Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Back On Track

It's been quite an adventure in Aga-ville - last time I wrote we had the 2 oven unit in place and were getting ready to build the rest of the stove.  Bri got quite a bit done...



and then disaster struck and he discovered that the base had not set properly and so had not retained its 'horizontalness' when he had put several hundred pounds of cast iron on top of it.  So we stripped the whole lot down and relaid the base, giving it an entire week to set. 

And then we started the build again. 



By Sunday, it was looking pretty great, almost done, all we need to do is fill it with insulation and pop the top on.  Then we hook up the gas, fit the chimney, get it inspected, and we'll be able to cook with it!  We're getting excited! 

But then....

as we poured in the vermiculite...


it all poured out again! 

Bother!  So Bri refitted the front panel, and we refilled the whole thing - and it leaked out the side instead!  At this point, we were tired, and over it, so we walked away and went to bed!  When I got up on Monday morning, he'd fixed the leak and was refilling again!  This time it stayed in place. 

Haven't done much since, of course - Hallowe'en got in the way on Monday -

Narcissa Malfoy means business!

And Bellatrix is ready for action, too! 
Tuesday was busy, too, we headed up to school for Caity's band concert, which was really fun.  This is the first year she's been in anything like this, and she really enjoyed the concert, even though she was nervous beforehand.

And now it's already two days into November, the woodstove is running 24-7 to keep the chill off the house, and we're wondering where we're going to cook a turkey in 3 weeks time.  Hopefully, in the Aga, but it may not be running in time.  I did discover, on Monday, that if you brown some ground beef with onion, garlic, and the necessary spices, throw in some tomato sauce and some kidney beans and sit it on top of the woodstove for the day, you get the best chili EVER, but I haven't figured out how to do the turkey on the woodstove ;-) 

Today it is quiet and chilly, the fog this morning was quite horrific but it burned off as the sun rose and it's a pretty fall day.  I've got knitting to work on, as usual, a scarf and a hat both in progress today.  It's warm and cosy by the fire, I think the biggest challenge of the day is going to be 'staying awake'!  :-) 

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