4 Acres and a Farmhouse

In the wood patch behind our house, there are lots of trees, some of which are junk and some decent. In my dreams, it would be filled with walnut, hickory, and oak but that's not the case. Instead, there are several catalpa, some hack berry trees, and a couple small walnuts. Several years ago before we moved here, Rob came in and cleared the wood patch a little because it was overgrown and crowded with rogue weeds and junk. Even so, he wasn't able to take down any of the old, trashy trees then because we didn't live here and he didn't have the time to spend here and take care of the house we lived in.  A recent windstorm jump started his plans for cutting down some of the old trees when it uprooted a dead catalpa, slamming and wedging it in the crotch of a much smaller walnut tree nearby. It hit the walnut so hard it made the entire tree lean and we kept an eye on it for a week before the weather was decent enough to get out there and decide how to safely remove both...

When we moved here, one of the first projects Rob started was converting half of the garage into a workshop.  The framework was already in place so he had to insulate and put up walls and a ceiling.  He also wired it for more lights and outlets and added a ceiling and exhaust fan.  All that was done in the fall so the first winter here, he worked in his shop wearing coveralls and using a salamander heater to make the shop temperature just slightly above tolerable.   In the spring, he began talking about adding a wood-burning stove to the garage to heat it during the winter and thus the latest project began.  After searching several designs, he decided making his own was the way to go.  Although not necessarily cost-effective to purchase and make, it is unique and fits the space he has in the shop perfectly. The body of the stove is made from three 24" steel semi-tire rims purchased dirt cheap at a local junk yard.   Bought 4, used 3...