Sorry for the lapse in posting. There are times when there doesn´t seem to be anything interesting to write.
We just got back from the house. We have the electrical service connected - woot! Got to see some family and hang wth V´s brother and did some little jobs around the house.
After the warmest October on record, it rained the entire week, so any plans for working on the garden were abandoned. The cardboard intended to suppress the nettles was a complete failure. I´ll have to find a source of mulch to go over it if there´s any lasagna bed building to be done.
Instead, V finished painting the remaining walls. I sealed a few more windows, and swept and mopped the floors again. I´m afraid we´re going to have to come up with a better cleanser than vinagre and water and then use some kind of finish. They turn a lovely honey color when mopped, but a quick swipe with a damp cloth shows a coating of dust that doesn´t come up easily.
We had two m2 of ¨dry¨ oak firewood delivered and stacked it the first night, then lived with the wood stove and cooker for a week. It will be a while before we´re capable of starting a smokeless, fast fire. But, the radiators warmed and the hot water flowed. And I managed to cook a couple of guisos/stews. The firebox of the cooker is so big, it´s a challenge getting, and then keeping, up a temperature over 120 C (250F). There will be a steep learning curve if I ever have to bake something. There also seemed to be a ton of ashes. Don´t know what we´re going to do with them all.
Now, all the clothing we brought back smells like chorizo.
Where is the dust coming from? Do you have one of those long headed mops the one with a sheepskin type head they are very good at getting up the dust. The wood ash will be great for your trees, just scatter around the base of your fruit trees, you will also be able to add it to your compost heap when you have one. Slow grown hardwood timber always creates a lot of ash, we burn mainly spruce which is a soft wood and hardly any ash.
ReplyDeleteIt´s from the re-pointing of the stone walls. I did brush them off as high as I could reach with a broom - better to bring it down all at once.
ReplyDeleteGood to know about the ash for the fruit trees - ours need all the help they can get!
Maybe the nettles want to be your friend :-). http://andhereweare.net/2014/03/stinging-nettles.html/
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