Britesea - Living the good life in rural Oregon

[Britesea]

I'm looking at wood because I don't want anything that needs electricity. If I have a pellet stove or one of those wood stoves that needs electricity to work right, I'm up the creek if the power goes out and it's 6 degrees outside or whatever. I am also planning on installing a newer natural gas wall unit like the one we have now (the current one is an old dinosaur- you can't even get parts for it anymore); the wood stove will be more along the line of supplementary heat (unless we decide we really prefer wood heat).

We have blackouts often enough now that I prefer to plan for it, and if we have a financial crash, it's likely that the power company (and other services as well) will not be able to afford proper maintenance, and then blackouts and brownouts will become more common.

We are in the middle of a forest of pine and juniper, and juniper is a good hot wood (if you're careful). I would probably buy a little bit of oak just to have some long burning stuff for overnight though.

 

[Denim Deb]

If you can get mulberry, hickory, walnut and/or cherry, that's also a good wood for overnight. Osage orange is one of the highest for BTUs, but, at least in this area, it's hard to come by.

 

[Mini Horses]

Didn't think about the power for pellets -- just less work than wood. My propane doesn't need electric, just a filled up tank which I haven't had done. So that & my kero heater works if no power....good back ups.

 

[wyoDreamer]

Our pellet inset will work off a battery in-case of power outage. I would like to get a solar panel for charging the battery, just in case TSHTF. I will sell it to DH as "we can take it camping".

 

[Britesea]

Ugh. Not feeling very well. I lost a crown last night and went in to the dentist early this morning expecting to just need the crown put back on. They took an Xray to make sure everything was ok and discovered that somehow the root canal had broken and I had a large abcess at the bottom; he was rather surprised when I told him it hadn't been bothering me. Anyway, the tooth had to come out. I haven't had an extraction for 40 years and I wasn't prepared for this one. I am home now, taking homeopathic arnica to reduce the inevitable swelling and bruising, amoxicillin for the infection, and hydrocodone for the pain. Can't drive, can't chew, and I'm all dopey-feeling from the morphine in the hydrocodone. I tried to knit and couldn't concentrate well, so I think I'll dig out the old flannel sheets and pinking shears and cut up some more 'family cloths'.

 

[Mini Horses]

Why don't you just curl up in those flannel sheets and take a nice nap. Your men folk can "fend for themselves". You deserve a rest.

 

[Britesea]

I'm almost back to normal now By Sunday night I was able to wean myself off the hydrocodone and segue into just Tylenol and Advil.
I was able to can up 30 of the 40 pounds of skinless boneless chicken thighs I got from Cash N Carry (.74 a pound!). I will try to get the last batch done tomorrow. I also have a batch of Kombucha to bottle, and 1 more pumpkin to bake and then can.

I took a little bit of the inheritance money and bought myself a goody. I've been lusting after this for almost a year. I don't have a dishwasher, and I don't see myself ever getting one, with as small as our kitchen is. So I decided I deserve the Cadillac of dish drainers!
http://www.amazon.com/simplehuman-S...&qid=1452655572&sr=1-16&keywords=dish+drainer

I tried to hire the husband of a friend of mine to install the woodstove we want, but he is neck-deep in renovations on their home and doesn't have time to help us. He did give me the name of someone he believes to be reliable and honest however, so I'm going to contact that person and try to set something up.

I found an interesting article yesterday. It just proves what I've always believed: Playing in the dirt is GOOD for you! http://www.garden.org/subchannels/care/soil?q=show&id=2791

 

[rhoda_bruce]

Nice dish drain. I also don't have (or want) a dishwasher. Costs too much to run and I'm not that spoiled anyways. Been catching up with you over the past few minutes and have to admit, I need to read up on pellet stove usage.

 

[Denim Deb]

I have a dishwasher, but rarely use it to wash dishes. I do use it for draining dishes.

 

[Mini Horses]

Glad you are feeling better!

Today, I thought of you !!! DD was off work about 1: as was I and I volunteered myself to help her get firewood. A friend had had a section of property de-treed in 2015 and there were MANY nice sized hardwood limbs/smaller trees down, dried and just "there". These were too small for timber buyer. Friend said I could have any I wanted.

It was sunny, warmer than yesterday and scheduled for temps in 30-35 all next week (days!).....We cut timber, hand carried it out of the wooded area, loaded onto truck, unloaded at her house. She will still need to cut shorter to use, even split in half for some. I feel like I walked about 3 miles carrying an xtra 30# half of the time. Truck was stacked almost to top of cab, so a good amount. BUT free, dried, exc hardwood.

Soooooooooo....wow, wood is a lot of work.

Yes, I was thinking about you. LOL