October was a month of fall. On the 2nd I stood outside looking at a beautiful Ponderosa pine and sniffing the heavy vanilla scent of the bark.
The aspen trees in the valley behind our house reflect the light leaving their leaves electric yellow. The contrast of the brilliant aspen against the dark pines that absorb all the light is beautiful.
On the 9th the wood stove project was complete. It had started in April as a simple removal of our small fireplace to accommodate a freestanding stove. When the wall was opened black widow spiders, carpenter ants, and a hornets’ nest were found. Next fire damage from years ago and water damage in progress. What had started out as a one-day project sounded looked like it could be new roof, sub floor, and thousands of dollars.
The gods were smiling, the water damage was just to the area we were removing, the fire damage looked horrible but was structurally sound, the exterminator got rid of the ants and spiders--- and was happy to take the hornets nest.
We found someone who had just enough time to frame in the new wall when the
chimney guy found the opening was 10” short of the clearance needed for a stove. Tad met a builder looking for more work with the economy slump and we were off again.
When it was all done we had ½” extra clearance--- yah! For ½ inch! The brick facing looked like real brick, and the walls were a rich burgundy. We are looking good!
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