I spent Thanksgiving at the beach with my family. It was really nice to see the boys and my mom but I was so busy working on my moms “honey do” list and getting things ready for dinner (cooking it) that I never even went to see the ocean. I am one of the few folks that can take or leave the ocean especially when the weather is inclement, and I think it was kinda cloudy but I was so busy I really can’t remember. Oh well I had a good time with the family and that’s all that matters at Thanksgiving!!

Things here in the mountains are good but wet. This area had been in drought for the last 5 years but this year there has been a reprieve. To me there seems like there has been too much rain but since no water flows into Floyd County and we with wells get our water from deep wells that have to be replenished from above, and those who use gravity and spring water had seen both those sources dry up I guess we can live with a little too much water. We shall see what happens next year.

I have been working on getting things ready for winter. Since I have been home I have been cutting fire wood. I lot of what I have is too long for my stove so I have to cut about 6 inches off the end and then I split that little piece into kindling. I have had a time learning how to use my wood stove. I have only used “home made” stoves in the past and while I had access to a stove my X and I bought years ago it was too big for my space and had its exhaust connection in the back so I had to buy a new one. The only ones I could find to heat my small space (that I could afford) where the kinds with the glass in the front. It is harder for me to get a good fire going. I have learned that I have to start a small fire and then add larger pieces as the fire gets hotter. The wood box is also smaller than I would like so the fire is only good for about 6 hours, which means that unless I get up in the night I will have a cool box in the morning. I miss the home made stove I used last year that thing held a fire for 8 hours easy and longer if I used locus wood. The one I have now is pretty. I find myself watching the flames through the glass and getting very relaxed. There are advantages and disadvantages to every thing.

Today rain or not I have to get under the house and put insulation around all my water pipes. I have known I need to do this for quite a while but I have been putting it off and we have some cold weather on the way so it’s gotta get done. I am also working on the plastic that was put down in the craw space by the builder. It was a half ass job at best. He used 1mil plastic some places and 6 mil other places. I am going to put 6 mil everywhere and use duct tape to seal the seams.