Month: October 2016

heating news

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Andrea and Randy came over and helped load the two cords of wood into the woodshed. Two cords fits well, leaving plenty of room for a walkway. Three solid stacked rows. They also examined the wood stove and lit a small fire using paper to check the draw of the chimney. Everything seemed in order.

Andrea knew the measurements of a cord of wood:

It measures four feet high by four feet wide by eight feet long (4 ft. x 4 ft. x 8 ft.) and has a volume of 128 cubic feet. The amount of solid wood in a cord varies depending on the size of the pieces, but for firewood it averages about 85 cubic feet.
What is a Cord? – Woodheat.org

They took a few little trees from the property to plant in their yard, a baby spruce and a few colorful maples.

Earlier in the day, I tried to heat the house with hot water. Turned on thermostat, turned on the hot water heater, turned the levers to show “gas on” – but couldn’t raise the temperature of the water in the tank or the house. Maybe there’s another step, or maybe it just takes a really long time. The sun came out and I switched off the whole thing.

rainy sunday

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Rainy all day today, I stayed home and cooked and puttered around until about 3 pm. I made potato leek soup and warm farro beet salad in the pressure cooker. I found the hardware for Aunt Gabe’s two tables and reassembled them. Good to have surfaces to work on.

Then I went out for some entertainment. I found some flannel sheets on sale at LL Bean. Plain beige sheet set, but a good price. I looked for some kind of containers to bring food to work, but no luck. I also went to Flexit and had a chai, and Hannaford’s for a few things.

I also started working on a crochet project – a hat with Suzanne’s midnight gradient yarn. I’m rusty, but it’s coming back to me.

transplanting

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My first day up here when I didn’t have to work. So I was able to enjoy puttering around the house. Moved things around in the woodshed, so the wood can go in there. Some of this furniture may have to be discarded.

I also oiled the butcher block next to the stove for the first time. Once a day for a week.

And oiled the large butcher block – once a week for a month on Friday.

There are a lot of tomatoes that could be harvested – tomorrow.

I took a short bike ride around the loop to the ocean and back around Grant Street. It sure was a beautiful October day out there.

I transplanted the herbs and plants from Connecticut. Wonder how many will make it.

  • Walking onions – back row of garden
  • Comfrey – at head of back row in garden
  • Peppermint – stuck a stalk in the back raised bed; no roots on it, not sure if it will reroot
  • Lemon Balm – a large clump went into the head of the front row in the garden, next to the raised bed; this plant smells great and the bees love it
  • Berggarten Sage – a small clump in one of the herb pocket gardens
  • Feverfew – planted some very tender transplants in the same herb pocket as the sage; maybe it will self-seed like it does in Connecticut
  • Rosemary – put it in a pot because it won’t survive the winter; maybe we’ll get to enjoy it as a houseplant for awhile longer, sure looks nice and healthy
  • Catmint – planted the clump in the triangle right off the deck, should look great there if it takes hold
  • Artemisia – planted it next to the lavender already growing in the perennial bed, around the corner near where the root cellar would be

back in Hancock

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I returned to Hancock after a week in Connecticut.

Chilly. Waiting for instructions about how to turn on the heat.

Unpacked, started a new batch of kombucha, escorted two spiders out of the house.

Clothes hangers, toilet brush. Really need the end table from camp with the light for the living room.

Sam ordered a new faucet for the kitchen sink.

Bin of harvested potatoes and a giant beet on the front deck.