Extra Early Coffee for the Ides of January

 
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Freddy
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Post by Freddy » Sat. Jan. 15, 2011 1:38 am

I'm having an unusual sleepless night so I thought I'd fire up the coffee pot in case I get to sleep and then sleep through breakfast. French toast is on the menu. Of course real Maine maple syrup to go on it. Yummmm For those that don't like that, there's some week old biscuits behind the toaster and some ancient jelly behind the grapes in the 'fridge. Help yourselves!

Winter is here. We got 12 or 14" of snow this week and now the temps are dropping. It's 3*F right now & headed lower. I'm some happy I'm not burning oil at $3.29 a gallon. What's with that? For years #2 oil was cheaper than gasoline. It's less refined & there's no tax on it. Now it's more? How can that be?

Another two weeks & we are halfway through the winter. Do you have just over half your coal left? I hope so!

Enjoy the weekend. Hug your loved ones.


 
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VigIIPeaBurner
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Post by VigIIPeaBurner » Sat. Jan. 15, 2011 1:48 am

My Saturday plans match your's Freddy. I doing the swing shift stagger ... coming off of midnights. No coffee right now but looking forward to some with that good breakfast meal when my morning arrives. Hope there's some still around unless you don't mind me hiding a little bite ;)

Yup, got about half of my coal left so I'm set for that. Will need a little #2 soon though. It gets a little use in the cold we've been seeing consistently this winter. I'm thinking of making a few 5 gal runs for off road diesel to see us over to the spring. Think the price of #2 will drop then?

 
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freetown fred
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Post by freetown fred » Sat. Jan. 15, 2011 3:06 am

Mornin Freddy, Yep, a tad chilly here also--4* as I sit here wondering what the hell got me up?? The old 50-93's purring along,house is at 71*. The horses are out in the pasture pawing at the snow looking for any die hard grass that might be there. Silly horses ;) I got coyotes a howling back up on the hill. I emailed Blaschak coal last week & congratulated them on thier new mine purchase & my friend emailed back a thank-you.Pretty nice bunch of people I think :) This coffee is outstanding as usual,think I'll hold off on the French toast & real syrup for a while. We've got all our sap lines up & ready.The new sugar house is complete & evaporator is ready to go--new fire bricks & woods all put up.We put a blower on the evap. this year,so we'll see how that works.Congrats to Hambden Bob on his moderator job there in Ohio--I guess the only thing left right now is to go in & read & try to get back to sleep. Have a good week-end all.

 
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Freddy
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Post by Freddy » Sat. Jan. 15, 2011 6:33 am

Heyyy, I made it back to cook. French toast is up! Come in, join us & have a good start to your day.

 
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Hambden Bob
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Post by Hambden Bob » Sat. Jan. 15, 2011 6:43 am

Thanx Freddy,VigII and Freetown Fred...I'm enjoying the company this a.m. It's actually a balmy 18 degrees here. I'm going to do the homade v-8 tomato juice thing and then I'll hit the coffee. It is nice to think about coming up on Winter's half way point. Stay Sane,there's alot going on. If you here about a riot in Connecticut,it'll only be that Ugly Squirrel and Co. Coal get-together Extravaganza that starts today at noon ! :lol:

 
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WNY
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Post by WNY » Sat. Jan. 15, 2011 7:16 am

Morning all....coffee been done for an hour, wife is getting ready for work (ugh...as she says :( )
We have about 15 degrees and about 1-2" of new snow on top of the5-6" we got the other day. Not too bad.
Probably expecting 2-4" more inches today.

Need to hit the BUffalo airport on Sunday to pick up mom who is coming back from my sisters in CT, where they got 23" of snow the other day. !!

Down about 2.5 ton, the bin is about 1/3 full now. Probably 1.5-2 ton left....I usually have to get some about March, depending. It varies from 4-6.5 ton depending on the winter. Hopefully a boiler (VF3000) will be done for next season. I have everything, just no time to install. I also have to change my water lines in the basement, add the taps and valving for the boiler, etc..at least the water line is right there in the rafters where the boiler will sit..also, it's all the old galvanized pipe. I also want to put a regulator/back flow preventer on the MAIN line coming in, our pressure is like 100 PSI. Also, putting one on the boiler line too (Required).

 
rouxzy
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Post by rouxzy » Sat. Jan. 15, 2011 7:47 am

Thermostat was showing minus 6 outside this morning at 4:15 but the thermostat inside was showing 71. The Mark III was chugging away but the oil did kick in for a bit during the overnight. No worries, I got plenty of coal and 3/4 barrel of oil. Now I'm here at work for a 12 hour shift knowing that the wife will wake up to a nice toasty house. French toast sounds great but I'll throw some butter on mine before hitting it with the maple syrup.
Tom


