A sappy post
I ordered some spiles today. A couple autumns ago, I spray painted Ms and Ws on the maple and walnut trees all over the the property, or at least all along the trails. We're finally coming out of the solid freeze to where the temps will get above freezing during the day and drop back down to (or below) freezing at night, so it's time to tap them. I've never done this before, but these spiles look cool. Instead of being the old-style things that you hang a bucket from, these have plastic tubing running from them to a milk jug on the ground. I'm going to use our old electric skillet to evaporate the sap down to syrup.
Earlier this morning, I was up on the roof cleaning the chimney. The cap had gotten gunked up with creosote, so it didn't really matter than I had cleaned out the tee at the bottom where the stovepipe connects. Somehow (we still haven't figured it out) the smoke was getting out of the flexible flue liner and coming back down the chimney, where it was leaking out between the bricks into our bedrooms. I patched these leaks with mortar several times, hunting down little wisps of smoke with a flashlight, over a period of several days until finally the smoke just started pouring out of the chimney downstairs where we haven't sealed it up yet around the stovepipe. But last night, it rained and stayed above freezing, so the snow was washed off the roof and I could get up there to clean it.
Yesterday was Ammy's birthday, and for some reason, her class didn't have school that day, so she stayed home with me. We went to the grocery store and picked out some cupcakes, and then she got to pick out some plastic rings to decorate them. We played games most of the day, finishing off with a game of chess right before bath time. (Noah coached her, but she's starting to get the hang of it. Noah knows much more about the game than I do, given that he's had formal instruction and he has a lot more enthusiasm about it.)
I like standing on the roof. I can see the whole west half of our property, and it feels more like a farm because I can see big gardens and animal pens and such.
Earlier this morning, I was up on the roof cleaning the chimney. The cap had gotten gunked up with creosote, so it didn't really matter than I had cleaned out the tee at the bottom where the stovepipe connects. Somehow (we still haven't figured it out) the smoke was getting out of the flexible flue liner and coming back down the chimney, where it was leaking out between the bricks into our bedrooms. I patched these leaks with mortar several times, hunting down little wisps of smoke with a flashlight, over a period of several days until finally the smoke just started pouring out of the chimney downstairs where we haven't sealed it up yet around the stovepipe. But last night, it rained and stayed above freezing, so the snow was washed off the roof and I could get up there to clean it.
Yesterday was Ammy's birthday, and for some reason, her class didn't have school that day, so she stayed home with me. We went to the grocery store and picked out some cupcakes, and then she got to pick out some plastic rings to decorate them. We played games most of the day, finishing off with a game of chess right before bath time. (Noah coached her, but she's starting to get the hang of it. Noah knows much more about the game than I do, given that he's had formal instruction and he has a lot more enthusiasm about it.)
I like standing on the roof. I can see the whole west half of our property, and it feels more like a farm because I can see big gardens and animal pens and such.