Snow on the roof

The view to the northeast from the roof. There's at least a foot of snow still up there.


We're kinda almost nearly ready to move in, even though the roof still leaks (roofers coming Monday!) and there is no working heat.

The best news: the well seems great and the pump works! The pipe between the well and the pressure tank had frozen and busted, though, so I'll be fixing that Monday. This is my first well, so I was a bit nervous about making it go, but some friends were on hand and we fiddled the breakers and fired it up. And water poured out of the break like crazy. Water right out of the earth. Amazing. Imagine that going up to the school and coming out the taps.

About heat: My buddy has an electric furnace that should be enough to keep us warm in our home classroom through spring, and we've got a great little wood cook stove that will help. Then we'll see. Maybe we can get the old boiler running a radiant baseboard system by next winter. A big wood stove (or two) is another option. I've been up late on hearth.com, checking out the stove reviews and comments. Those folks are so into it their signatures include makes and models of everyone's wood stoves, chainsaws and wood-hauling trucks. It's a really helpful resource, and fun to read. I've decided on a Pacific Energy Alderlea, but that's $2,600... so maybe an Englander 30 for $1,000.

I figure we'll figure it out as we go along.

Here's a shot the garden, from the southwest door. (I trust next February's garden shot will be a little more impressive.) Those are bags of duck bedding - poo and straw - that S hauled up for us. If you squint you can kind of imagine fencing, trellises and lumps of foliage under the snow.

Tomorrow we rent a truck for the first real load. We figure two loads. Or maybe seven. Woohooo!