each piece of wood with great care and gloves if that were me!

tom169

And here if left long enough it could lead to termites.

robin1234

We cut all our own firewood. Years ago I would split quantities, using axe or wedge, but now I split as little as possible because of my lower back problems. So what we do is cut down trees of just the right trunk thickness to go in the wood stove without splitting. We have three or four acres of mature pine trees out back, planted about eighty years ago, and sugar maples have grown up among them - naturally tall and straight, to try to reach the light. Also black cherry, and box elder. Quite a bit of apple and hawthorn too, both of which make really good firewood.

When we first moved here, in 1997, we used about 20 cords a year, now just two or three cords a year as we mainly use heating oil. Main thing is that my wife loves her chainsaw as outdoor recreation, the firewood is a byproduct I guess ..

Pulaski

Or ants, which are nearly as distructive. And snakes will come after the aforementioned rodents. Oh, and we have our own dangerous spiders - the brown recluse and the black widow.

robin1234

We used to buy a couple of hundred daffodil bulbs each year, but now, after twenty years, we probably have ten thousand or more daffodil bulbs in the ground. We no longer buy new bulbs. So, for the last several years, I’ve dug up several groups each year to divide them, and plant up new areas. I dug up one patch yesterday which I knew was crowded- there’s an impressive show of flowers there each May. I couldn’t believe how many bulbs I got up in one spadeful - over 100. I know for a fact I planted just ten bulbs there, in maybe 1999 or thereabouts. So I planted up several new groups just from that bunch. The main challenge is finding them, since daffodil leaves completely disappear by July. This year, I got back from England June 25, so, last week in June, I marked the location of some of the dafs by sticking some canes in the ground.

Nutek

You have recreated Australia in wood-pile form.

Nutmegger

If you look closely at the pic, you will see that they have been sprayed with Off to keep them safe.

Pulaski

Yeah, the wood pile out back.

I am increasingly coming to terms wilh having snakes in my yard, and have even picked up some of the smaller ones to move them out of my way - I found three small ones in the low berm of crushed rock that had collected along side the driveway as I raked the rock back onto the gravel drive. There are several other larger ones I have seen this year, and been quite close to, and they all leave quite quickly on their own - they were all either black snakes, or garden snakes, thankfully not copperheads or rattlers. I still have my shotgun in case I ever have a problem with one of those; as well as a snake skin tanning kit, as it would be a shame to waste a good snake skin.

lizzyq

Rodent control is covered:


No nasty scorpions in PA.

Pulaski

Rodent control appears to be asleep on the job, not to mention looking fairly well fed.

newadventure

Not sure how much skin there would be left if you dispatched the snake with your shotgun!