Thursday, October 27, 2011

Brr n Grr

The downside to living in an old (probably 100 years old) farmhouse is the oil furnace. For some reason, it's hooked up so we actually have to go down into the dark, smelly basement and turn the sucker (or blower) on. Then it roars to life and slightly stinks up the house. I had a dream last night it was leaking oil. I've not yet checked it, mainly because I don't want to go down there. It's really creepy and I don't do stairs in the morning. Or ever. 

I'll happily bundle myself up on the couch, in the sunlight, until my husband turns into a human (without coffee, he resembles a something straight outta a horror movie). I might be chipper as a songbird in the morning, but my coordination is lacking. Our stairs to the upstairs are slightly steep and narrow. A couple weeks ago I missed a step and tumbled my way down. Talk about ouch. Other times I have slid down on my ass. My middle name should be Grace. The stairs to the basement end on a concrete floor. I really don't want to go kerplunk down those bastards. The old farmer who lived here before us did something wonky with those steps as well. A couple actually fold up. So, if I step the wrong way, the stair step flips up. I'm pretty positive I will break my leg going down there. To prevent that day, I prefer to use the basement steps. Oddly, we have two entrances into the basement. Concrete steps from the garage, and then crazy wooden steps from inside the house. One day, hopefully soon, when we  upgrade our electrical, we will put a deep freezer down in the basement. That's the day I will happily go into stankment. I mean basement. 

Speaking of freezers, I completely loaded ours up yesterday. It's bad to the point if you open the door too fast, something will crush your toes. I really need a deep freezer. Actually, I really need an electrical upgrade on the house for that extra 40 amps of power. Then I can take a shower with my little heater plugged in while my husband is on the computer in the other room. Wouldn't that be something?! Gosh, that would be the day. Taking a shower without that heater is NOT an option. There is no heat register in the room. It's a strange set up there, positively. This house mainly subsides on the heat rising from down stairs. Heat that is, if we turn on the furnace. It's suppose to freeze relatively good tonight. I suppose we will turn it on for a little bit before bed. 

The downside to the furnace in this house is the fact that we cannot leave it in the winter. Sometimes Ron and I like to take short winter trips. If or when we do, someone has to either stay here or stop by to turn the heat on once or twice a day. Otherwise there will be frozen pipes! I'd love to have a HVAC guy check out this situation, but the last time we had it worked on, an $800 came along with it. For reasons we cannot understand either. Ugh. I won't go there. 

Anyways, for now, we are extra chilly. But I hear you burn more calories that way! In my case, a little extra goes a long way! No, not really, but I like to think it does. I hate to exercise in the winter and around here, it gets mighty cold. I've been walking up and down our road (2 miles) daily and loving it.

It's easy to see why I love it.



My dogs enjoy it too. Well, the puppy does. Dutch, she's a sensitive girl. A overweight and lazy kind of sensitive. She doesn't like gravel and basically doesn't like to move, unless there is something that requires barking at. Our Dutchy girl is also quite the escape artist. Here, she demonstrates not moving. 



Dutch has never been one to stay in the yard. She believes wandering is her basic right. Which is probably why she was an emaciated stray when we picked her up from the pound two years ago. With a lot of love and food, she really turned into a great dog, minus the Houdini act. We've run two trolley lines for the dogs out the back door. Our puppy could do without one, he's a really good boy.

This video shows how good my boy is. And how annoying my Collie can be.

http://s1230.photobucket.com/albums/ee495/ronandash/?action=view&current=IMG_1946.mp4

Our Collie girl though, man. The neighbor brought her back on Sunday. He lives over a mile away, across a very busy road. What a nice guy. At least we know who's driving the semi down our road constantly. It's also nice he notices where our damn dog belongs. Dutch was only out for a half hour! For now, she is banished to my parents house. They have a fence and my sister loves that dog. We are researching new harnesses as well. Putting in an electric fence is going to be $1900. Finishing the PVC fence is going to be $2500. A new harness or chicken wire is going to have to do for now. I love my Dutchy girl, even though I want to strangle her every time she escapes. It's hard to be so mad at that sweet face though!




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