Grandpa Jim's Lumberyard

     It took a little over two full days, a lot of sore muscles, and a very long suffering friend, but my cedar logs are now lumber.  There was more than 1200 board feet just in the 1x6 planks, about twice the amount we will need to make tongue and groove planks for the ceiling in our living room and loft.  We briefly considered using the surplus planks for deck boards but decided we didn't want to wait six months for the boards to cure.  Mark also cut a part of one log into 2 inch slabs that I can later cut into 2x4s or something else on the table saw.   I'm thinking I could use them to make a nice arbor over our new gate when I get around to building our new fence.  The fence is on my "To Do List" somewhere after the new deck so the cedar may be cured in time for that project.

    I was truly amazed at the amount of useable lumber we had amassed at the end.  The main reason I was so amazed was that we also had a very large pile of "off cuts", or less than useable lumber.  It looked like so much wood was being wasted and yet the piles of planks kept growing.  Its almost like the wood multiplied as it was cut into smaller dimensions.  I'm sure I have another cord of firewood in the off cuts.  I also have a nice pile of 1x1/2 cedar slats that can be used to make a trellis or two or three.

   I'm well over halfway getting all of the lumber stacked and "stickered" in the garage. Bee frame bottom bars made great stickers and I can still use them for their original use after the cedar planks are dried.  I estimate I have about 850 board feet in the stacks of 1x6 planks shown in the picture.

   We had a little kitten show up just as we were starting to mill the first log on Thursday.  I asked a number of the neighbors but no one claimed her.  I'm suspicious that someone abandoned her because she is way to friendly for a wild cat.  We tried for a while to find her a home while she lived in our garage.  She spent a good part of Thursday and Friday playing in the piles of lumber, scrap wood, sawdust and logs, looking for a good opportunity to get seriously hurt.  Initially it looked like Mr. Buttercup was looking at the kitten as a potential chew toy, but they seem to be getting along better now. It looks like we are stuck with her unless someone needs a little kitten. We'll be very happy to send this one your way if you need a kitten.