Waving at Strangers - creating a new life in Sointula, BC.: Six Cedar Projects, one tree

Sunday, February 13, 2022

Six Cedar Projects, one tree - no waste!

Of course you know about the amazing tree to closet project. What you might wonder about is....what did we do with the rest of the cedar that wasn't part of the closet. Well, here's our answer.

A local buck checks out the left over cedar once we had what we needed for the closet.

1: The Closet, of course

Jim's carving the four amazing lengths of cedar into a most unusual and unique coat closet.

Afternoon sunlight gives a golden glow.

2. A entryway bench with shoe storage built inside.

3. A future coffee table

Two usable rounds were cut off the length and left outside with metal roofs to shield them from the rain. One becomes our entryway bench and shoe storage. The other piece will be turned into a coffee table.

Jim uses metal wedges to start his slice.

We protected chunks from rain while we processed them.

Debarked, insides ground out, and a quick grinding across the surface.

First time bringing it into the house for a rough fitting.

Once Jim finished his measurements, the pieces were returned to the tent for storage again.

4. Cedar slats for our porch.

These left over lengths have been shaped and tuned up a bit. They'll be screwed to the left side of our porch, near our cherry tree and help keep wind and rain off of the porch and give us a bit more privacy.

What's the old saying..."Don't try this at home!" As if!

5. Making chips for our cedar path.

You never know what you'll find at our local recycling depot. A couple of years ago we stumbled across an old school paper cutter. Jim added a wooden base so that the whole thing fits across the wheelbarrow. Voila, a cedar and grass chopping and collection system! I've used it A LOT and it works great.

I'm proud to say I chopped all off the cedar for this cedar path.

6. Warm nights with cedar firewood

Not all, but a lot of our firewood comes from the old cedar tree too. There's also our own alder, cherry and non treated offcuts. Our Pacific Energy stove will give off a wonderful heat and light....once it's installed.....