Wood, Coal & Love.

Despite the uncanny warmth of late, we are of no doubt that winter is about to deal us a blow.
A year ago we were in the -25 C range, today we are +7 C with water running down the yard.
We even sleep with the window open.
In the middle of December, that's never good but we are making the best of it.
It was therefore a pleasant trip we made down to Ryley, Ab today, on the coal run as we call it.
Dodds Coal is one of the few suppliers left these days and they are busy people. Despite the bad rap coal is getting by the media, there are many homes and businesses still burning the black stuff.
We took the truck and trailer for the last run of the winter and hauled home 1 1/2 tons to see us through with a good margin of safety should we get a blizzard or two on the tail end of winter.
Running around $80 / ton (half is the B.S. carbon tax), we still have no issues with the economy of coal. There is no additional monthly charge for administration, transmission, maintenance, etc; as with gas or electricity. It will be interesting to see what we get for the carbon tax dollars, if it's like the tire tax, we won't get anything.
Half the load is already under cover and the trailer is safe and secure from weather, so all is good.
It's amazing how quickly one can move a ton of coal with a grain shovel. Try it once.

The wood pile is doing very well in light of the mild temps and the horses have had their warm coats on only once so far, which is good as they can be a pain to keep putting on and taking off to suit the sun. The hay too is stretching well but again, we know that can change overnight so another load will be hauled early next week to fill the need when it arises. They are still picking in the field and chewing on bull rushes which keep them occupied if nothing else.

It's my lovely wife's birthday tomorrow, she's at that indeterminate age where we're all just people and the numbers don't matter.
We have fun together, we are still each other's best friend and neither passes a day without seeing the beauty in our lives.
Somewhere along the path, we chose to distance ourselves from those who lie, cheat and pursue greed.
Those with darkness in their hearts.
So we're going to have a nice afternoon out with the kids at The Enjoy Center in St Albert and declare the whole day a happy, B.S. free event.
When you surround yourself with those who embrace truth, honesty and love, darkness doesn't stand a chance.

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