Coffee 1-9-2016

Come in, spend a moment & share a quick hello. The coffee is fresh & hot, water in on for tea & Home fries are being cut up. I'm thinking eggs sunny side, sausage patties, home fries & toast. That'll hold us til after noon.

The Axeman Anderson had a bit of an anomaly to start, but it has settled down & is now working just fine. It's still an odd winter. We had two or three nights around zero, but now teens at night & 30's days..... not bad! No snow in sight. Not good for snowmobiles & skiers, but for day to day living it's pretty sweet. There is 4 or 6 inches of crusty snow on the ground. Enough to snowmobile around the back yard, but way too icy to ski. Even if we got snow, we'd need way more cold to freeze the lakes before snowmobiling can take off. Who knows? Maybe this will be the year of no snow!

I'll be in the garage if you need me. Trying to rearrange the whole place now that the addition is done. John & I built a welding bench in the new part & will be moving the welding gear in there. That'll free up parking space in the original garage. It'll be nice to be able to park two cars in there again.

I hope you are all staying warm. Hug your loves ones & forward we go!

Mornin all. Outstanding coffee as usual Freddy, nice b-fast choice. Not much goin on here on the hill. 32* & the HITZER just putts along. Enjoy the week-end people.

Morning all, glad to hear that Mr AA is back to normal . It was 30° last night at bed time now its 45° and the house is 80° I need to come up with a wall thermostat that will run my stove (without the use of electronics), The only thing I'm doing today is going through my photo library to trim the fat(14,250 photos and short videos )my computers not liking that to much and working on ditching Carbonite, my backup service was fine at first but not so much now. I like the offsite backup but I'm not sure what I'm going to do about that so I will entertain any opinions . Take care,stay safe, and have a good weekend.

Morning everyone...its warm again here south of the mason dixon line...mid 40's and supposed to get to low 50's.

Not much going on around here today, I have let the hopper run real low so I can shut down and check out the pusher block area on the stoker. I started hearing a squeak as the block moves so I want to see if there is something other than coal in front or on the sides of the block causing it. I have a spare block I may swap in and see if it cures it.

After that I'll be stopping by the parents house to wish Dad a happy 90th birthday and spend the evening there.

If I find nothing better to do tomorrow I may run some 6" round pipe from the top of the stove to the duct work in the house to try this year for heat distribution. Temps have always been pretty good in the house but I am curious to see if it would even things out and result in less coal burned.

Have a great day!

Mornin everyone. Great breakfast choice and coffee, Freddy, Hangin about 34 here, black ice warnings out for this AM. My wife saw a guy wrecked last evening on one of the bridges near me, due to the ice.
They are calling for an ice storm tomorrow, not sure what to expect just yet.

Take care and be safe all

It’s a damp Saturday morning here in central PA but it is above freezing. There is a lot to do but where to start? I guess I’ll figure it out.

Work had me up Freetown Fred’s way this past week, first time in a long time. I stopped by one of the local post offices to get a picture of him so he could autograph it if I found him but no such luck.

The Keystoker stokes away keeping the shack warm. The last rice from Superior is a little finer than normal and gives funny looking ash but it burns. I don’t know where they are getting their coal right now but something is different.

Y’all have a good weekend.

Tax time is around the corner.

Good Morning Everyone.
Not much winter here in SE Michigan. But this time tomorrow [Sunday] morning, we are supposed to have 3" of snow on the ground. Right now, 43*, and a very damp overcast day. It's supposed to rain off and on this evening as the temperature drops to 29* at about 6am on Sunday. Then we get snow..
The western and northern part of the state is supposed to get 8-12", with lake-effect and the frontal passage of the latest winter storm..
We had rain yesterday and last night, some pretty strong showers around midnight last night. There are only a few wisps of ice/snow piles from the plowing of the last bit of 'snow',, actually that was 3" of sleet that accumulated one afternoon.

Definitely a very weird weather pattern and I'm NOT complaining ! I think it was warmer during the winter of '97-'98, when I first moved into this farmhouse. I remember 59*-60* in January..