 
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freetown fred
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Post by freetown fred » Sat. Jan. 15, 2011 7:51 am

Now it's time for that french toast,me to on the REAL butter,& syrup--thanx again Freddy. Later all :)

 
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009to090
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Post by 009to090 » Sat. Jan. 15, 2011 8:07 am

Morning All. Chilly & WHITE outside. Winter is truely here. 15f outside temp.. Inside thermo says its 75f in the middle of the house, but it must be 80f in the greatroom. N-I-C-E :D

Dave, if you want a pail or two of #2, just stop by. We only use about 5 gal per year. I'll siphon some off for you. I've been burning it in the tractor, rather than buying #1 at over $3.20 a gal. Just gotta mix my own additives in.

F.Fred, the horses figure the frozen green grass is tastier than the dried up baled hey you are feeding them... grass popcycles... yummmy! Horses are foragers/grazers, like chickens. Our chickens are trying to scratch down thru the snow, and practically bury themselves! All you see are snow-puffs from the bottom of a hole, as they scratch. Funny. toothy

Time to make the pancakes for the kids... :up:

Freddy, I remember as kids, we used to put syrup AND powdered sugar on our french toast :shock:
Last edited by 009to090 on Sat. Jan. 15, 2011 9:38 am, edited 1 time in total.

 
cabinover
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Post by cabinover » Sat. Jan. 15, 2011 8:12 am

Just finished with a bowl of oatmeal and peaches. Tea for me please, love coffee but it doesn't agree with me. Sitting here nice and warm, trying to make believe I'm still in Jamaica with a little Bob Marley this morning.

When the rest of you guys that have warm weather get done will ya send it this way? -2°F this morning while washing dishes.
Headed to pick up an injector for StokerScot's ride and gather some food for Chicken Curry and Na'an tomorrow. Gotta whip up some kind of soup as well today.

Just moved the last standing pallet of coal into the garage Thursday evening. Looks like I'll need another one before it's over. Standing at around 2 and 3/4 tons today for mid-October to present with all the hot water I could use and the garage warm. Not bad really.

 
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Rob R.
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Post by Rob R. » Sat. Jan. 15, 2011 8:12 am

The coffee tastes great this morning. Goes good with the pipe dope I have all over my hands. :oops:

Big progress on the EFM this week, stoker is all assembled and I am working on the piping.

-Rob

 
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tsb
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Post by tsb » Sat. Jan. 15, 2011 8:29 am

Got coal yesterday. Good trip, but the coal froze in the gravity wagon.
Had to do some whack'n to get it to flow.
This morning I fell like I been shot at and hit. Good coal though.

 
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lowfog01
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Post by lowfog01 » Sat. Jan. 15, 2011 8:40 am

Good morning all,

Three days off the bus - Whahoo! 1 February around here means that the school year is half way over. I suppose that our bouncing between 18 and 25* degrees sounds warm when you are at -4 but it feels plenty cold to me. Thanks for breakfast but I'll pass this morning. DK and I are making our weekly visit to the landfill and then on to a Chick-Fillet breakfast. It's without the kids so it's more romantic then it sounds. :)

Not much on the schedule which is a good thing but I'm sure something will come up. It always does. Take care, one and all. Stay warm, Lisa

 
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jpete
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Post by jpete » Sat. Jan. 15, 2011 9:15 am

I didn't know January had Ides. But I guess it does. My company stabbed me in the back by announcing they were sending my job to Mexico. This may be my last Saturday breakfast from work.
No big deal. I had just passed over a job offer last week so I sent a resume out last night. If that doesn't pan out, I have a few things on the back burner.

Coffee is flowing well. Coal is holding up although I may be looking at a trip to pick up a half a ton to get me into the spring.

 
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Cap
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Post by Cap » Sat. Jan. 15, 2011 9:30 am

Hello fine listers,
11F here this morning. Overcast with some off/on snow, maybe? The french toast sounds great, probably my favorite all time breakfast! But I am having Cream of Wheat with a little wheat germ & Grape Nuts. It tends to keep my bg's from skyrocketing 1 hr from now.

I have a new tubing project to take on today. My son & I did the math and based on what my water heat exchanger I installed in the Harman few years back, I should be heat my old PP&L emergency hydro back up heater tank. This unit really works well but with electric at nearly .10cents a KWH, to expensive. If I can completely or even supplement the heating of the water, I can operate it for more even heat in the house without spinning the electric meter. We'll see. I really need to buy a true boiler! Have a good w/e everybody.


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