What's up today (bullchiting) thread.

Jet hope it turns out to be nothing. .....

 

Absolutely pouring rain here all day. Flash flood watch is on and they are telling us we could get up to 3-4 inches. 70 degrees and so sticky right now I wish I had not taken out the air conditioners So far the basement hasn't started collecting water at least.


If it where January we would have the fire going and be looking at 2 feet of snow I think. Id take that over this.

 

Wow. That is some rain right there. Stay safe man.

 

Hey Jet, just saw this post. Hoping it's nothing more than a sebaceous cyst. I've had 2. Good luck.

 

Trailing edge of the front produced a rainbow and the most intense fall color Ive ever seen from our giant maple. The photos doesnt do it justice, up close its like somebody painted the leaves with neon.

 

Beautiful Jeremy. Nice shots. You can not use those trees for firewood.

 

Reminds me of our farm's 2 chimneys in the main part of the colonial... brick chimneys originally had no liner, single flue... 2 thimbles opposite sides on the first and second floors. 4 woodstoves on one chimney, 1 fireplace and 3 woodstoves on the other... all hungry for wood. Unbelievable the place didn't burn down every day/night during the burning season. As you said... just the hardship of keeping warm.

 

Dad told me once that the single biggest advance in his lifetime, 1911-1990, was modern medicine, hands down. His Dad died young at 36. His Mom brought up 4 kids with the help of farm hands. An oxen got loose tearing down the back field once with one of the men hooked onto a rope behind it. He'd gotten his hand wrapped up in the rope and couldn't let go. The oxen went down over a stone wall and into the woods with the poor guy dragging behind it. Dad said he never forgot the screams from that man when his Mom poured alcohol over his many open sores. Infection killed a lot of folks back in those days. Yup... some things are definately better now.

 

Speaking of how good we have it now, last night we watched this show How we got to now on PBS. First episode was about the history of clean water and how fundamental it was to the creation of our modern society yet the most basic things like chlorination where discovered accidentally. definitely worth a watch if you have the time.

I think back in the old days houses DID burn down a lot more often then today. I cant recall where I read it, but I saw a figure that a large house around the time of the revolution burned like 15 cords of wood a winter. And they wouldn't keep the entire house warm, just keep a cooking fire in the kitchen and fires in whatever bedrooms where in use, probably just enough to warm up a bedpan. Wake up in the morning to find water jugs frozen in the kitchen, etc.

 

I can't believe your letting that stove go. It's really not that difficult to understand and learn a cat stove. I have only burned in mine 3 times so far and I'm way ahead on the learning curve so far. Why are you giving up so easy>?

 

Wildwest, if I can make a vermont castings catalytic stove work without melting down and blowing up the house I think getting your king working will be cake.

As they say on the adds "you can do it, we can help"

 

Dad said it never was really warm in the house during cold weather, even with the stoves cranking. I found old diaries from Dad's grandfather and great grandfather... enjoyed going through them. They were always written during the winter months as there was no time spring, summer & fall. They wrote about rolling the road with a horse drawn snow packing roller... cutting ice blocks from the stream and burying them in sawdust in the barn... taking the cutter down to town once a week... moving firewood to all of the stove areas late afternoon, etc. Tough folks back then.

 

Hehehe... every Thanksgiving, Mom and Dad would have around 30 family members there for 4 days. As a kid, I can remember like yesterday... bricks Dad had heated up on the stoves, wrapped in newspaper and put in the bottom of every bed. Can't remember him doing it, but I sure can how good that felt when I climbed in the bunk...