Speaking of burning...

You recall that old green house and chicken coop and fencing that we had multi-talented Septic Steve have a go at with his excavator? And those five small pines and the unfortunately located birch tree that had to go? And all the overgrown shrubbery that we've slowly been hacking back? Have you wondered where it's all gone?

It's been accumulating in four large piles towards the back of our property. The "burn piles" we call them. In truth, they're a bit of an eye-sore, four large piles of broken two by fours, bits of plywood, dead limbs of trees, knots of roots. So, inspired by the recent public burning that we attended, we decided that it was time to get on with our own burning. 

But, before striking a match, it's time for a bylaw check: 

1. No burning on Sundays. Hmmm... will we burn somewhere else if we burn on Sunday? Better not risk it.

2. Maximum fire size is 6'x6'x6'. I can live with that. Quite frankly, I don't want to see a 6'x6'x6' fire anywhere near our house.

3. As a courtesy to the neighbours, check the ventilation index. It seems there is something new to learn every time we embark on a project here. Little did I know that there is such a thing as a ventilation index.

So, smallish fires, Monday to Saturday, but only on days with good ventilation. Yesterday and today were just such days. And so, the match was struck...

Where there is smoke, there will, hopefully, be fire.

Just a few more tree branches to really get this humming.

And we have fire! 

And watching over all of the madness, making sure that nothing (and  no one) got out of line, our very own fire marshall, at the ready with the hose. Thankfully, there were no wild flames needing attention, only the occasional hosing down of a parent.

I'm happy to report that at the end of two days of burning, during which I found many muscles that have lain dormant since my last step aerobics class in 1987, our inventory consists of one and half burn piles and one extremely large pile of ash.

Next project: find a use for ash but be sure to check bylaws for any restrictions on its use.