A recent trip to the St. Michael’s retreat has inspired me.

As of yesterday, we now have a steeple on one of our sheds.   The plan now is to convert this building into a small non-denominational place of worship.  We will put some windows in there, a couple of pews, and various religious “things”… non-denominational. 

They also had a labyrinth.  A simple geometric shape created by putting rocks on the ground.  In the middle was a large rock when anyone can leave their worries.  Beautiful.  Now I just need to decide where I will put this. 

I wish I knew how to put pictures on here…

01 May 2010

Don’t look at what you ain’t got,

Look at what you got. – ks

Neighbours

In A Streetcar Named Desire, Stella says something to the effect of, “I have always relied on the kindness of strangers”.

I’m not going to try to dispel this thought, because strangers have certainly helped me out on occasions.  And I have been that helpful stranger on occassion as well.

But, recently it has been the kindness of my neighbours that have, literally, dug me out!  Too much snow, a lane that is too long, and temperatures below -30 have conspired to make driving up to my house impossible.  A neighbour with a tractor, equiped with a front end loader is certainly an angel in a snow suit.

Thank you, very much!

Just keep going

“Let all things happen to you,

Beauty and terror.

Just keep going, 

No feeling is final.”

Rainer Maria Rilke

The pond

It is overcast today and breezy with a little blowing snow.  Our warmer weather is a blessing, but it may still feel cold outside.  Regardless, we will check the pond today.  With any luck it will have frozen smooth.  The -40 temps should have been good for something!!!

On the inside, the new heater continues to provide a base heat.  As an experiment, I turned off the heater in the kitchen last night, and it was still 20 in here in the morning.  The fire last night may have helped to maintain that level, but regardless, things seem to be better!

Before the pond we have the usual “fun” chores… some laundry and general house cleaning.  Doesn’t matter where you live, these gotta be done.

Heat

Wow!  It’s amazing what the return of seasonal temperatures will do for your state of mind.  After two weeks of minus 40-ish temeratures, our world has warmed up to the minus 10 range.  Wow!

Because of this change, I’m thinking that I can’t take full credit for the fact that my house is warm.  But, I’m sure that it is partly due to the fact that I FINALLY got the new heater installed.  And with a couple of minor adjustments, it is now sending heat through the air ducts to all parts of the house.

I woke up this morning to a warm house, (that is, it didn’t drop in teperature over night).  And, I came home from work this evening to a house that was warmer than when I left it this morning.

On the downside, is the fact that I used about 200 kilowatt hours over the last 24 hours.  To put this into perspective, I used only about 600 hours each MONTH in the summer.  So now the challenge is to regulate the power usage, but maintain a moderate temperature.  Time.

With the use of the fireplace in the livingroom, and the effective use of the basement heater, I seem to have learned how to keep the house moderately warm.  The power useage is around 150 kilowatt hours per day… better than the original 200.

I think I will look into the cost of an electrical furnace.  That will have a better fan system, so will provide more even heat in the house.  What I need to determine, though, is the approximate daily usage.

Maybe it will work…

Because I can

I have been asked, why on earth, I am doing some of the things I am doing here.  For instance, I am changing a barn to a bunk house, and I took the guts out of my obsolete furnace and replaced it with an electric heater.  Why?  Because I’ve always wanted to try, and now I can.

Am I good at what I am doing?  Not necessarily.

Have I thought it all out?  Definately not.

Am I frustrated by my efforts, and lack of skill and knowledge?  Sometimes.

Are things harder than I thought they would be?  Usually.

Am I pleased with what I have accomplished at the end of the day?  Always!!! 

And, I’m thinking, that’s what this is all about.  It’s stuff I’ve always wanted to try, to do, and now I can.

Prayer

So now I cup my hands in prayer,

Such that I may accept those things given freely to me,

Allowing those things to flow freely from me,

In their own time.

ks

Winter is here

My how things can change.  November was beautiful, with only single diget negative temperatures at night, but still positive numbers during the day.  Then, on the last day of November, it started to snow.  The next morning was a scary drive to work in 6 inches of the white stuff.  Since then, the raods are slippery and the temperatures are going down to minus 40.  WOW!

So now, I am doing the inside jobs that I should have done last month… putting plastic on all the old windows, and fixing my furnace.  All of a sudden we need real heat, and we need to keep it in!

Oh well… the winter landscape is beautiful

Hoar frost

It is November 21st, 2009.  The whole world is covered with a shimering frost, made all the brighter thanks a clear sky.  This beauty is the after effect of a foggy, yet cold, night.

Beautiful.

Yesterday, I had this goofy idea that I would shingle the shed which is destined to be the meditation cabin.  Not a good idea!  It was cool, and breezy.  Not good conditions for shingling!  Ah well, no harm done, and it may just warm up enough this week to finish the job.  If not… spring is as good a time as any (or maybe better than some!).