The Quack Shack

[Supercow]

 

[Miss Lydia]

View attachment 3729294

Busy little things aren't they? coming and going lol

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

Yes, the main propane furnace for the trailer. It wasn't that cold out, but come to think of it it quite after I switched over to a new canister... I wonder if maybe it's 'bad propane'?

And yes, I desperately need a small wood stove! It just isn't in the budget right now. Well, nothing is in the budget right now! I hope my application for disability benefits goes through soon... It'll give me a little bit of extra wiggle room.

Never heart about "bad propane", but in the early 2000's i ruined a company-car with "bad diesel" while driving through Romania, so why should it not be possible to taint propane for a profit?
I am thinking about buying a small wood-stove for the patio, nothing expensive, something like a "hot tent stove", the kerosene is getting expensive with those low overnight temperatures, not as expensive as propane, but i can chop my own firewood for free…

I've seen camping-stoves for less than $100 that don't look too bad, so i am thinking of spending something around $200, hoping that what i get won't fall apart if Blanca Duck sneezes.

 

[Luv Ducks]

Never heart about "bad propane", but in the early 2000's i ruined a company-car with "bad diesel" while driving through Romania, so why should it not be possible to taint propane for a profit?
I am thinking about buying a small wood-stove for the patio, nothing expensive, something like a "hot tent stove", the kerosene is getting expensive with those low overnight temperatures, not as expensive as propane, but i can chop my own firewood for free…

I've seen camping-stoves for less than $100 that don't look too bad, so i am thinking of spending something around $200, hoping that what i get won't fall apart if Blanca Duck sneezes.

That's good that you can chop your own wood. My husband has access to wood on his homestead property that our Son bought after his parents passed away a couple of years ago. He splits it and uses a chain saw to get it but it is still hard work. Carrying it and splitting it is not easy work but he is younger and can still do it. We have a natural gas new furnace in our house that he put in this winter and it has saved us a lot. Our last gas bill was only 85 dollars but this month will be more because it is colder. Good luck with whatever you decide to get Frank. At the end of the heating season is when the best buys are out there.

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

No flying away on purpouse.. but i did have to clip wings because some of them would get over the fence on accident then they were over there freaking out as if they couldn't figure out how that happened and just fly back over.
One day i was inside when a couple of them got on the wrong side of the fence.
I wondered why the rest of them kept coming up pecking on the door

I kid you not. That really happened.

My dux always find a way to alert me if something is wrong. And they have a distinct »stranger danger« quax.

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

I have a great rubber net but with having 15 I can't get the one I am trying to catch isolated. The others all go nuts when they see the net and fly into anything in front of them when I am trying to corner the one I need.

Yes, they know the things that will catch them! - What i usually do is sitting down with some treats and hand those out. Almost all of the dux will not be able to resist meal-worms on my hand. So if the one that i want to catch is in reach i just grab and hold.
(And usually grab Blanca Duck, because she is pushing everybody else away for her favorite treat...)

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

View attachment 3729294

There must be dux out somewhere…

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

That's good that you can chop your own wood. My husband has access to wood on his homestead property that our Son bought after his parents passed away a couple of years ago. He splits it and uses a chain saw to get it but it is still hard work. Carrying it and splitting it is not easy work but he is younger and can still do it. We have a natural gas new furnace in our house that he put in this winter and it has saved us a lot. Our last gas bill was only 85 dollars but this month will be more because it is colder. Good luck with whatever you decide to get Frank. At the end of the heating season is when the best buys are out there.

Thank you very much for the hint! Yes, i will wait until March, April and then also look what the big-box stores may offer. I don't want to heat the whole house with wood, just the green-house patio and that will be better insulated in the next winter. I am planning to install storm-doors and windows with real glass instead of shower curtains. Wanted to do this last summer, but everything got delayed by a dozen or more little duxlings…
Natural gas is the best way to heat the house, make hot water, cook and dry clothes. I had a gas-line installed from the furnace to the laundry room to be able to operate a gas-powered clothes-dryer. We even run the emergency generator on natural gas. I wouldn't buy a house without a gas-line!

 

[Supercow]

After 10 days of all-day frost, a day of spring-like warmth and a day of snow, we're back to frost. Single digit F overnight. Various gates won't open easily, old boots frozen to the ground, ducks take 5 steps and sit down. Three more days of this are forecast and then a warm period.

It's interesting for me to follow the discussion about heating because we're in the EU, the entity which has decided to perform energy suicide by phasing out old stuff before there's sufficient capacity of new stuff. It's hard to plan any kind of heating for new buildings because of mixed policy signals. On one hand money stimulus is paid to people to install a wood- or gas-powered furnace and on the other there's persistent talk of both being banned.

I find it really hard to understand many modern policy decisions because they seem completely irrational (and their consequences keep confirming this) while the majority is happy to cheer them on. Feels like "The Emperor's new clothes".

In the US you're blessed with an abundance of natural gas and a sensible enough attitude towards it (at least compared to the EU which is not a tall hurdle to overcome; yes, I've heard of the ideas about gas cooking ranges).

Nevertheless I think a wood stove is hard to beat for just plain self-sufficiency if you have a local source of firewood. We cut down some from our own little property and buy the rest from others in the village who have larger forest plots. In its basic form a wood stove is a way of heating that does not rely on anything else - no pipleline or distribution network, no contradictory things like wood pellet furnaces needing electricity to function.

Some models have a feature where fresh air is pulled in from the top of the stove, making its way down slowly and getting seriously pre-heated even before it reaches the fire. They say this makes for a cleaner and more complete burn, provided of course the firewood is also of good quality - properly dry most of all.

 

[Canadian Wind]

Never heart about "bad propane", but in the early 2000's i ruined a company-car with "bad diesel" while driving through Romania, so why should it not be possible to taint propane for a profit?
I am thinking about buying a small wood-stove for the patio, nothing expensive, something like a "hot tent stove", the kerosene is getting expensive with those low overnight temperatures, not as expensive as propane, but i can chop my own firewood for free…

I've seen camping-stoves for less than $100 that don't look too bad, so i am thinking of spending something around $200, hoping that what i get won't fall apart if Blanca Duck sneezes.

I was thinking humidity in the propane which could have frozen the lines. But since *nothing* works, that's probably not it.

I want a properly rated stove for in the trailer. Unfortunately, those camping ones won't do. But, they would be perfect for the patio!