Friday, September 24, 2010
Thursday, September 23, 2010
First Fire - not quite yet.
For many, many years now we have heralded the first day of Autumn by kindling the first fire of the season in our wood stove. We have done this for about the past 12 years now and believe me there were years when it was tough to hold out until that first day of Autumn came round on the calendar. Early September mornings can have quite a nip in the air to them, as memory serves. But that has not been the case for years...more often the weather is still very warm and only the smallest ceremonial type fire is lit to make sure all is well.
Despite the calendar, this year our annual "Blessing of the Hearth" will have to wait. Not only is it really warm...too warm to think of lighting even a small fire....80 something degree hot... there is this other small matter....
See the problem? This past summer the big project was sprucing up the woodstove area......
Before
After
Isn't that looking so much better? There is still the trim to do and of course we need an adapter to make up for the gap between the pipe and the chimney. If we can swing it we might even be purchasing a new wood stove to take advantage of the tax credit that runs out after this year. We love our little Jotul wood stove but it is a bit too small for our home. A little tip - when shopping for a wood stove make sure you ask whether the heating space per square foot is based on *open* space or *partitioned* space. Our stove would be just the right size if we had no interior walls!
I just hope that everything will be place before it does get really cold!
For many, many years now we have heralded the first day of Autumn by kindling the first fire of the season in our wood stove. We have done this for about the past 12 years now and believe me there were years when it was tough to hold out until that first day of Autumn came round on the calendar. Early September mornings can have quite a nip in the air to them, as memory serves. But that has not been the case for years...more often the weather is still very warm and only the smallest ceremonial type fire is lit to make sure all is well.
Despite the calendar, this year our annual "Blessing of the Hearth" will have to wait. Not only is it really warm...too warm to think of lighting even a small fire....80 something degree hot... there is this other small matter....
See the problem? This past summer the big project was sprucing up the woodstove area......
Isn't that looking so much better? There is still the trim to do and of course we need an adapter to make up for the gap between the pipe and the chimney. If we can swing it we might even be purchasing a new wood stove to take advantage of the tax credit that runs out after this year. We love our little Jotul wood stove but it is a bit too small for our home. A little tip - when shopping for a wood stove make sure you ask whether the heating space per square foot is based on *open* space or *partitioned* space. Our stove would be just the right size if we had no interior walls!
I just hope that everything will be place before it does get really cold!
Sunday, September 19, 2010
September is here again.
For the past 5 years or so we have gone camping the last two weeks of August. It is always a wonderful trip but I am invariably shocked by that first glance of the calendar when we get back and I see it will be September...ummm......in two days??? My fuzzy beach brain starts to turn its wheels amid the leftover grit of sand that pours from every person and article of clothing that comes into the house. September...September....Oh....September!! SCHOOL days...right...we've got to start something that at least resembles something school-like, right? Well...it's not Labor Day yet. So we wait until after Labor Day weekend which gives me time to begin the mountains of laundry and the unpacking and deal with all the other ramifications of an extended camping trip.
Ok we'll start Tuesday, Sept 7th...but that is Katie's Birthday!! Start school on Katie's Birthday? No I couldn't do it; especially since there won't be any real presents to open as every penny Ed and I can scrape together is going to pay for Katie's trip to England with the Youth Orchestra this summer. Her birthday request - a ride to daily Mass - that I can do.
Wednesday? Well sure but we have a scheduled violin lesson in the morning and Choir starts in the afternoon.....Thursday? YES....we start Thursday! Well...sort of... I mean we are trying to clean up the house so Katie can have a friend over for a sleepover this weekend...I have an appointment Friday....I at least clean and arrange the Festival Table which displays new treasures from Cape Cod as well as some old favorites in honor of The Nativity of Blessed Virgin under one of my favorite Marion titles - Star of the Ocean.
This is our homeschool life in September....the activities that have been left off for the summer creep back into the schedule. We are still outside everyday basking in the waning days of summer. We are reading our latest read aloud, Swallowdale - a great fit for this last month of summer. The calendar is already filling up and by the next Monday the math books are out once again....
For the past 5 years or so we have gone camping the last two weeks of August. It is always a wonderful trip but I am invariably shocked by that first glance of the calendar when we get back and I see it will be September...ummm......in two days??? My fuzzy beach brain starts to turn its wheels amid the leftover grit of sand that pours from every person and article of clothing that comes into the house. September...September....Oh....September!! SCHOOL days...right...we've got to start something that at least resembles something school-like, right? Well...it's not Labor Day yet. So we wait until after Labor Day weekend which gives me time to begin the mountains of laundry and the unpacking and deal with all the other ramifications of an extended camping trip.
Ok we'll start Tuesday, Sept 7th...but that is Katie's Birthday!! Start school on Katie's Birthday? No I couldn't do it; especially since there won't be any real presents to open as every penny Ed and I can scrape together is going to pay for Katie's trip to England with the Youth Orchestra this summer. Her birthday request - a ride to daily Mass - that I can do.
Wednesday? Well sure but we have a scheduled violin lesson in the morning and Choir starts in the afternoon.....Thursday? YES....we start Thursday! Well...sort of... I mean we are trying to clean up the house so Katie can have a friend over for a sleepover this weekend...I have an appointment Friday....I at least clean and arrange the Festival Table which displays new treasures from Cape Cod as well as some old favorites in honor of The Nativity of Blessed Virgin under one of my favorite Marion titles - Star of the Ocean.
This is our homeschool life in September....the activities that have been left off for the summer creep back into the schedule. We are still outside everyday basking in the waning days of summer. We are reading our latest read aloud, Swallowdale - a great fit for this last month of summer. The calendar is already filling up and by the next Monday the math books are out once again....
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