Settling in for Winter

I bought a truck in May for its practicality of schlepping around kayaks and camping gear, which turned out to be awesome during the summer when I was kayaking a ton. As the kayak season slows, I've been feeling like the truck is total overkill for my lifestyle. And do environmentalists drive trucks anyway? I don't think it's any worse for the environment than a beater Subaru or an emission-spewing VW van that more commonly fits the image of a tree-hugger. (Terrible assumptions by the way.) But the image of a tree-hugger and the assumptions society has are a topic for another post.

Anyway, this week I felt very glad to have a truck so that I could pick up the load and a half of firewood I was given. What a gift! Firewood is a hot commodity on Gabriola at this time of year. Rumours fly that you shouldn't buy wood from so-and-so because it's not really seasoned, and the big old pick up with a sign on the back "FIREWOOD 2009" is driving all over the island with deliveries. (2009 doesn't refer to the year but the phone number, by the way... everyone's number starts with the first three digits on Gabriola.)


Tomorrow I have the day off work and Jim Chiminey is coming to assess the situation with this stove that my landlord bought second hand (looks kind of shabby, I hope it's okay). Hopefully it will be installed next week and I might actually be warm in my house. I do have electric heat, but I'm pretty stingy with it trying to avoid an exorbitant hydro bill.

On my day off tomorrow I also plan an attempt at canning pears... and on Saturday I am pressing apples for cider! Blog posts will surely follow.