First let me say, nobody fell off the roof! It was calamitous, but no injuries were sustained. Mostly. That we know of yet. We hope.
Okay, let me start again.
Last year we had big problems with our wood stove–it commenced to smoke up the house to intolerable levels and the wood wasn’t burning much. We figured the chimney was in need of a cleaning.
Our friend, Steve, had the equipment, so up on the roof he went and discovered that it was the cap that was all creosoted up and not letting the air out. We ditched the cap, and voila` the smoke cleared, the house warmed, and after some days of literally dousing the cap with gas and burning it, it was cleaned, and then replaced.
We started, a few days ago, having difficulty with the wood burning. Since there wasn’t much smoke, we thought the wood had gotten soaked by the rains. But it never seemed to dry. Finally, this morning, the Contrarian announced that it was back up on the roof.
I shuddered and shook my head. “NO! No way are you going up there on that roof. We just got 4 inches of snow and there is ice underneath that.”
“Look,” he said, “there really is no choice here. Either I go up there and take off the cap, or this will get worse and we will not only be smoked to death, we will be cold while doing it. So either support me, or continue to help me be scared. It’s not like I want to do it.”
“Okay,” I muttered.
To make a long story short, he climbed up, scooted to the chimney, pulled the cap, and got down with no difficulties. We walked back into the house and were heading to the living room, when whoosh, and bam, he was flat on his back, having had his work-booted feet go out from under him. His back took the brunt, and then his head.
So far, all seems well, except for a stiff neck. He’s using a heating pad to hopefully head off further stiffness. He wore work boots because they were lighter and thus easier to swing up onto the roof and back onto the ladder. If you’ve ever done this feat, you know it requires a certain throwing caution to the wind and just doing it. Alas the work boots aren’t made for walking on linoleum when snow packed.
Ain’t winter just grand?
Yeah, we got four inches of the white stuff. Over night. I got up early this morning and cleaned the back steps off, and went around and cleared off the bird feeder. The chickadees and Juncos were puzzled where their food was. I didn’t see they had brought any tiny shovels, so I figured to assist them with a broom.
We anticipated that this might be the case, since the weather guessers weren’t even willing to do much in the realm of guessing as to what we might get. Anywhere from two to six. Nice range. Meaning anywhere from no problem to no moving for us.
So yesterday I zoomed off to the grocery store and got the vittles for the balance of the year. Mostly I got the ham and some fingery foods for New Year’s Day. The Contrarian is scheduled for a physical therapy session on Monday, but we’ll cancel if we can’t get out, obviously. We will probably get some sense of that tomorrow.
I’m okay if we are socked in for a couple of weeks actually. I have plenty to do. I’ve got at least five books backed up for review, so I’m doing a lot of reading these days. I should get back to knitting but so far haven’t had the urge.
I have biscotti and truffles and chocolate coated peanuts, almonds, pecans, and walnuts to make. I’m cooking a lot. I made 41 meatballs this morning, finishing them up after the roofing adventure. I’ve got sauce simmering on the stove. I’m looking forward to that!
All in all it’s been a good day, except for the Contrarian’s upending. Cozy, we are.
Lots of good movies in the can. We have another disaster movie to see. This one is called “Ice Quake”. We saw one last week about a comet which breaks off a chunk and hits in Alaska and throws off the pole orientation and threatens our cosmic ray shield. But a big old hydrogen bomb in the Mariana Trench saves the day. Destruction galore! It was better than we expected.
Nothing is better than a good old disaster movie, except for really bad sci-fi movies from the 50’s or so.
Well, enough of my babbling. It’s on to bigger and better things!
What’s on your mind today?
I have nothing on my mind. Got a way too short a haircut n all my thoughts got away; it was like cleaning my roof only I slipped and fell. Next winter I will just let the creosote build up. So is the Big C on injured reserve like Farve?
Well Jimmy, you could really do it up and shave a circle on your dome and be monkish. That would garner some comments at the pub no doubt.
The Contrarian is doing very well. He has a heating pad on, but he’s moving around fine and thinks he got off easy. He had a lot of layers on, and that cushioned him I guess. Worst so far is a stiff neck a bit.
Cool. Sometimes it is better to HAVE a stiff neck…. than to be a pain in the neck. The really talented can do both……. is he talented?
He’s doing fine today. It’s now cold as heck though. sigh…gonna be a bad winter I believe.
I whine about wanting to go home to the Midwest. Then winter comes around and, well, there goes my desire.
Lisa, I so know what you mean. I spent two years in CT, and they were the warmest winters I ever experienced. Anomolies I guess, but they were nice.
You are hardy souls! I love reading about your adventures. And then, at the end of your posts, I get verrrrry hungry.
lol…too bad I can’t send food through the email. Yes, adventures are what they are. I would rather have less of them I think…still, Stay warm.
(1) No story on Bob Feller, the Greatest Pitcher in History? A South Iowa Farm Boy, who Worked on Dad;’s farm Daily, before Mechanization. He would have set a Lot more Records, except he Joined the Navy the day after Pearl Harbor, served 4 years
And he never was ‘politically correct’; he Spoke his mind on Anything, like Iowans seem to. Search Bob Feller!. He’s an awesome read.. He was the first Fast-Ball pitcher. Before Radar, they had a cop on a motorcycle Speed by at top speed; Bob Pitched a fast ball when the speeding Cycle was even. Calculattions were Bob Pitched @ 104 MPH!
(2) Burning anything Indoors or Outdoors is prohibited in Big Cities, and East Coast, because of Acid Rain and Earth Warming. Ever notice that Outdoor Grills are mostly smokeless now?
Chimneys are permanently capped here. Our 3 year old home has a Fireplace, with Phony logs and Gas Flame. There is a Recall out on millions of electric WaLmart portable electric heaters: Danger of Real Fire!
(3) Have you thought of giving Contrarian a Herdhat for climbing the Roof next year? Or a LONG Rope Ladder to throw Across the Roof (Maybe a Marketable Idea!)
Tony, thanks for all the info on Fuller. Guess you served to teach us all! I’m not much of a baseball fan. I think I watched one game this year. In the world series. lol
Well out here in the middle of nowhere, anything goes pretty much. We burn our paper trash outdoors on a pile we have had for some years. I don’t like gas “fireplaces”. So fake! lol
He did the roof stuff just fine, it was the kitchen floor that did him in! He was well padded so he’s pretty much okay.
You’re watching those sci-fi channel original movies! The ones that use the same actors for every one. At least you admit to it – I am a secret fan and look forward to the occassional Saturday night when they show TWO in a row.
Stay warm!
Oh we sure do watch them. I love the disaster movies and the really old sci-fi ones. We just laugh and laugh. They are all formula movies, and they almost never vary. We saw Ice Quake and another before that where a piece of comment hit and knocked the axis off its true north. All such fun. WE laugh at the horrid acting and go for the special effects. Great way to unwind!
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