A Huge Mess - November 18, 2022 @goldenoakfarm

I didn’t get much of anything done besides fertilizing house plants with my general helper on Thursday. I was still feeling crappy and ended up dealing with that. On Friday I called to find out if the test revealed anything. A return call said yes, it had. So I was really dealing with an infection, and not some odd Lyme thing.

My helper friend was here and I had decided to cheer myself up, I’d start the Christmas tree. First we had to empty and move the china cabinet.

But before we could do that, I had to move a lot of plants. The table holding the big purple wandering jew had broken and I needed to get a different table out of the attic. The new table was a BuyNothing find and has been very useful.

The pineapple went up to the old office and the fairy went behind the small couch. The huge amaryllis also went back there and the rosemary moved to the roundtop window.

Then he brought the tree from the attic and then we went up to the store room and got the dozens of boxes out and downstairs. They made a huge mess in the living room.

My helper took this photo on his phone, which at this point takes better photos than that old camera. I sat on the floor (just my speed) and fluffed tree branches. He got some vacuuming done and went and got the meds for my crud I am dealing with.

By the time he got back, I was worn out and hoped to rest on the couch for a couple hours.

But alas, it wasn’t to be. The chimney sweep showed up early and got started on the chimneys. It was pretty cold in the house as I’d not been able to burn the masonry heater at all and it was 24F in the night. I had burned the wood stove until midnight then let it go out. The coals were dead in it, but apparently the chimney blocks hold a good amount of heat for a long time. The sweep had quite a lot of work to do on this flue due to burning wet wood last year. But in the end it was good and clean, all orange down the liner.

Then he moved into the living room and did the masonry heater. This was in much better shape, though a bit too warm still. It hadn’t been burnt in nearly 48 hours. I lit the stoves as he finished them, as I was pretty cold. It was an expensive visit but now I am assured the creosote is gone and all’s well for this heating season. It took him the best part of 3 hours to do the job. I also made the appointment for a return visit the end of May, so I don’t forget again.

I was starting to feel better by bedtime. On Saturday I hope to keep working on the tree. My youngest brother is coming to make tiny wood chips for starting the masonry heater this year. I need a large amount of them for the season. I also must make a run to the dump as the barrels are full.