This weekend is wash the dog weekend, since it's 40*+ outside , he won't freeze if he goes out to play, which he usually does want to do after a bath.. Odd how some dogs just love a bath or shower, and others think it's punishment.. LOKI likes to walk into the KOI pond, and get soaked, but to sit in the bathtub is punishment.. ??? go figgur ?

I'd actually prefer to have a 'normal' winter and normal summer. What I fear is that with the mild winter, the spring and summer with be HOT. Hot summer weather is much more uncomfortable for me than a cold winter.

OK, time to get moving and accomplish something today..

Greg L.

Good afternoon all! I took advantage of 55 degree weather to shut the boiler down this morning and give it a mid-winter cleaning this afternoon. With me working out of town, it was worth the effort. The draft fan decided to not cooperate with restarting, so after I finished cleaning the boiler I had to remove and disassemble the fan motor. It just needed a good cleaning. With that all behind me, its time to relax for a bit. My new friend is still adjusting to his new home. Another rescue. After my last dog died in July, I finally pulled the trigger the day after Thanksgiving on this guy. Having grown up with dogs, I feel kind of lost without one. He is our second rescue, a Black and Tan Coonhound. Three years old but has some separation anxiety issues going on. We are working on the issues, but it'll take plenty of time for sure.

Started my day with scrambled eggs & corn bread,made from corn grown in our garden. The Vita-Mixer turns the corn into cornmeal,my wife turns the cornmeal into cornbread. I got nothing done all day,except sit in my office monitoring the phone & driveway for customers while reading & posting on this forum. I was planning on getting more work done today,BUT...... Yesterday afternoon,i had a Lyme attack episode that is an exact copy of a heart attack,this was not my first 1 nor the worst 1,but very near to the worst,luckily it was short in duration. This "attack" left me weak,wobbly & worn out & has carried over into today,so..... rest is the cure,along with heavy doses of coal forum therapy Hoping to be in decent condition for next week as the bills do not stop nor do they wait for me to feel better. I was still able to tend both the boiler & the hand fed stove,maybe a little slower,but was able to do the job. rubicondave33, it is nice to see you taking care of an animal who has had a rough go of life, my wife just brought home another neglected cat to add to the many we already care for....... whatcha gonna do ? Someone has to take care of the neglected ones. PS.... I forgot to mention , GOOD HEALTH IS A VERY DESIRABLE THING TO HAVE & TO ENJOY. If you have good health,enjoy it.

Hi Guys,

DK and I spent the last couple of days in Williamsburg watching our grandson Frederick while his parents were delivering his baby sister. Felicity arrived Thursday morning at 8:00. She weighed 7 lbs exactly and was 20.5 inches long. Once it got started labor was fast and everyone is well.

I feel blessed that we were able to be there during this time. There is a sign on the wall that tells everyone that each patient should have a least one additional person in the room with them at all times. It doesn't say why but as you stay longer it's clear because there's a need for that person to do the little things that nurses used to do; like get ice and do other comfort things. There just isn't enough nurses to go around. After delivery, DK and I took turns with the new dad so everyone got more rest.

Other then that we didn't have much going on this weekend. I hope everyone is safe and warm. Take care, Lisa

Lisa, glad to hear Felicity, Mommy and the family are doing well. And that you and DK were able to be there for them.

Nuthin' like a late Sunday night coffee. Made good use of the weekend by not giving a damn nor hoot in Hell about anything ! I sure get more done in that mode. Took a nice ride to Sandusky Bay just to check on things. I had a nice hole in the weather,and actually had seen a little sun over the frozen Bay ! After that little brightener,my Buddy and I got the dumb,wild hair going and ignorantly decided to waste good money by stopping in at the Cleveland I-X Center for the RV Show. Oh God....... We got the shakes standing in a 75K Fifth Wheel,and we said that this stuff's out of control ! Never felt so good to drive quickly away from the I-X in all my Life. I've got it made with my 'Lil Piece of nothing single wide on the Bay,and this just confirmed it. Looking real forward to a cold and rancid weather week,here's hoping all of Yours is better.....

Welcome to the world Felicity! I'm glad Mom & Dad are OK and that the older generation was there to help you adjust to this new & strange place. I wish you well for the next 150 years!

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Rick