We are back in NC now, and Mike is doing his hog chores for the day. He got all the beds fed and wetted down well, and I got the whole house gone over. We will be walking back into privacy finally, and no messes made by workmen.
We are now in the stage of seeing how long the boiler can keep the house warm on a fill of good seasoned oak blocks. Mike got my indoor/outdoor thermometer set up in the solar room and outside one window of it, so we will have some idea how that is functioning as a heat collector, too.
Daughter came over with her family and some riding students while we were gone, and they cleaned out all the turkey and sides, so no cleanup or cleanout to bother me there. I am thinking chili for supper is a good idea....
As we were coming south alongside I-95, on US 301 to miss the traffic, we talked about where his family had always raised their garden and why. It was on a south-facing hillside out back of the house. I would love to trench into that slope a bit, and have a real three-season garden there.
The land here is SO cruddy and soggy, and that is such lovely, loamy land that drains, it is a sin not to garden there instead of here. We have figured out how often and how long we can easily be there, and given that, it makes as much sense to have a garden there as here, timewise. It is really tempting.
I think we may have found a lead on a reasonably-priced helper to hire up there for some odd jobs, too. We have several outbuildings to clean out and fix up a bit, so that will be a good thing.
I did end up outside for a little while, tending the cats and unloading some heavy timbers for the final small terraced steps to the boiler. It was cool and beautifully sunny, but the wind was everything I was afraid it would be...my ears are still stinging, two hours later!
