Coffee 1-22-11

Come in! Come in! It's soooo cold out. Brrrrr The coffee is hot & I thought a good hot breakfast would get us started. They frying pan is coming up to temperature & before long bacon, eggs, sausage & home fries will be ready. Join us!

Who else got this storm? We got 14 inches of fresh snow yesterday. It was wind driven & at times was coming at 3" an hour. I had to drive 25 miles in it to a wedding rehearsal. The roads were well plowed, but I still saw three cars in the ditch. All three looked like self inflicted accidents. At least they stayed on their side of the road. Now....the deep freeze. They are predicting 20ish below for the next few nights and daytime temps in the single digits. It's close to zero right now. All of the humans are struggling, but the AA130 couldn't be happier! It finally it gets to stretch it's legs a bit. I looked in my bin for the first time this winter. ( I can't look until it gets down some). I think I've used a little less than the last two years. Certainly I'll have enough coal to make it through the winter.

I hope you all stay warm & toasty during this cold snap. Don't let the pets stay out long. "Keeoh" the dog in my avatar, is getting some age on her. She's around 7 now. It used to be she loved to stay out no matter the weather, but now she get's cold after 20 minutes, half an hour. Our new dog, Corky has a thicker coat & he'll lay in a snowbank all day if you let him. When they ask to go out I lay a beach towel on the front porch. Corky heads for a snow bank, Keeoh lies on the towel. After a few minutes I'll open the door & fold the towel over her back. She'll stay out an hour like that, but even with the towel as a blanket she wants to come in after a while.

Hug your loved ones!

I'm glad your open,Fred. It's a balmy 2 degrees here and I'm feeling a heat wave compared to you guys! Nothing beats a well seasoned cast iron frying pan,for sure. I've donated about 5 lbs of just sliced bacon from Trumbull Locker Meat. They've got the best smoked meats I've ever had. Toss in the Idaho spuds for homefries and we're off! Don't forget Frank's RedHot,I put that BLEEP on everything,but definitely the homefries! Thanx for thinkin' of the animals,as they're takin' a beating in this one. Check on your Friends and Loved One's during weather like this......Alright,enough Preachin',I'm gonna sit down and peel these spuds !

Morning all,

Boy Freddy, that breakfast sure sounds good! The bacon is tempting but I'm at my limit for the month given my blood pressure and cholesterol. My daughter only lets me have bacon on national holidays. I suppose that's as good of a compromise as anything.

Well, we too are in the grips of Ol' Man winter but due to our location it doesn't sound as dramatic as you folks although it's the same degree of cold relatively. It's the coldest its been in a couple of years. I woke up to the sound of howling wind and a 7* wind chill. I'll check out my past stove logs a little later but I don't remember it being this cold since we got the stove; certainly since I found the forum and actually learned how to burn coal for residential heating.

The Harman just keeps pushing out the heat and the house is a toasty 75*. That's right where I want it but the stove has a couple hundred of degrees left before it would reach an overfire situation just in case I need them. Here's hoping I don't need them - a lot of people are already hurting from the lack of or cost of heating their homes.

Not much planned for the day but I did just read that yet another storm is approaching the east coast. I'll be heading to the store to restock on supplies. No, I don't really need to go because of my basic food storage program but I hate to touch that if I know of an situation ahead of time. Food storage is for those situations that come up and bite you on the butt unexpectedly. Other then going to the store I'll stay in and enjoy the blue ladies' dance numbers. Take care, everyone, Lisa

Good Morning All,

Coldest night of the winter here in Central Maryland. Overnight low was 5 degrees. Boiler circulators ran continuously all night and are still running. I don't have enough radiation to meet the heat loss in weather like this. Room temperature stayed about 70-71 degrees rather than the set 74. Snow here was less than an inch. Not much snow all winter. New coal storage shed is working out well. Moving the coal pile from its original location did cause a lot of fines. Not a problem for the AHS hopper system. Just more dust than there needs to be. Keep those coal fires burning and stay warm.

