In loving memory of Kenis D. Keathley 6/4/81 - 3/27/22 Loving father, husband, brother, friend and firewood hoarder Rest in peace, Dexterday

Scrounging six cords a year plus

Discussion in 'The Wood Pile' started by Rowerwet, Mar 6, 2018.

  1. Rowerwet

    Rowerwet

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    20200603_160120.jpg before 20200603_172826.jpg after
    20200603_174326.jpg 20200603_173017.jpg another nice load of maple before Wednesday night bible study. I have a bit more to bring home, might even go after the big stuff that isn't rotten or pine
     
    Last edited: Jun 3, 2020
  2. Rowerwet

    Rowerwet

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    Another happy Sawfish foam kayak builder. They built two kayaks, and a foam teardrop camper.
    Now they're out making memories together Screenshot_20200623-211950_Facebook.jpg Screenshot_20200623-211936_Facebook.jpg Screenshot_20200623-211920_Facebook.jpg
    And this guy built one for himself, and loved it so much he built this one for his son. Screenshot_20200707-205146_Facebook.jpg
     
  3. Rowerwet

    Rowerwet

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    Finally added a sign to the firewood rack, 20200613_192018.jpg
    almost immediately sold everything in the rack. My son has made over $200 in a few weeks!
    20200616_203252.jpg
    I should have done this sooner, but never had the firewood supply to pull it off before.
    Of course this will put me off having three years of wood CSS, possibly...
    20200609_153038.jpg the roof rack bars on my new van were never wide enough for my needs. I actually had these wider bars in the garage, that I found out for the trash, but couldn't figure out how to attach them.
    Hose clamps (actually "jubilee clamps" because they were invented in Britain and named for the queen's jubilee year (50))
    20200609_163800.jpg they allow me to do this much easier.
    20200609_165801.jpg 20200609_165632.jpg
    My daughter finally got to have a high school graduation ceremony with her classmates, had a bunch of family down for a few days.
    Spent one day at York beach 20200626_144328.jpg
    The surf was awesome!
    A couple of shots of my latest foam design, a Foam SUP with a folding seat
    20200623_193936.jpg 20200623_202235.jpg 20200625_155948.jpg testing it in the pool
     
  4. Rowerwet

    Rowerwet

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    The next day we got together and went paddling.
    20200627_135703.jpg 20200627_133315.jpg 20200627_133322.jpg 20200627_152605.jpg 20200627_152502.jpg 20200627_133052.jpg 20200627_152747.jpg 20200627_134751.jpg 20200627_135707.jpg
    My mom in the kayak I built her, my parents are really the reason I created this foam kayak design.
    20200627_142442.jpg
    We found a rope swing on the lake, and the boys had a blast jumping in
    20200627_162044.jpg
    Boats for 14, and I left 3 boats home! 2 were out of commission, and one we brought wasn't needed.
    This is the best part of building them, enjoying the boats being enjoyed by others.
     
  5. Rowerwet

    Rowerwet

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    20200628_140336.jpg graduation ceremonies are a little different for homeschooling students.
    She was one of four, the address was by the lawyer for the Massachusetts family institute, he was a friend of one of the graduates.
    20200628_155409.jpg
    A great weekend and ceremony!
    20200630_195000.jpg a full tank of gas through the splitter
    20200702_125856.jpg my new wheels.
    We're giving the focus to my daughter, so I finally own a truck again after 9 years.
    2015 Nissan Frontier, with less than 60K on it. Unfortunately I can't drive it yet even though I own it. The registry is backed up because of the virus.
     
  6. Rowerwet

    Rowerwet

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    Sold some family History.
    My parents bought this Coleman canoe back around 1978. 20200703_172106.jpg
    It came with the hull flat, and my dad had to force it into shape as he assembled it.
    We have an old slide somewhere of my sister and I sitting in the boat, and our heads don't quite reach above the rails.
    We had plenty of great trips in that canoe, some memorable for good times, some not so good.
    Like the time we were ready to go, and my dad caught the rail with his foot, the canoe rolled, and my mom and I ended up sitting in the lake.
    Then we realized my sister was missing, we rolled the canoe upright and found her gripping the rails, still sitting in the boat!
    My sister and I knew we had to sit back to back against the center thwart, and not lean, however my sister tended to lunge towards whatever caught her attention.
    We took the canoe to a cabin we rented in Maine a number of years. I learned to paddle it around the cove by myself. The last year we went, my dad got bitten by a dog, and his had was bandaged up. That year we still paddled, only I paddled the bow position as hard as I could, and my mom mostly just had to steer in the back.
    We bought a house with a swampy beaver pond behind it, and the canoe was my ticket to exploring the pond during my Jr high years, until the beaver pond was drained by the property owners.
    I found a local rowing club and went on to bigger and better adventures up and down the new England coast. We rowed plywood dories, not those pathetic racing boats.
    After I got my license, I took the canoe on my own trips. One memory is paddling back into the teeth of a squall with my sister kneeling in the bow, paddling as hard as she could to keep the bow into the wind. Of course the car was up wind, and as soon as we got the canoe tied onto the car, the sun came back out...
    After I got married, I borrowed the canoe for about 7 years. My own kids each had the experience of falling asleep in it, rocked by the waves, with the call of the loons serenading them. At least one child was probably conceived in this boat.
    We had to buy a 17 footer when baby #3 was born, so the old boat went back to her spot by the beaver pond, which had been rebuilt by new beavers.
    She still was enjoyed by our family when we got together at my parents house.
    I started building kayaks and sold the 17 foot canoe.
    My parents sold their house and gave me the canoe.
    I've built a kid sized kayak for each of my children and all 4 of my sisters kids. My two oldest have each built their own full size kayak now, the younger two will soon.
    Last weekend we went paddling with my mom, and my personal fleet took all 14 of us, with a couple boats to spare.
    I realized the Coleman wasn't doing me any good, and it's time for a new family to enjoy her.
    She was spoken for within a half hour of being listed, and probably for more money than she cost brand new.
    I'll always be grateful to my parents for giving me a great love for boating and the water. 20200703_172058.jpg had to add some foam to her first
    The mice had moved into the foam flotation blocks in the ends and they reeked.
    20200703_122245.jpg 20200703_122340.jpg copied the shape in foam left over from my kayaks
    20200703_125323.jpg 20200703_171420.jpg ready to sell.
    The kayak dealers sold out as soon as the weather started to get nice. They don't know when more will come in from the factories.
    Used kayaks are selling for nearly new prices.
    Suddenly any canoe or old boat, even a broken one, is worth money.
    I sold my dad's old Coleman for almost what it cost new.
     
