Wood Pellet Weekend

[dawn_felagund]

Our primary source of heating in our new house is a wood pellet stove. Back in Maryland, we had a woodstove in the basement and electric baseboard heat upstairs that we resisted turning on as long as possible because it was so expensive. The woodstove, on the other hand, was wonderful, and we used it as much as we could. However, it took a while to

Comments

[rhapsody11]

Who needs to go the gym with hikes and work outs like these :D

[dawn_felagund]

Indeed I haven't joined the gym up here! There is one in Newport, about 15 minutes away. In addition to my doubts that I will motivate myself to go to a gym that is now further away than my workplace (I've gotten so spoiled with not having to drive enormous distances to go to work and other places) and the same distance as Lake Willoughby, what would be the point? That's why there are mountains and lakes and ... wood pellets. :D

Next year, after mud season is over, I plan to do the Mt. Hor hike at least once a week and track my time to see it improve. Climbing hills is not a strength of mine, and I'd like to be better at it now that I live in the mountains. And what more beautiful way to do cardio is there?? :)

[rhapsody11]

So are you now cycling to work? :)

[dawn_felagund]

Unfortunately no ... it's 40 minutes by bike (according to Google Maps), which requires leaving a bit too early for this night owl to be there by 7:30. Also, there are enough hills that I don't want to chance arriving sweaty.

Now in the summer, when I go in to work in my classroom, that's a different story! :)

[heartofoshun]

Outrageously gorgeous pictures! I am so excited when I look at these to think I might actually be able to visit next summer. (I am trying to lose weight so I can hike around more.)

They come in 40 lb/18 kg bags. A 40-lb bag is not difficult for me to lift and carry, but repeated 150 times with much bending and lifting was rough!

I never could have done that! And I hauled sleeping 40-pound kids out of a car and up a flight of stairs regularly when I was young. Just be careful, please! You are not a man with a man's upper body skeletal and muscular structure. You're not Brienne of Tarth from 'Game of Thrones.'

this story I am writing based on the Scottish folk song "Tamlin."

I bet this is going to be really amazing! I cannot wait to read it. I am an absolute pushover for this entire captured-by-the-queen-of-fairie genre. Would love to try one myself!

If you haven't already read it, read Ellen Kushner's Thomas the Rhymer after you finish your story. It is my absolute favorite so far in the variations on this trope. Great story and

[dawn_felagund]

Bobby put it best today when he said the Northeast Kingdom is basically a postcard. It is! Even the cows are those black-and-white picturesque kind.

I know it is futile to tell you not to worry about me and my wood-pellet hauling. ;) I know I am not Brienne of Tarth and know my limits pretty well thanks to all that weight training at the gym in Maryland. I was more worried about my back than my arms! Thankfully I had no back pain today and most of the aching in my arms is gone.

I read Thomas the Rhymer on your recommendation when I started the Tamlin story the first time! That was years ago now, which is kind of embarrassing. I like how the story is turning out so far. It is going to be dark--I am writing it for Haunted October after all--but I hope a new take on the old tale. And I hope my characters are interesting; that is why I started again because the first try at the story seemed very flat and not my usual writing.

[pandemonium_213]

Oh, man...those photos. And those you & Bobby have posted previously. I am soooooo jonesin' to head up to the NEK next fall and inflict myself on you, i.e., book a room or better yet, a vacation rental, for a long weekend next autumn (and of course, I have been checking out vacation rentals for Mereth). Autumn is the BEST season in New England, and your photos amply illustrate why.

My arms are vicariously shaking from reading about the wood pellet hauling. Good lord, that's a LOT of work. Does the pellet stove have a fan to help distribute the heat? We had a wood-burning stove in our basement in Madison (also had cold, cold winters), and I swear, it would reach 90 degrees in the finished part of the basement where we watched TV. We really could have used some sort of system to distribute the heat around the house.

Like Oshun, I am really looking forward to reading the Tamlin-inspired story and will also recommend Thomas the Rhymer - one of my favorites from Ellen Kushner.

[dawn_felagund]

We can't wait to be inflicted upon! If that even makes sense. :D

We've had an exceptionally beautiful fall, even by Vermont standards, from what I've been told. We had nice foliage in Maryland too, and I never quite got what the hullabaloo was about New England leaves, but I totally get it now.

We don't have a fan for the pellet stove, but it's smack in the middle of the house and the house is very small, so I think it will be okay. We do have kerosene backup that distributes throughout the house.

Our woodstove in Maryland had passive heat vents to help heat the upstairs, but the house was too big, and we could never fully rely on it. It did become summer-like in the basement, and it was nothing to lounge around in a tank top and shorts down there.

Thankfully, all that's left of wood-pellet-related labor for this year is hauling bags up from the barn in feet of snow uphill the wrong way. ;)

I read Thomas the Rhymer on Oshun's recommendation when I started writing "Tamlin" the first time, which was now years ago, I'm embarrassed

[shirebound]

I love traveling around the state with you.

Three tons of pellets, wow! At least you won't skimp on keeping your home heated, knowing that the 'larder' is full.

[dawn_felagund]

Aww, thank you! :D

I think three tons is in the ballpark of what the family that lived here before us used. Since we might be using it six months out of the year (at least occasionally) and it is our main heat source, we wanted to be prepared! :)

[dawn_felagund]

I don't often admit that many tasks of physical labor are difficult for me, but this was difficult! ;) Thankfully, my arms barely ache at all now, a day later.

If it was 35 in Westminster, I'm sure it was close to freezing up on the hilltop. We used to start up Old Fort Schoolhouse from Route 27 and watch the car thermometer drop 2-3 degrees before we reached our house!