More drip-a-tation

October 10, 2007 (4:42am)

40º F, Light rain, WNW Wind, 13 mph.

Good morning,

The little woodstove is in operation this morning. Just starting to take the chill off in here at the moment. Burning up some scraps from the destruction projects here and it seems to be mostly pine. Kind of nice to hear it crackle as it burns. Don’t want to make a steady habit of burning pine though. I probably need to find a new routine again in the morning and for the woodstove. Hope to have it burning most of the time from now on when heat is needed. I have been putting on the gas furnace for a shot while in the mornings when needed so far. Seems it will be a bit cooler from now on. At least the weatherman thinks so. He also is predicting a warmer than average winter this year too.

I put in a new thermostat on the gas furnace yesterday. The old one I had a hard time reading in low light levels. A wide marker needing to be seen through a slot. Not easy for these old eyes. After installing the new one, discovered it doesn’t work on this system. Since mercury isn’t allowed to be used as a switch any longer, they are using electronics instead. The furnace is a two wire thermostat circuit on it, but something isn’t correct on the hook up, or it will not operate on this system. Will wait until daylight and the wood fire has warmed it up in here to check it out further. Might have to put the old one back on again.

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The rain continues today. Looking at the radar, most of the rain was coming off of Lake Superior and heading mostly southeast most of the day yesterday. This morning it is still coming off of the lake, but from the north. Guess the low has passed us and we are on the back side of it. All day we would have a shower, the temperature would drop a couple of degrees, then the next shower seemed to come through. Wind most of the day, really made it feel raw. A better feeling than the 80º+ F of the previous days however.

It would be very easy to have wild turkey on the menu around here. The flock that has taken up residence in the woods here, shows little fear of us. They will look at us, but usually not change what they are doing at the moment. They keep their distance from us, but that is not too far away. Would be very easy to use the .22 and take one in very short order. It won’t happen, but I sure can see where it would be an easy dinner. No one would be the wiser either. The Canadian geese are really flocking up and heading south these days. When the wind is down, the sound of them is heard all day long. Some of the flocks are pretty good sized too.

The winch on the truck lift arm is history. Took it off yesterday and after a bit of looking at it, discovered one of the problems causing it demise. The shaft supporting the spool is much smaller than the “bearing” that rides on it, causing the spool and drive gear to be out of alignment - a lot! The teeth on the spool are also made from two pieces of about 10 gauge, riveted together. One of the two pieces has the teeth chewed off from the misalignment, but also not a very tough piece of steel. Not a good design at all. Looks pretty though. I am questioning whether I will put another winch on it at all. Just might weld a couple of grab hooks so I can use chains or the come-a-long instead. I do have another winch, but not too sure what I will do yet.

I got most of the sub-floor and insulation in where the woodstove will sit. One strip about 8"x4'-0" yet to put in. I don’t think the floor will give any time soon. It is made from 1" OSB with very little give to it. New staple gun works well too! Now I can start digging a hole through the outside wall into the woodshed/lean-to for the pass through wood box. Need to get that pretty much finished before I can start on the ceramic tile. One side of the wood box will also be tiled. Probably better keep the dimensions of the wood box so I don’t have to cut too many tiles too. Intend to make the interior dimensions 36" deep, as the wood I use will be 16" long, two stacks, and that should give me some wiggle room for non-perfect cutting of the wood. Lift top on the wood box inside and a swing door on the out side. That should keep some of the cold air and wood chips out and allow easy loading from the outside. I will also insulate it.

Time to get the day a-going.

In Christ My Saviour,

Chris <><