    Last edited: Jul 9, 2020
  7. Rowerwet

    Rowerwet

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    20200704_074110.jpg sold the canoe on the 4th of July morning.
    20200703_204318.jpg 20200703_213155.jpg
    Had to go to Manchester, NH to find any fireworks to watch, one of three shows in the whole state. The city didn't do them, the baseball stadium did.
     
  8. T.Jeff Veal

    T.Jeff Veal

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    Great thread about the boats
     
  9. billb3

    billb3

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    Bicycle stores around here are out of bikes. They're supposedly selling used ones as fast as they can fix them up.
     
  10. Biddleman

    Biddleman

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    6 week wait to get bike repair at local shop
     
  11. fishingpol

    fishingpol

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    Great pics and lots of family time there. That's fantastic that the fire wood business is going good for your son.
     
  12. Rowerwet

    Rowerwet

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    Sold all of the pine he had, now he's selling my seasoned maple
     
  13. Chazsbetterhalf

    Chazsbetterhalf

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    Hey gotta give it up to the kid. From what I have seen, he is a hard working worker. Has no qualms about splitting his own wood and taking care of putting it out there. You are teaching him very well. How old is he now, 9? What is the purpose of the number 54 on his rack.?
     
  14. metalcuttr

    metalcuttr

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    Hey Rowerwet , does your son have a company name? Gotta give him credit for being a responsible young man!
     
  15. fishingpol

    fishingpol

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    Rowerwet , I just saw a listing for free pine rounds on FB marketplace in town.
     
  16. Erik B

    Erik B

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    Chazsbetterhalf It looks like the dollar sign $ and the number 4, the price of the wood in that cubby.
     
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  17. Rowerwet

    Rowerwet

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    He's 15 now, a good worker once you get him started, (takes after someone else I know really well) all that firewood work has made him strong.
    He's learning about saving money and the value of hard work.
    He also takes after me in being happier working with his hands and creating stuff.
    Part of the reason I got a used truck instead of a new one like I wanted, was to give it to him in a few years.
    I expect he'll be happier working a trade, and having a truck is better to haul your tools or equipment around.
    I also wanted a simple truck that would be easy to work on, for him to learn on. Similar to the 3 Ranger's I had over the years. Had to get rid of my last one when we moved here. The frontier seems to be like the old Ranger, simple, reliable, easy to repair.
    Yeah it's $4/ square, probably will go to five if demand stays strong, he gets half of everything he sells, since he probably did half of the work of scrounging, splitting and stacking it all.
    If he gets more pine and takes care of it himself, he gets all of the money from that.
     
    Last edited: Jul 11, 2020
  18. Rowerwet

    Rowerwet

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    All that reminiscing about the canoe and our years in Maine spurred me to take the kids back to one of our favorite lakes, Mousam in Acton Maine.
    20200609_153038.jpg the full width bars and clamps are perfect for our family fleet 20200711_174440.jpg
    They did just fine for an hour plus drive into Maine.
    It was the fourth of july, so every boat was out racing around. The canoe would almost stop dead in these kinds of waves,
    But the kayaks I've built just bounced along without any issues. 20200704_140535.jpg the launch ramp is onto a smaller part of the lake, you have to squeeze through this tunnel under RT 109 to get to the main part. The boat here had just found out their bimini brackets wouldn't fit into the tunnel.
    20200704_165404.jpg
    Sneaking through the tunnel by riding the wake of a motorboat. 20200704_135945.jpg this guy was flying around on jets of water, powered by the jetski next to him
    20200704_150953.jpg our destination, a sand bar in the middle of the lake.
    We came here last about a decade ago, our third child was two and the youngest not born yet.
    We always loved swimming in the middle, almost a half mile from any shore, yet only knee deep.
    Last time we were here, I swam all the way around the sandbar, this time my older two did. 20200704_152739.jpg my youngest playing the little Mermaid on the rock pile marking the sand bar. 20200704_140540.jpg heading home after a great day.
     
  19. Chazsbetterhalf

    Chazsbetterhalf

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    Looks like a great time. Bet the kids want to go back.
     
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  20. T.Jeff Veal

    T.Jeff Veal

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    Glad you were able to take the whole family and enjoy a day like that. Looks like y'all had fun.