14.89 megajoules/kilogram

That's the energy content of red oak according to Wikipedia. Although they state that only 10.4 megajoules are recoverable if burned at 70% efficiency. I believe our stove's efficiency is about 63%.

I'm currently in the process of installing the stove pipe. This first entailed purchasing a 5" to 6" adaptor, 6" stove pipe, adjustable elbows, cathedral ceiling chimney kit, triple-wall stainless steel chimney pipe, and chimney cap. So far I've installed the adaptor, 2 elbows, and about 6' of stove pipe. Next up will be going through the roof - something I'm not looking forward to.

Family Reunion

With all this cold weather I'm really missing being in sunny Nevada. I can't say enough about how fun our trip was. It was great being with the whole Brown family. My brother, Andre', put Christy and I through a brutal conditioning workout - I was in pain for at least 3 days afterwards. I'm glad we did it though - it gave me some good ideas for my own workouts.

Below is a pic of the whole Brown clan. I guess you could say we're multi-racial and ethnically diverse.

Finally!

We got our permanent, underground electric service installed yesterday. It's so nice to have finally gotten rid of all those extension cords we've been using. All of our outlets are now usable.

Dug trench leading to power pole

Meter base (200A service)


Finally, no more exposed breakers and wiring and...

... no more extension cords

Happy New Year!

After spending 6 lovely days in Vegas with the Brown family we returned home to bitter cold. I thought we were going to experience warmer winters than in New Hampshire.

After visits from Adrian and Keith and Christy's family we settled back into life here in Floyd. Christy is back to work and I've been working on finishing up the drywall that will be adjacent to the wood stove. That's the first order of business. We've been using a propane wall heater that's been working fairly well, but we're going through a bottle every two or three days. It's easy with temperatures in the low single digits and high winds.




"But daddy, why does Nancy get one more gift than me?", "Now Christy darlin'..."


Our very first Christmas gift exchange in the cabin.


Christy's new socks made by Nancy



Sanding joint compound