Still Working On The List....

Today, filled with enthusiasm, vim and vigor for continuing work on my stove and my list of other stuff to do, I bounced out of bed at the crack of 7:45 or so.
Immediately, my plans came to a screeching halt!

No. Coffee.!

I'll say that again so you can get the full effect:
No. Coffee.

Is everyone ok? Yeah, it was a rough realization for me too. So, the next best thing being hot cocoa, we made do. Hot cocoa with marshmallows and coffee creamer (chocolate, raspberry) was in line. Although the lack of caffeine made the starting of the day a bit rough (yeah, I get it, there is caffeine in hot chocolate, but It. Was. Not. Coffee).
First thing hubby pops out of bed and says, "Is the coffee done"? After relaying the events that lead up to resigning myself to drink hot cocoa, he promptly dug into one of his bags and produced a hotel sample of coffee.
Augh. Sometimes I feel like Charlie Brown holding the football for Lucy to kick it.

I knew I had to go to work for awhile so I did that early to get it out of the way. Got home late in the afternoon and noticed that hubby had cut and split a bunch more wood.
Cool! Except that the last batch he cut and split hadn't been stacked yet.

I stacked the last load, took the wheelbarrow up to the woodpile and got a bunch of starter stuff. We have 3 kinds of wood. Starter stuff, stuff that will keep the warmth going after it dries out a bit and "holy cow it better be -84 outside cause it's gonna get hot in here". Stacked all in their appropriate pile and swept off the deck. The cows were demanding to be fed so I did chores. They're so funny, since I've been giving them a bit of grain now and then all of a sudden hay isn't good enough! So they watch me up in the hay loft and moo at me until I drop down the grain. Then they're happy. It's good to have happy cows. Kind of like the commercial, but mine don't smile. I know they're happy cause they're not yelling at me.

Finally got some of the clothes off the line. I believe they were wetter than when I hung them off, but we have a storm coming, so there's just no use in leaving them there, plus we do need clean clothes to start the work week.

Got 4 varieties of lettuce started, and some parsley. These will obviously live in the cabin for quite awhile, but I'm tired of paying grocery store prices for iceberg lettuce, so I've started some of my own. Plus parsley! People! Parsley! The folks that sell that little item must have seen me coming and know that I use it in just about everything! Well, take that "parsley sellers", I'll grow my own. Currently I've put all over by the woodstove to get a bit of heat and some light from the window.
Pouring through seed catalogs in January is a favorite activity. I've got my tomatoes and peppers picked out. Potatoes and onion sets I'll buy locally, but I like the heirloom tomatoes. One of these days I'll get organized enough to save seeds!

Currently I'm fixing dinner and trying to figure out which project to knit on tonight. Probably the baby sweater, I do need to get that done.

The next step in the stove saga is to construct some sort of "container" to keep the sandblaster sand in. Apparantly it is quite spendy and while hubby went yesterday to get new tips for his sandblaster, he ended up picking up a pneumatic hand held deal for me to use. That's his way of telling me he's not ready to bail me out of this project yet. So a "tent" will be constructed to put the pieces needing to be sandblasted in, so as to catch the sandblasting media for re-use.
This will be a good time!

Get 'er Dun!

So about 2 or 3 weeks ago, we decided to start restoring the Hasty Baker oven I bought over a year ago. Tarps were brought out and laid down, tools were assembled and deconstruction began. In the middle of my living room floor.

All was well and good until we hit a snafu. We both got kind of tired of working on it. So, this morning, I decided enough was enough. Today was the day. Carpe Diem and all that stuff. Going to get this project done! So I made a list, and put "stove" at the top of it. I put a bunch of other stuff there too, not humanly possible to get it all done in one weekend, but you have to at least try.

One of the other "things" on my list was to get as much laundry done as possible, being as how it's going to rain tomorrow. As much as possible is 3 loads which is all the outside lines will hold and the one every other week load that goes in the dryer.

There was lots of other stuff, but these two were enough to concentrate on.

A couple of different sized screwdrivers were needed as well as needle nose pliers and crescent wrenches. Some of the screws were obstinant, to say the least. No problem. Go get the cordless screwdriver/drill. Hunt up some drill bits and 3 hours later, all screws have been either removed forcibly or otherwise and we have lots of pieces. Still in the middle of the living room floor.

Since before my owning this stove, it belonged to a rather large family of mice, a good washing was required of all of the pieces and parts. I'm not going to lie, the smaller, more greasy parts went in the dishwasher, and I don't even wanna hear about how I can justify using the dishwasher when I'm hanging clothes outside, in January, in N. Michigan. I can, I just can!

So while the smaller parts are in the dishwasher, I'll continue to wash up the remaining larger pieces and parts and put them over by the woodstove to dry. Next step - sandblasting to remove rust, maggot juice, and everything else that the washings didn't get rid of. Wouldn't it be nice if the next things to do were simply to paint it and put it back together?

The paint part I can handle, the putting it back together, well, that might get dicey. However, I am, in possession of the most skilled hubby on the planet when it comes to reconstructing my disasters. And I did take pictures, of various pieces and parts coming apart. Lots of them, so when it's time, with any amount of luck at all, this might happen.

