Busy as All Get Out

Sorry, folks. It’s been crazy around here. The good news is that projects are getting completed like crazy, both at work and in life. The bad news is that it affects my blogging a tad. 🙂 Still, without further ado, I’d like to announce:

We used our new wood stove for the first time last night, and it was a resounding success!

The blower works great, the fire burns slow and long, the heat is great–we put in two sticks today at 6:30, and they actually kept going until this evening at 5:30, when I threw another two sticks on, and they burst right to life. Difference of night and day. I think we’ll go through a lot less wood this year, based on that–and we’ll certainly be a lot cozier. Love the look of the fire behind the glass. Words fail to describe how happy this makes me. Between the old stove, the chimney, the electrical outlet (we have like 3 inches of floor levels, BTW), the debating about the new stove–to have it all come together like this is just fantastic.

Of course, since this is my house, nothing good comes without the discovery of something bad. In this case, it was the discovery last night of a half dollar-sized gaping hole in my main drainage pipe for the house. I’ve been assured that’s a relatively easy fix, however, so I’m not letting it get me down.

Take the victories where you can get them.