(Wasn't sure where to put this, I sort of meander through several topics.)
MY STOVE IS HERE MY STOVE IS HERE!! Unfortunately, I am not ready for it to be installed so I won't get to see it until I return from my Texas visit in December. BOO. Oh well, such is life. We finally decided on a hearth style. We're doing to do grey-blue ceramic (looks just like slate except less expensive) with 12x12 tiles and then 8x8 square for the last rows on the bottom and wall shields, and a raised trim around it. It cost MUCH less for all the materials than I thought it would, so YAY! Very glad I didn't go with the $500 hearth pad now.
Is it bad that I have a picture of my Englander 50-17 on my desktop? Or that I keep reading the manual over and over?
Today I finished up reinforcing the woodshed to within an inch of it's life- put OSB panels on either side to keep it stable in the wind (the big front we got this weekend made me realize just how much it was was rattling around) and I put some flashing up on the roof. I did finally get all my wood stacked, JUST before Northern Utah got soaked with a big rainstorm! I also got milk crates for my kindling and tinder and put them up on cinder blocks right inside the shed by the door.
I am very pleased with my wood supply this year. My woodshed is STUFFED with nicely seasoned wood, and I have more kindling and tinder than I know what to do with. While I was moving the kindling inside, I remembered my dad showing me how to make tinder from cedar bark, and how when we went hunting he would peel bark off as we went and strip it very finely in his pocket, so that when it was time to make camp for the night, he'd have a nice stash of tinder. The juniper up here works just as good, and the aspen bark does too.
I am not sure what I'm going to do about my wood for next year. I'll probably look into buying some green wood now, like maybe a cord or two, and then scrounge on Craigslist, and try to go woodcutting in late winter, maybe. I just don't have the money or time to outfit myself and do it now, which I NOW know is the best time to do it!
So we've been kind of slow on progress around here. I didn't get the kitchen floor up and done until last Wednesday, due to some extremely flakey "help", and I leave for Texas on Tuesday, and there wasn't really anything that could get done before then, so I've just been preparing for my trip. We ended up using 1/8" doorskins on the remaining floor that we didn't rip up (we didn't want to tear into the walls or under the cabinets, so we just replaced as many full sheets with OSB as we could), and then we'll level that out and then the laminate will be ready to go down.
Decided on paint colors for the living room. The old paneling is going to get sanded down and painted over a peachy cream color, and then the walls are going to be ivory. The baseboards will be a very clean white, and the trim over the seam is going to be slate grey, to match the hearth. It took SEVERAL trips to Home Depot, one rejected bucket of paint, and about eighteen sample paint cans to make a decision. =P
I also got some really, really nice furniture from Craigslist. New dining room table (badly needs refinishing and some repair on the bracing in the middle, but its one of those solid oak affairs that weighs 900 pounds), new dining room chairs that are just BEAUTIFUL (six of them for $150!), a new rocking chair, and I FINALLY have a coffee table with matching end tables! Got new rugs, and new lamps and lampshades too. I'm going to be moving my sewing cabinet into the living room too, so that I might actually USE it now. I am so excited, I even laid out where I want to put a Christmas tree. =)
The projects for when I get back in December are going to be turning the old pine TV stand into a bookshelf (just going to put some shelving brackets up) and then ripping out the furnace and outfitting my pantry! And, of course, HAVING MY WOOD STOVE INSTALLED! We decided to wait until I get back, so I can oversee the installation and ask lots of annoying questions and get the advanced tutorial on stove care, and that way we have lots of time for my husband to paint and build the hearth.
Anyway, I will probably be scarce around here for the next six weeks while I'm in Texas, so everybody have a good Halloween and Thanksgiving, and thank you SO MUCH for all your advice, I couldn't have done it without you! Everyone has been so friendly and helpful, and I really appreciate it. What a neat little corner of the Net to have stumbled upon. =)
See you once I'm burning wood for real!
~Rose
MY STOVE IS HERE MY STOVE IS HERE!! Unfortunately, I am not ready for it to be installed so I won't get to see it until I return from my Texas visit in December. BOO. Oh well, such is life. We finally decided on a hearth style. We're doing to do grey-blue ceramic (looks just like slate except less expensive) with 12x12 tiles and then 8x8 square for the last rows on the bottom and wall shields, and a raised trim around it. It cost MUCH less for all the materials than I thought it would, so YAY! Very glad I didn't go with the $500 hearth pad now.
Is it bad that I have a picture of my Englander 50-17 on my desktop? Or that I keep reading the manual over and over?
Today I finished up reinforcing the woodshed to within an inch of it's life- put OSB panels on either side to keep it stable in the wind (the big front we got this weekend made me realize just how much it was was rattling around) and I put some flashing up on the roof. I did finally get all my wood stacked, JUST before Northern Utah got soaked with a big rainstorm! I also got milk crates for my kindling and tinder and put them up on cinder blocks right inside the shed by the door.
I am very pleased with my wood supply this year. My woodshed is STUFFED with nicely seasoned wood, and I have more kindling and tinder than I know what to do with. While I was moving the kindling inside, I remembered my dad showing me how to make tinder from cedar bark, and how when we went hunting he would peel bark off as we went and strip it very finely in his pocket, so that when it was time to make camp for the night, he'd have a nice stash of tinder. The juniper up here works just as good, and the aspen bark does too.
I am not sure what I'm going to do about my wood for next year. I'll probably look into buying some green wood now, like maybe a cord or two, and then scrounge on Craigslist, and try to go woodcutting in late winter, maybe. I just don't have the money or time to outfit myself and do it now, which I NOW know is the best time to do it!
So we've been kind of slow on progress around here. I didn't get the kitchen floor up and done until last Wednesday, due to some extremely flakey "help", and I leave for Texas on Tuesday, and there wasn't really anything that could get done before then, so I've just been preparing for my trip. We ended up using 1/8" doorskins on the remaining floor that we didn't rip up (we didn't want to tear into the walls or under the cabinets, so we just replaced as many full sheets with OSB as we could), and then we'll level that out and then the laminate will be ready to go down.
Decided on paint colors for the living room. The old paneling is going to get sanded down and painted over a peachy cream color, and then the walls are going to be ivory. The baseboards will be a very clean white, and the trim over the seam is going to be slate grey, to match the hearth. It took SEVERAL trips to Home Depot, one rejected bucket of paint, and about eighteen sample paint cans to make a decision. =P
I also got some really, really nice furniture from Craigslist. New dining room table (badly needs refinishing and some repair on the bracing in the middle, but its one of those solid oak affairs that weighs 900 pounds), new dining room chairs that are just BEAUTIFUL (six of them for $150!), a new rocking chair, and I FINALLY have a coffee table with matching end tables! Got new rugs, and new lamps and lampshades too. I'm going to be moving my sewing cabinet into the living room too, so that I might actually USE it now. I am so excited, I even laid out where I want to put a Christmas tree. =)
The projects for when I get back in December are going to be turning the old pine TV stand into a bookshelf (just going to put some shelving brackets up) and then ripping out the furnace and outfitting my pantry! And, of course, HAVING MY WOOD STOVE INSTALLED! We decided to wait until I get back, so I can oversee the installation and ask lots of annoying questions and get the advanced tutorial on stove care, and that way we have lots of time for my husband to paint and build the hearth.
Anyway, I will probably be scarce around here for the next six weeks while I'm in Texas, so everybody have a good Halloween and Thanksgiving, and thank you SO MUCH for all your advice, I couldn't have done it without you! Everyone has been so friendly and helpful, and I really appreciate it. What a neat little corner of the Net to have stumbled upon. =)
See you once I'm burning wood for real!
~Rose
