Saturday, April 7, 2018

Light My Fire

Last summer we were out visiting our son Craig and  his family in Portland, Oregon.  Before we left  Oregon, the whole dang state along with Washington, Wyoming and I believe parts of California were on fire. I have no clue how it started.  I'm sure it wasn't with 3 fire logs, 5 gallons of gasoline, and a box of matches.  That's how I started a fire today.   Did I burn the whole state of Ohio?  Did it spread into Indiana...not that, that state couldn't use a bit of purging.   No sirs and ladies it did not.  It barely burned the brush pile I was aiming to reduce to ashes.
I will title this "Brush burning"...clever huh.
I will title this "Freaking stupid pile of brush still almost burning but not quite".  I would show you the finished burned pile but I don't have to because it looks just like the above photo.   What the heck!  Jack joined me in the fire fight and we managed to catch the gas can (that's made from plastic) on fire along with this strip of grass and  his new gloves.  (no human was hurt in this fiasco)
Look at the dry crap behind the grey matter...yep, even that just died out.   In fact I was sure the gas can was going to explode...but no, that didn't burn either..just melted a bit!  My intention was not to gut the Creepy Woods, just burn some brush so I could do my new planting project.  I can see this is going to take some time,  and a new gas can,  to complete.   Well, my last name is Starkey, not Sparky.  I'm still shaking my head.  Maybe they don't make gasoline like they used to...or like they do in the movies.  Come on baby, light my fire!

7 comments:

joeh said...

I almost lost my eyebrows once trying to burn wet leaves with gasoline.

Shady Del Knight said...

Hi, YaYa!

I found a typo in your post, dear friend. It should read Oregon, Portland. :)

Seems like you and Jack should invest in a wood chipper. You could reduce all that scrap wood to mulch and spread it on your garden. I get nervous around fire and gasoline. I'm glad no humans were hurt as you attempted to burn that stubborn brush pile. With all the smoke and commotion, I'll bet the Yeti was packing his bags and getting ready to evacuate his den.

So.... what else is new with you guys? :) I wish you a safe and happy week and eagerly await your next post, dear friend YaYa!

Rick Watson said...

Use diesel. It’ll git’r done.

Andrea Ostapovitch said...

Fires are so unpredictable...

Happy Spring cleaning,
Andrea

Julia said...

I'm glad the gasoline can didn't explode and caused injuries. I'm no expert on how to burn brush piles but I hate to waste the kindlings. I'm such a worry wart when it comes to lighting outdoor fires since someone in the neighborhood set the field behind our house on fire one year when a piece of paper escaped the grill and almost burnt down the neighborhood houses. We had to call the fire department and my husband and son got on the tractors and battled the fire that was spreading by snuffing it with the big buckets. Fire generates its own wind. It was some scary.

We don't have haunted woods behind our house but we have had to cut many trees in the yard over the years and I cut all the branches and make kindling with it. They are invaluable in starting a fire in the stove once they are dry. I even made a post about it. My neighbor thought I was crazy but I was happy to have lots of kindling in the winter.

HUgs, Julia

gin said...

Goodness! Maybe it's a good thing that you didn't get it burnt. The fire can, gloves and things were plenty to burn.

CHERI said...

This post made me laugh! Of course, I know you know to be careful with gasoline. Had an acquaintance burn himself badly awhile back by throwing gas on a fire. I guess your experience just goes to show things don't always go as planned!! At any rate...happy gardening when you do get it cleared:)