...so its time to check the radiator for anti-freeze or drain the radiator.
(Maybe not relevant for you guys down in Florida and maybe already relevant for those of you living in Montana or Canada)
I had the first fire of the season in my kitchen stove last night. Sure felt good.
Burning corn! Bud.
It's relevant for us guys in the Florida Panhandle !
Steve, inquiring minds want to know. What are you burning in that awesome stove? Also what are the details of that lovely hunk of cast iron?
Same here Steve...fireplace going right now, and hey....I have a black dog too sleeping right in front of it! You got a cutie there....I burn almost strictly ash.
Burning dead trees from my wood lot. Before the leaves fall I go out with a can of spray paint and mark the dead ones so I'll know which ones to cut up during the winter.
Looks like oak? Looks like some fine fire wood. Any history on that stove?
Oh, and the story of the stove. Almost thirty years ago I bought it for $200 in Wichita. It sat in my barn for many years. A few year ago I looked at my appalling winter gas bill and decided on a change. I sandblasted and repaired the stove, got a friend to help me move the old gas heater out of the kitchen, and put in the wood stove. Since then the only gas I've used in the house is for the water heater. Even with gas heat in my shop, the gas bills are much better.
Hay Steve, OT When did you get a new puppy ??
Don't remember seein' him/her when I was there, just Daisy.
That's an old picture. That dog had to go to a family in town who had a fence to keep him in. He wouldn't stay home and kept getting in trouble with the neighbors.
Weather is absolutely perfect here in Florida. Sunny, Mid 70's no humidity and not a cloud in the bright blue sky. Perfect for washing the house, making repairs to and painting my Victorian house. Sanding and painting the porches now and will be repairing a rotting window sill this weekend, with "Abatron WoodEpox". Will also be replacing an original siding board above the porch. This is not work to me. It's fun, especially with such perfect weather to look forward to. When I get the house looking all pretty again, I'm going to take a picture of the T sitting in front of it. Jim Patrick
Steve. That wall behind your stove has me a little worried. In the past, I have used a produce called "Brickit" (see: www.brickit.com) very successfuly in protecting walls from the heat generated by a cast iron Franklin. "Bricket" makes 1/2" thin clay brick tiles that are installed on a wall and mortar pointed in between the brick tiles. Once finished your wall looks exactly like a brick wall and is fairly well protected from the heat the stove puts off. Not only is it very nice looking, making that great stove stand out, it may keep the wooden studs behind that sheetrock from catching on fire. Just a thought. Jim Patrick
PS. If you choose another supplier of this type of product, just be sure it is real brick and not a flammable resin product molded to look like brick facing.
PS. Even if that is an inflammable stone wall under the plaster behind the stove, the bricks tiles will keep cracks from forming as are currently present in your picture. Have a safe and toasty winter. Jim Patrick
Oops! Inflammable means easily set on fire. I meant non-flammable. Jim Patrick
I have had it in my head to set up a similar, smaller stove in my garage. The big issue is no great place to put through a chimney pipe.
Michael,
You mentioned "King Frost" in the USA we call him "Jack Frost" and yes he is on his way. I spent the last two days checking and working on the 46 furnaces and 28 wood burners I am responsible for. I still have 6 miles of water line, 22 campsites, a swimming pool, 3 shower houses, and 23 buildings to winterize. The cold is coming quick and all I want is time to drive my Model T's.
Teresa and I spent last weekend hauling 12 loads of broken branches from the in-laws farm north of Sturgis after the 2 feet of wet snow broke the branches off the trees in the grove around the house. Brother-in-law lost about 1000 pheasants he was raising for nearby hunting lodges as the snow broke the nets over the pens and either buried the birds or let them out. Sunday we drove up to Deadwood and up the road to our cabin. We had to snowmobile in and cut about 40 trees off the 3/4 mile logging road into the cabin. They had over 5 feet of wet snow up there and it broke and bowed the trees over the road. We then fired up the stove and drained the water system. It's too early for winter!!
Noel
Noel,
You are right it is too early for winter. I feel sorry for the ranchers who lost thousands of head of cattle in the upper west when the snow hit. I guess most of them died from hypothermia because they didn't have their winter fir yet.