Another Fireplace Snafu

I think we finally have it right.  It took some doing.  Last night we lit a fire.  We (thought) we had the flue open, the flue fan (installed last year, see here) was on.  But wouldn't you know it - smokiness.  We figured maybe we needed some sort of "turbo-booster" in the flue to propel more air out.  I dashed off an email to the fireplace guy (who ended up responding almost right away, good guy, that one), but then the smokiness got really bad, ending with a scary comedy of errors where Paul had to get the fireplace log out into the snow in a metal tub (don't ask).  Then Paul was testing the flue, trying to figure out what on earth was wrong.  Well since it has been gajillion degrees below freezing here, the flue had frozen shut (our first clue should have been that the flue fan did not sound very loud, even on high, which we now know means - it isn't open!).  Once Paul had tugged the flue chain several times, it finally opened up -we knew because the fan sounded loud, about the same time we got an email back from Fireplace Guy suggesting that very thing.

Today I was very brave, and asked Paul to light another fire before he left with the kids to go see his mom.  I was contemplating doing some quiet journaling after a very busy morning away from the house.  I really wanted to sit by the fire on this freezing cold day, with a cup of tea, and a chance to work in a new journal I got (more on that later).  All was well!!  No smokiness, a beautiful fire, and I enjoyed my respite.

And I captured a nice picture of Tyler 

in front of the fire right after it was lit.

End of Season Tasks

Last week and this, Paul and I have been tidying up the garden in preparation for winter.  Paul took down our birdhouse for winter storage, we gathered up the tomato cages, and covered some of our perennials.  Paul will run the mulching lawnmower over the grass to collect up the leaves on Monday, when the weather is predicted to be "warm".  We also arranged for Sears to come do routine maintenance on our snowblower. 

Paul and I also went through our canned goods, purging any expired ones, cleaning and sorting.  This was not planned; the upper shelf of our Lazy Susan base cabinet shifted down, needing an adjustment, which Paul took care of.  But I have been meaning to go through it, so all was good.  The trick is to use up all of the duplicates I found and didn't realize I had - how much coconut milk can one person accumulate?!  I see Thai food in our future, maybe some Indian or Caribbean as well.  We are well stocked in vegetable soup for the winter.  It feels good to have that done. 

Sadly, there is a frost predicted for tonight.  So I went out and collected the last of the herbs before they are frozen.  Surprisingly, in spite of some pretty cold and awful weather in the past month, three herbs survived: rosemary, oregano, and parsley.  In keeping with my international cooking, I will also need to make some recipes that use parsley and oregano (Italian, anyone?!).  The rosemary I plan on using to make a rosemary hair rinse (link to holistichabits video/prep instructions here).  Rosemary is great for the hair, and has aromatherapy benefits as well, which apparently one will smell while prepping the hair rinse.

Left to right: rosemary, parsley, oregano

Little Boy's Baseboards

Tyler's bedroom has been missing baseboards for more years than I care to admit.  Other projects budging into the line have prevented this project.  Time and money have also been in play.  Over the years we have put up the window woodwork, and his closet woodwork and doors.  But the baseboards have been patiently waiting to be installed ever since we found them on a great sale ("Such A Deal!") and refinished them.  I am chagrined to admit that it has been almost seven years.  How is that possible?!!  Here are some of the work-in-progress photos, from those two "warm" days this month, only two more small pieces until all is complete:

Long piece, ready to be cut to size

Paul loves this saw - a Delta Compound Mitre 

- he has gotten so much use out of this saw

Southeast corner, note the window woodwork above it

Shaping the profile to fit - intense work with a Dremel saw

Northeast corner with shaped profile to meet properly in the corner

Anniversary Clock Repair

This fall found Paul taking on a new skill to add to his arsenal: Clock Repairman!  

Three clocks demanded his attention all at once, sort of.  Paul had received an Anniversary Clock from work one year.  Note: the name "Anniversary Clock" comes from the fact that supposedly one only has to pay attention to it once every 400 days, although 365 days would suffice, hence, the anniversary portion of the name.  Official definition: "Unlike a regular pendulum clock, the Anniversary Clock keeps time with a mechanism called a torsion pendulum. This is a weighted disk or wheel, often a decorative wheel with 3 or 4 chrome balls on ornate spokes, suspended by a thin wire or ribbon called a torsion spring (also known as "suspension spring"). The torsion pendulum rotates about the vertical axis of the wire, twisting it, instead of swinging like an ordinary pendulum."  Unfortunately the suspension wire had weakened and over-twisted, rendering the timekeeping useless.  I thought it was just broken, so searched and found one on eBay for cheap.  Guess what - same problem (it would have been nice of the seller to mention that, but like I said - it was cheap.  

So we started looking into this.  Paul took one of the clocks apart carefully, and saw what we needed.  Unlike others of this ilk, these particular ones used a plastic end suspension wire, almost impossible to find.  however, we did find one shop online that carried it, Timesavers. The part is a Hermle 400-Day Suspension Unit.  We ordered, and Paul was able to fix them.

At the same time, the clock Paul made for his mom many years ago also needed repair.  The parts for that (the box where the hand-moving mechanism is) were easier to find, although it took forever to arrive. We got these parts at Clockparts.

Side by side suspension wires.

The on on the right is the broken, twisted one.  

Note the plastic ends.  

The suspension from the inside

Close-up of the bottom plastic end inside the suspension

Part finally arrived, Mom's clock fixed!