After feeling pressured from being so behind in a lot of things, with these warm, sunny days, so unusual for northern Minnesota, we’re finally getting caught up. Whew! That feels so much better. Yesterday, we got a big bunch of firewood cut up and split — piles and piles! We were waiting for a dry day following dry days so the wood could go in the woodshed, nice and dry. Now it’s inside, in a big heap, ready to stack up neatly. We’ve found that the Kubota fits right into the woodshed so wood can be dumped right inside, instead of outside, like when we used the Ford 660. That’s a huge plus, in that the pile won’t get wet or snowed on as it waits to be stacked.

This is the pile of firewood Will cut up and we split yesterday.

I’ve got to share a tip we’ve learned. A year ago, we bought a DeWalt chainsaw, figuring if the world goes to heck, we can still saw firewood as it’s battery powered, and we can charge batteries with our solar panels. We were a bit unsure as to how well it would cut. But my son, Bill, has one and said it works great. (He’s pretty picky about stuff like that!) He was right. And no pulling to start it or gas to fill. While Will still uses the Stihl much of the time, that DeWalt chainsaw gets plenty of use too.

Here’s our wonderful DeWalt battery-powered chainsaw.

Earlier, I’d gotten busy and canned up some beans in quarts and a bunch of bean and ham soup, in pints. I had a little left over in the pot, so we had that for dinner. It was pretty darned good! I’m so happy to add that to the pantry. I got a call yesterday from our credit union. Oh oh, I thought. What’s wrong now? Hackers? Nope. I’d won a turkey through their Thanksgiving drawing! Wow, was I surprised! So, today, I picked up my turkey when I went to town to mail seeds. I guess I’ll can that up too, when I do the leftover turkey after our Thanksgiving dinner.

These quarts of canned dry beans let me whip up a pan of baked beans in a very short time.
This bean and ham soup sure tastes great on a cold day.

— Jackie

25 COMMENTS

  1. Here in California our governor has outlawed anything gasoline-run. What I don’t like is the absence of capitalism. People invented wonderful tools, and our governor comes along and with one swipe, eliminates our choices. I think battery-run is good, because it is a choice. My husband says battery-run do not have the same power. As a general contractor, most of his hand tools are battery.

  3. lucky win on the turkey!!!
    the beans look so yummy!!
    i think ill have to give this a try.
    always have just sorted my dry beans an stored for later use. this looks like a quick meal (what a great idea for a gift!).

    • Canned dry beans are so handy! It’s also a great way to use up old dry beans that seem to take forever to get tender, cooking. When you can them, they are excellent.

  4. Congratulations on the turkey!!! That wood pile looks comforting. Isn’t it a relief to get those jobs caught up. I love canning up beans and ham for my dad. He loves them and they are so easy to do using your recipe. I sure hope the weather holds for you and Will to get more outside work caught up. Prayers for a blessed week.

  5. i like the battery operated tools also (have a lot of ryobi) but now looking for lighter weight ones that may be better for 76 year old hands/wrists. And not pink! Ideas?

    • I’m 74 and love my Black and Decker tools. 40 amp batteries are interchangeable and work on saw, string trimmer and blower. I joke and say the batteries last longer than my pacemaker. 20 amp on drill and screwdriver and some chain saws. 40 amp have much more UMP!!!

    • We stick with DeWalt as we started out with them and as the batteries are interchangeable (mostly), and expensive, we have gathered up a whole bunch of various, very useful, tools. Yep, the weight is an issue but if you stick with some of the “pancake”, lower amp hour batteries that don’t last as long, the weight is much less. Ugh! PINK tools???

    • I couldn’t believe it! I have won exactly one thing in a drawing in my life; a gallon of purple cow tit dip at a dairy farmer’s meeting, 45 years ago. Then I had to walk all the way up the aisle through a packed house of MEN dairy farmers to retrieve my win. Of course, I’ve always been a bit large bosomed…. Talk about embarrassed!!

  7. Love my battery driven Mantis tiller! I can even use it to till new garden areas and it is so easy to use.
    Also love my battery powered drill and my Worx battery powered weed eater.

    • I’ve got a cheap Toro weed eater that is rechargeable. I’ve used it for years to trim up the grass along the flower beds, etc. And it still works great. Not much umph though. It won’t handle stout weeds. But, hey, it was less than $50 and has lasted six years, so far.

  8. Dear Jackie,
    I canned white beans this summer for the first time. I used ham broth, too; just like you recommended in your blog. Not only is it delicious, but is a great gift to sick folks that don’t feel like cooking. So, it is good anytime. I also made sour kraut these last two weeks and now I am wondering why I ever thought that it would be hard. My husband said it was delicious. Thanks again for all your tips and suggestions.

    • You’re welcome, Jan. We’re such a fan of canned dry beans and various canned soups and stews. Yesterday our friend, Dara, was here to help pack seeds and at lunch, I just opened a couple of jars of beef stew and vegetables and in 10 minutes we had a hearty lunch. Can’t beat that. And everything came from the homestead.

  9. Just bought a DeWalt battery operated chainsaw and I love it. 73 years old and using the Stihl saw was starting to be a challenge for this old woman. I love my new little DeWalt. Wish I had known about it sooner!

    • Same here. We were just a little hesitant about a BATTERY powered chainsaw. But after hearing rave reviews from friends and my son, we did it. Now, I want the smaller saw for trimming trees and cutting small wood for kindling.

  10. I divided my woodshed into four bays, two are accessible from each end. They are six foot six inches wide by eight feet deep. My tractor bucket on the TC30 New Holland won’t go all the way in but I stack off the bucket which works especially well on the outer three tiers out of six. I put split wood and small rounds in two and large “night wood” rounds in one and odds and ends like slab wood in the fourth. Total storage stacked eight foot high is 12 full cords!

    • Way to go Howard!! We mostly pile our big wood in the middle and smaller wood on one side of our 12′ x 32′ woodshed bay in the storage barn. We don’t go 8′ high but pile as high as we can reach conveniently. Hey, I’m SHORT!!

  11. Yes, DeWalt sells tools without batteries as “bare tools” so it’s a wise move to read the box carefully. We have many DeWalt tools. Living off grid makes it handier to have battery-powered tools rather than electric ones, for sure. We really LOVE our DeWalt battery powered chainsaw!! However, we also have many batteries that fit it as we have many tools. So, we keep several charged and ready. The battery in our chainsaw lasts a long time, before needing changing out.
    We’re never totally caught up, but less “un-caught up”. Will’s busy haulling round bales today.

  12. Congrats on free turkey – we all know nothing will go to waste at your house (or most of our houses).
    Still not quite sold on electric chainsaws but some electric tools are good to have on hand. Especially when you have tools that use the same batteries. I will warn people that DeWalt makes a battery operated fan (which works quite well). HOWEVER..read the box closely – some are sold WITHOUT the battery. Which is fine if you already have DeWalt batteries on hand.
    Glad you’re caught up. The unseasonably warm weather here ends today. So I’ll finish the couple (small) chores. Then switch gears to inside de-cluttering/cleaning. There is *always* something to do. None of us will ever be able to say “yep, all done. Nothing left to do”.
    And in less than 45 days, the year is over and it is tax time. Event change for me in 2024 (not retirement) so will need to gather numbers and chat with the CPA.

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