Just Another Ordinary Day

I debated finishing this post as I had no photos, it's now about a month old but I am posting it anyway.

 Last night on the way in from taking care of animals I noticed that the chimney from the wood stove was crooked. I took a long pole and tried to straighten it back up only to have the top section come off. After inspecting it I realized I needed a new pipe as it had rusted out at the botton so there was no fixing it. This morning after letting the animals out we tried to put the goats back into the pen I made for them last summer. We hoped that Fern had forgotten how to escape...she hadn't. Before we got halfway to the house she was out and running. Before we could go get Peaches she got out too, but somehow managed to cut the top of her head. We had fun trying to get her to let us check out the damage and get the bleeding stopped. Our normally docile goat turned into a Tasmanian Devil and twisted and turned so fast that it was nearly impossible to hang on to her. After we got her taken care of, I went out to the shed to get the old pipe I had replaced last fall to see if any of it was usable. Of course my Irish luck held true and none of it was. So I had to go to town to get new stove pipe. And since I was going I might as well get animal feed, LP gas and some groceries. But before I could go we had to empty the firewood from the back of the truck. While the truck was backed up to the house I stood on the tail gate and took down the stove pipe and found it all needed replacing. It had rusted through in only 5 months when it usually lasts a year or more. The lumber yard didn't have any so I had to go to TSC. Luckily they had all that I needed and that was all they had in stock. Then the rain started. Then to WalMart, to Caro Rental to get LP gas, then to Big Acre to get feed. By the time I got home it was pouring rain. Unloaded the truck, had to chase, coax and drag the animals to get them back inside, fed & watered the animals. By this time I was drenched. Then had to hook up the LP gas tank, go down to the basement and light the water heater. Came in and lit the pilot on the stove and oven, put a chicken on the rotisserie for supper and finally started putting the stove pipe together. The stove pipe comes as a 2 foot long rolled sheet of steel in the shape of a C that has a tab on one long edge and a slot on the other, you have to try to roll it together and make the tab fit into the slot to form a tube. Normally a fairly simple task.....NOT today. And I had to make three of them. Then it was time to put the sections together to form one long pipe. The bottom 3 inches of each section is corrigated to allow easy fitting of one section to another. You slide the corrigated bottom of one section into the top of another, then drill a some holes and install some screws to hold the sections together. Usually another very simple easy task....but again...Not today. Evidently these pipe sections were made by a foriegn company who had no idea what they were for or how they were used. Even with the corrigations I could not get the sections to fit together. I had to take a pair of pliers and bend the edge in and with a little force from a LARGE hammer, I finally persuaded them to fit. Same thing with the rain cap for the top and elbow at the bottom. By now it is way after dark, raining quite heavily and windy. It was getting cold in the house so I could not delay. You know it wasn't half as much fun installling that chimney as I had thought it was going to be. I had no more than got started when the rain drops tripled in size, came down harder and faster, and it got windier. By the time I was done water was coming off the roof like Niagra Falls and hitting me right in the chest. And with the rain hitting my back there wasn't a dry spot on me. And the corrigated end on the elbow was made too tight so it fit very sloppily into the pipe through the wall. I hope it stays together tonight so I can fix it tomorrow.

So I came in about 9pm, peeled off my coat which weighed about 50 pounds with all of the water it had absorbed, hung it up to drip dry, made a fire in the stove, put on some dry clothes and ate my over cooked supper. Then I had to clean and oil the fan we use to circulate the warm air into the house. By the time it was done I was more than ready to sleep.....but wait..... I still have to.......