The downside? This is only 1/3 of the whole project. The upper, warming ovens and ledge. Still out on the front porch, but definitely on(the) deck is the oven/range part of this project. Then the bottom part that the whole she-bang sits on.

After washing up all of this stuff, I should probably go get the clothes off the line, as the weather people have opted to lie once more and instead of raining tomorrow, it is starting to mist a bit. The air is heavy, and the temps are hovering around 33. Not a good situation, as when the rain/mist, that will lead into snow hits the frozen roads, yeah, instant ice! Fun!!

As for knitting... so much for my "Project Monogamy"! Whils't in Colorado, I found some extremely pretty yarn - it was definitely a must have!, and promptly started turning it into some nice, dressier than normal, fingerless mitts to wear with my nice leather jacket. Those aren't done yet. There's the throw-it-on-to-run-outside-quick shawl in alpaca and wool that isn't done yet. There's a baby sweater, that's almost done (on my list for things to do today), there's a few other sweaters that I'm fiddling with as they don't have a pattern, just kind of winging it, another pair of fingerless mitts in some new yarn that I'm reviewing, and enough socks to feed a small army. Yes, I did just say that. I'm sure there's a few other things I'm not thinking of right now.

Back to the mice dropping, maggot infested pieces and parts that need to be washed! And where, might you ask, is hubby while I'm doing all of this deconstructing? As usual he stays clear of my disasters until I fly the white flag, but this time, he went in search of new tips for his sandblaster! YAY!! It's really gonna get done!!!

Keeping Murphy Away From My New Faucet...

My new faucet is here, my new faucet is here! Alert, alert!

UPS delivered it yesterday. To hubby's shop. And he forgot it. Sigh!

Oh well, that's ok really, I didn't have time to do an install last night anyway, probably won't get done until Saturday. Have to dig out the new sink and get that ready too.

And I hear there are silicone applications to be done. Yippee! Silicone is fun!

Assuming that the existing sink is the same size as the new sink it should all go fairly well. Having said that..... yeah! But it will be really nice to have that done. Might even inspire me to start thinking about refurbing my Hasty Baker Stove.

Assuming that the existing sink is the same size as the new sink is probably where all of this is gonna fall apart. I've heard they're all the same. People have said, don't worry, it will fit. But I do. Worry, that is. Because me and Murphy? Best Friends Forever! Yeah, that's us.

I've only installed one sink ever and that was close to 20 yrs ago. Thinking through the process, it didn't seem all that hard, but I'm wondering if maybe I should replace the counters also, at the same time? Hmmmm. Have to think about that. Kind of flies in the face of my "nothing new for 09" strategy (the faucet and the sink were both bought in 08, so they don't count).

What I could do is this. Dig out some of the floorboards left over after we installed the hardwood floors, use them, sand them down real good, put a nice thick layer of poly on them, that would look nice! And while I'm at it, I could build a backsplash and, and, and.....

This might work, will have to think about it some though.

Nah! The existing counters are just fine, they don't need to be replaced. And I will probably need those floorboards when we finally get the upstairs loft done. Yeah, I have enough projects, don't really need any more, and, keeping Murphy away from my new installations will probably be all I can handle!

Obligatory rooster photos, well one anyway, it's dark in the mornings and evenings when I do chores, so hard to get a good photo!

New Stove!!!

OMG! I am soooo geeked! Ok slow down and breathe. A bit of history first. When we first built our cabin, I looked and looked for an old cast iron wood cook stove/oven that had been converted to electric for my kitchen. Couldn't find anything affordable, for some reason the people who come up with these ridiculous county codes thought a roof was more important!
Anyway, couldn't find anything that I could afford!

Yesterday, our oldest, who owns and operates a resale shop called me and told me she got one come in to the store and I could have it for 75.00!! I was sooooo all over it. Gave her the money immediately, and loaded it right from the truck it came in on to hubbys truck.

So, last night I went on the internet to find out what I could find out about this particular model (Hasty Baker 1864) and found a picture of one that had been restored. This picture could have been taken in my kitchen. There were vertical log beams, the light fixtures were the same as mine and even my dish pattern decorated the kitchen. It was meant to be! (in my kitchen!) Starting this weekend, I'll tear it apart. Needs to be sandblasted and repainted. Electrical needs to be fixed. We can do all of that! See - self sufficiency does save money! Can't even imagine what it would cost to have someone else restore it.

I'm so excited I can't even think! That, by the way, is why I DON'T like to go into her store, she has soooo many cool things. Our cabin is like a rustic up north hunting cabin, and stuff that people drag to a resale shop is just the kind of stuff I decorate with! You know, pine cones, antlers, old rusty light fixtures, homemade stuff..... Aaaaaaaaaaaa (scream)!! I am soooo excited. Did you get that? Should I say it again? I'm sooooo excited!

(obligatory picture:)



Ok, I'm better, I promise.

As promised I took a new picture for this blog, as well as pictures of LIG, my Bu-Dawgh, Mystery (one of the barn cats), a turkey and of course my newest aquisition MY STOVE!!!
So here are some of them, I won't label them, cause if you don't know the difference between a Bu-Dawgh and barn cat and turkey, labels won't help!