Bonnie Has A Bone...

...to pick with that groundhog up in Pennsylvania.





We're both home today. MeeMaw was scheduled to be off, but I was snowed in. We got several inches between last night and this morning, and it's still coming down hard. The wind is the big thing...50 mph gusts and blowing the snow everywhere.


I called in to work this morning and told them I'd be late, IF I could make it at all. A few minutes later, my office manager called and said, "PeePaw, don't even think about it." She went on to say that the Kingsport area is a sheet of ice (we had rain all day yesterday, and then temperatures in the teens last night). Two of the girls who live close to the office went in to call patients and reschedule, and then they're getting out of Dodge, too. All the schools are closed.



The red dog and I went out for a walk just now and came back in looking like Betty and Freddy the Yetis. MeeMaw had to clean the snow pellets out of Bonnie's paws. We're going to build a fire in the stove in a little while.

We've definitely had us a winter this year. But spring will come. I can feel it wanting to come.

Monday, Under A Tree

[in memory of John Anderson]

Perhaps your robe felt warm enough as you
Stepped out the door and went to find your cat
(Your traitorous brain deprived you of the memory
That Mister-Kit had died some seven years
Before), but after calling for awhile,
You forgot why you'd clamored down
To begin with. Your ankles, bitten with


The numbing air, reminded you of something
From a day when hunting with your son
And both of you stepped in a creek and soaked
Your boots and later dried your feet beside
A fire you laid beneath a young hemlock.
And as you smiled and settled down last night
To warm yourself, your Mary dreamed of pies


And childrens' hands, and never stirred while you
Began to drift into the humming night
Where all the strengths came back, and answers to
Your questions sat in silver light, just waiting
To be known. I hope those fragile moments
Just before you left were warm as breath
And sweet as lashes on an infant's cheek.


~ copyright 2010 by S.K. Orr

Stove's In, Stove Works!

Well, it's in and it works, so we're happy. We're also quite tired. When the fellows got finished with the installation (it only took 2 and 1/2 hours from the time they drove up to the time they drove away), we had quite the mess on our hands. The photo above will remind you of what the empty fireplace looked like.


The photo below was taken during the festivities. When they finally broke through the old damper, approximately 50 gallons of ash and soot fell into the room and pretty much covered everything. They carted it out, bucketfuls at a time. Nasty stuff, that.

I hustled my hind-end, trying to get things at least serviceable before my beloved arrived home. Once MeeMaw got home, we ate a quick bite and set about cleaning the ash and soot from everything. We did a good enough job to get by for the evening, but we'll have to re-clean the floors, etc. tomorrow. After we got everything put away, I took my Woodsman's Pal (my best friend Doug got it for me for my birthday) outside and cut some of the firewood into kindling. Then I came in and we built a fire.

The process is a slow one; we have to season the stove just as one does a cast-iron skillet. Build one small kindling fire, no hotter than 400F, then let it cool to room temp. Build a slightly larger fire, no hotter than 500F, then let it cool to room temp. Build a small fire with a log or two and let it get up to about 600F, then let it cool to room temp. Finally, build a regular fire and adjust the damper so that it burns really slow at about 600-650, then let it come to room temp. The stove is then seasoned. If one rushes this process, one can cause the brittle cast iron to snap like a cookie. This would not be a desirable outcome.


I ran outside before dark fell and got a shot of smoke coming out of the chimbly (as the folks in Scott County say). A first for Possum Cough!

MeeMaw is enjoying the warmth. This little stove is very attractive and puts out a good amount of heat on just a small kindling fire. We're very pleased.

The two fellows who installed the stove were filthy by the time they left. Their faces were covered in soot. I told them they looked like minstrels. They gave me a funny look for some reason.


It's time for me to take a shower, too. I got quite a bit of soot on me in the cleanup phase.




Rest well, loved ones.


~ PeePaw

Waiting On A Stove

I took the day off so that I could be here when our woodburning stove installers came. They arrived about 11:45 (it's 1:30 right now) and it's been quite the adventure. I am fearful for the moment when MeeMaw arrives home and sees the mess.


The fellows had to demolish the old damper (it was frozen in place), and when they did, about fifty gallons (no exaggeration) of ash and soot came a-tumblin' down into the living room. I had the foresight to close off all the rooms that I could, and I'm glad I did. Right now in the family room, foyer, kitchen, dining room, and office, every surface is covered with a fine black soot, which very much resembles the fingerprint powder we used to use in CID. This is going to be one long, arduous cleanup job.


All the windows in the family room are open, along with the front door, and I have a fan going to try and suck out as much floating soot and ash as possible. Poor Bonnie is in her crate in our bedroom, and the cats are in the middle bedroom. Purrl will be our litmus test to see how well we clean up after the installation is complete. She may very well not be as monochromatic as she is as of this writing.


But I'm hopeful that when the job is done, we'll have a beautiful source of heat (and cooking!) when the power goes out again, which it almost certainly will do at some point.


Speaking of heat and power, I thought I'd share this very dignified video of Dr. Shine and Dee Dee.





And some people wonder why the church is not held in high regard in many circles.


Love to you all...


~ PeePaw