Good morning! -4 right now, but at least there is no wind. Had to break down and get another fuel oil delivery yesterday, the tank was nearly empty and the EFM isn't running yet. Getting closer...it is completely piped and pressurized, just need to finish the wiring and smoke pipe. I am hoping for fire by lunchtime tomorrow!!

One more cup of coffee then back to the BX cable.

-Rob

-4,no wind & sunny here on the hill.No snow to speak of yesterday--just alot of lake effect,white out squalls.The dogs just came back in without me yelling for them (WOW,that's different) they usually have to check out what kinda critters been through the property at night. The horses are all huddled around the water trough & it's steaming--that's good news,means the trough heater is working just fine. I know all the Cartharts are coming out to play Freddy, outstanding breakfast for a cold,cold morning.Thanx Hey,HB--Franks Red Hot huh?? the advantages of a young digestive system--how's that go?? I love it,but, it don't think much of me Have a good week-end all. Lisa,when I gotta stop eating the stuff I really like it don't seem like much fun--maybe if we all lived like we want (within limits of course) we would die at a reasonable age instead of being plugged in,drugged out & hobbled or wheel chaired up--we would help with the outlandish cost of healthcare & the population problem--I know I'm going to do my part---I'm not giving up my bacon until they pry it from my cold stiff fork --Rob,keep at it my friend!

Forcasted for -14 for overnight here. Not a problem keeping the house warm with the Mark III. I've got 2 coils in the stove, one for hot water and one for the radiant heat. The colder it gets the more my wife appreciates me and my idea of heating with coal. Freddy, I hear you about Keeoh. My bloodhound Zoey, may she rest in peace, was the same. She would stay outside regardless of the cold if we let her, but when I started burning coal and she got use to the nice heat then she wasn't too excited about going outside in the cold. Toward the end she would go out just long enough to do her business then right back in. Come to think of it she reminds me of myself when its cold. Your breakfast sure sounds great but I'll have to suffer with a doughnut and coffee here at the power plant. Someone has to work to keep those stokers supplied with electricity.
Tom

Good morning,
It was 10f last night. Brrrrr... We got about 4 inches of fresh powder from that last storm. It was decievingly slippery. I pushed it all off the driveway yesterday with my front-end loader. I finished up, and parked my loader in front of my barn to refuel. Its a bit of a slope right there, and when I jumped down, my feet went sideways and I landed on my back. Ouch Got right back up and proceeded with other chores for a couple hours. But then my ribs on the front of my chest started getting sore. Now it hurts to breath while sitting. It even hurts when my heart beats. Sore as all get-out , but I can tell nothing is broke. I'm more embarrased then anything.
Fred, our dog is like your dogs.... the more snow there is outside, the longer he wants to stay outside and bark at the foraging critters. Mostly deer, but we have Red & Grey fox in the area too, and they spend most the night trying to get into the chicken coop. He is 11 or 12 now, but still likes to stay out all night. He can always jump into his straw-filled dog house if he gets the chills. I just check up on him thru the night, as I make my rounds.

The bacon & eggs sounds good for this morning, the wife just left for work, and the kids just woke up. Time to start cooking

Good Morning Listers,
Bacon & eggs sounds great but once again, I need to settle for the Cream of Wheat with Grape Nuts sprinkled on top. This winter just won't ease up. 3F here today but so far no wind. Feels refreshing in the sunlight.
On my way to UAE. Getting a late start, should pull in just after 11a. Look for the green Cherokee with the 4x8 utility if you are there. Take care everyone.

‘morning everyone. We started off with 3º this morning or as I like to say effin cold. On a day like this the only thing planned is a trip to the store for the weeks groceries and I guess I’ll participate in that because I don’t plan to do anything outside unless it has to be done and lets hope nothing has to be done.

