Wisconsin "Cheeseheads"

[jvls1942]

Hi all, well, at least the few of you who are still showing up..

I started cleaning in the shop today.
I moved all the combustibles away from the stove . a small victory in itself..
I tried something I never did before.
whenever it is real cold out, my stove smokes to high heaven until the draft starts to work. well, today I leaned a hair dryer against the stove pipe for about 10 minutes.
then I lit a piece of paper in the stove.
It started drawing right away, no smoke in the room..
I loaded up the stove with scraps of wood and a handful of shavings. in less than an hour I could take off my coat..
took the puppy to the vet and when I got back the fire was burned down to just a few coals, but it was quite nice in there, yet.

anybody want a $50.oo pair of gray geese?
I will throw a guinea rooster in for free..

Brent, did you make any jerky yet ?
Not much better than a chaw of jerky and a beer around the fire pit at the bash..

.........jiminwisc.......

 

[Daethen]

Funny you should say that, Jim. I am working on a batch of jerky right now.

 

[bigzio]

My ear is ringing Jim....we talked about that yesterday since I discovered a couple of packages that will work perfect for jerky. It will be fun to go through my 3 fully packed freezers when the weather is cold enough outside to keep everything froze while we defrost them. We are truly blessed with all the food we have available to us with a little work in the garden and the harvest from the woods! Don't forget the pork sales in the grocery and with a knife and a meat saw cuts become very reasonable to buy.
Picked up the real Christmas tree today from a neighbor that sells them for $15 and $20 depending on size...not bad at all.
No hunting today ...busy as heck...but tonight is a perfect night to be out there....maybe tomorrow...maybe not.

bigz

 

[jvls1942]

good morning,
IDK if we got any snow. still dark out.
it was supposed to quit around 10 PM, but it hadn't even started by then.

have been lighting a fire in the stove in the shop just to see how it would work.
seems good. so today I will light another one. have to dig out the chain saw and cut some more substantial pieces of wood.

.....jiminwisc....

 

[wyoDreamer]

We still need to insulate the garage so the heat from the pellet stove will not just go out the gaps in the siding. I would like to get a quote for getting the spay on foam insulation, but DH says it will be too expensive and won't even get a quote - stubborn guy.

 

[jvls1942]

We still need to insulate the garage so the heat from the pellet stove will not just go out the gaps in the siding. I would like to get a quote for getting the spay on foam insulation, but DH says it will be too expensive and won't even get a quote - stubborn guy.

Yes, it is expensive, but if you are going to hire any other kind done, it might not be too much more than that.
people will tell you that it shrinks.
the old stuff might have, a little, but the new stuff is better.
and now I think it is fire retardant .
it doesn't hurt to get a quote. if it is too much $$$ just don't do it then.
we just had a quote for ductless AC/Heat for 3 bedrooms, the living area and the sunporch.
we figured for $5,000.oo we would consider it. the company made our decision real easy.. $27,000.oo.

I spent a lot of time in the shop today.
the stove got it toasty warm.

I finished the sharpening jig. it turns out that the blades are ground to about 40*
my jig is set at 45*. I managed to put mini edges on three extra blades. and I got the edges smoothed out.
that is good enough for me.

......jiminwisc.......

 

[Daethen]

Yes, the new spray foam is fantastic. My husband works with a guy that kiln dries lumber and they sprayed the inside of the kiln. I works amazing and it has not shrunk at all. Not sure what the cost per square foot was but for him it was an awesome value.

 

[wyoDreamer]

The regular batt insulation we would install ourselves - we both hate doing it, but it isn't hard to do. I am sure that is what we will end up doing.
However, the building was newly sided before we bought the place and they didn't use any housewrap under the siding, so there is no wind break. I figure the spray foam would provide a better final product since it will stop a lot more of the wind. The place was built with 24" spacing between the 2bys, so that great sale at Menards last week on the 15" batts didn't do us any good.
Going out to light the pellet stove in the garage. Going to try to get a little heat in there for butchering some chickens today.

 

[jvls1942]

How about them Packers, eh?

If you tuck the batts in good, no wind will blow through. then sheathe the inside with drywall or OSB and you will be just fine..

heading out to the shop to try to start making the new sharpening jig..

.........jiminwisc.....

 

[babylady4]

If anyone is looking to rescue a flock of hens; some lovely individual dumped their flock outside of Endeavor off I️ 39. 15 birds.

The Wisconsin Chickens FB Page has the full details.

Getting ready for Christmas and getting ready to close on the house up North; the ignighter for the furnace died last night, DH fixed it for now but we are having it replaced tomorrow.

Saw BigFam yesterday, she is doing well! Her youngest is making great progress.

Hoping to beat the snow tomorrow on my morning commute.