Acair Fearann

or actually any house….

Useful things to have or to do:

Digital thermometer to accurately read wall and plumbing temperatures, that pipe is only 33 degrees? You want to know that*

A variety of screwdrivers, pliers, hammers, etc. I work at a garden/bird supply store, you wouldn’t believe the number of people who can’t fix their birdfeeder because they don’t have pliers or a screwdriver.

Extra light bulbs. They always go out at night….funny that. Same with batteries.

Not tools, but ultra important. Make friends, good friends with your plumber, the carpenter, the guy the delivers the oil, the admin for the guy that delivers the oil, the electrician, the insurance company, and if you use them, the garbage collectors and landscapers.

Know where the well and the septic system are.  Really, there are a lot of people out there that do not know these things.

Know where the shut offs for things are. All of them. It is the one you don’t know about that you need.

And so forth

*this is as likely an issue in a new house as an old one. Maybe more likely. Really old houses tend to have the plumbing inside interior walls or in cabinets/chases that can be opened. (which may mean just living with the fact that the kitchen cabinet has to stay open) New houses like to hide the plumbing behind faux walls with no air circulation and against the exterior. Out of sight out of mind…..

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Funny how that doesn’t quite work…

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A beautiful big moon out there. Just set a little while ago. It rose clear white last night and set this morning, big, gold, and glowing above the western hills. It always does that of course, but sometimes one has the chance of timing to actually observe it.

Now, just about light enough to go out and find the horse. I think we are in for a cold winter here, would be nice if we got some snow.

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Maybe, maybe rain. In any event, the snow blower is all set to go. The driveway is marked. Winter will do what it will as it will.

The physical world has an implacable certainty of existence, governed as it is by laws beyond us. Now, if only our hybrid world, with its precarious intersection of dream and reality, were so solid.  We have created such a complex world. Our own strange dance of signals (involving forms and ID’s and credit cards usually) often takes more time to accomplish than the actual physical task which is being accomplished.  Curious. Not good or bad, just curious. And rather ant like, except with more embroidery, much more embroidery.

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But it did make me laugh, having been there and done that. Any of my readers better versed in Montreal know which intersection?

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It is interesting to note that a house of similar vintage, but half the size, with the temperature set down to winter maintenance of 55,  and the water heaters off, in a more protected location on the hill, and no direct attic access…..is burning the same amount or more oil as this place does.

Steady work on drafts, windows, and quality building does matter. It is a big, rambling, drafty ark…except it is in much better shape than most out there!

In other news, I do like the current taste in Christmas lights around here: relatively low key with just enough color and whimsy to be interesting. Our little tree in the woods is a nice touch but so is a neighbor’s shepherd, lamb, and star out in the middle (really out in the middle) of a hayfield. And the classic colored lights are always fun. Pity we can’t put a light on the big Norway Spruce, but it is probably tall enough (at just over 100 feet) and close enough to a the second leg of the airport’s pattern that someone would be wobbly!

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I came across this version…quite possibly one of the truest out there.

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The big chest freezer died. With it went a fair bit of meat, some nice pasta sauce, some squash, probably about a bushel of beans, several pints of applesauce, and a number of peaches, blueberries, cranberries, and apples. As well as some oddments, ranging from turkey stock to some birds being used for still life drawing (sorry Mom, but PONG was emanating from that package, and it was rather….soft).

I did save the fifty year old piece of wedding cake though!

But for the most part, Mush, or almost mush, or simply not enough space in the regular freezer.

That will teach me to take up canning.

That d—- thing was only about four years old too. I bet the warranty was three and a half.

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Continuing to look back through the archives, I do like the humor in the old guestbooks.  In case you are wondering, that date is July 27…1876. Not 1976.

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