I have Yanche’s problem from time to time. I can keep the house at set temperature even on some pretty cold days like today but if we mix in some wind the house, being un-insulated loses it faster than I can replace it. I really have to address this one of these days but I keep putting it off, maybe because it is not a problem 9 months out of the year. As a short term fix I am considering adding a door to the doorway to the kitchen. The kitchen is about a 70 year old addition to the 110 year old house. The house is 2 stories and the kitchen is one story stuck onto the west side of the main house. The kitchen lets a lot of cold air in and if I can isolate that a bit the main house will more easily maintain the set temperature and the kitchen may cool down into the upper 50s overnight. I have an old door that may fit so I may give it a try.

The eskies love the snow and don’t seem to mind the cold but our two old girls, a German shepherd and a golden retriever are inconvenienced to even go out to relieve themselves.

Freddy, I’ll be stopping by Dysart’s Thursday so you can bring me some leftovers if you have any. I hope the worst of the cold is gone by then but I know from the past that the mercury plummets as you go north from Portland.

I hope everyone has a great weekend and a good week ahead, stay warm.

It was -7° here at 7 AM today, I've got icicles growing off of the gutters. The house is warm, although it's drafty by the floors. The Harman is at 3/4 turn open an the air vent, the EFM is running as needed, although not as much as I would have expected. It seems I have lots of reserve if it ever gets really cold.

Glen I have the same problem with the kitchen addition here. That will be solved when I add a radiator connected to the EFM.

Chris I hope you feel better. Every year I fall at least once in the driveway on ice, hasn't happened this year...yet.

EFM isn't running yet. Getting closer...it is completely piped and pressurized, just need to finish the wiring and smoke pipe.

Where's the pictures???

My dog pooped on the porch this morning.
Guess it all looks the same to him now.
Have to move more snow today. We're all goin' in to the deep freeze soon.
They say we have another big storm coming in wednesday and thursday.

Ray

heartofcoal wrote:My dog pooped on the porch this morning.
Guess it all looks the same to him now.

lol! My dog does that too. Instead of running into the woods 30' away from the front as usual, she runs out and squats on the snow covered deck. "Whoa Whoa what are you doing!!? Ah come on" then I laugh

Hit a low of just below 6° this morning ... but by the time I got my ass out of bed it was already 14°. I've noticed that there's a big discrepancy between my roof-mounted weather station & the bathroom thermometer with the outside probe. As the temps drop, the difference widens. Mercury read just a tick above zero, while on the roof it was 6°. Guess it's all the heat coming out of my roof!

Got another 6" on top of the 2 feet already on the ground from the previous storm. I'm starting to lose track of how many we've had! Haven't seen the lawn since Christmas Eve ... and it seems like one storm after another since! I'm hearing another whopper is on it's way. Glad I have room to put all this snow! The city people are screwed right now as it is, so this next one is really going to set them up nice ...

This is the time of year when I get lazy & unmotivated. Got so much I need to get done out in the barn ..... but I look at the thermometer, and feel the cold air on my feet pouring out of the walls & windows all around the house .... & I end up either going back to bed or sitting on the computer all day. Miserable time of year. Hate it!

Buddy, my 20 lb cat, usually tries to run ahead of me & sneak outside ( I don't let the cats outside unless I'm with them, but I let them hang out on the porch, which has plenty of windows ). It's funny to watch him take that first step outside. One paw halfway down ... then back inside he goes! Can't blame him - I feel the same way! Certainly glad I'm not out working in this crap anymore.

Stove was ripping last night! House never dropped below 68.5°, so that tells you how hot it was! I used to try & dial it back to save coal & keep a 24 hour burn ... but this year I said screw it. Crank that son of a bitch 2 and a half turns out & let her fly!

My icicle is bigger than ever ....

Low of -8' here this AM. The Keystoker is handling it much better this year with the new windows and insulation. Weatherman says it's going to be colder tonight, calling for -10'. We got about 6" of the white stuff yesterday after about 5" two days prior. The boy is having a ball.

I have been looking at the plans for the ash collection system that Coalen posted and think I will go ahead with that in the spring. I think the one thing I may change is mounting the box on a trailer. That way I can just unhook it and go when the time comes to empty.

Just bumming around the house today spending time with the family. FOOTBALL tomorrow!!