Category Archives: Country Living

Early morning thoughts about life in Floyd

The small hours of the morning are a good time to reflect on how lucky we are to have arrived here in this community. I am on the computer as usual while Gretchen and assorted cats sleep soundly. We are … Continue reading

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A Cold Spell has been cast upon us

Cold Spell

Now that the global warming scam is history, many of us are scrambling to keep the home fires burning hot enough to ward off the cold.

Here in the Blue Ridge Mountains, temperatures seem to be much lower than in the nearby cities like Roanoke and Christiansburg, Maybe these are example of Urban Heat Islands which are significantly warmer than their surroundings. The town of Floyd is definitely not warmer than its surroundings.

We are burning firewood at double the usual rate in order to keep the house temperature in the 70's. I can't imagine what the people burning other fuels like propane must be going through.

Another sign that we are experiencing severely cold weather. We are
sprinkling birdseed out the door and we usually have a carpet of birds
all day long. Yesterday I saw crows feeding about 5 feet from the front
door. When they start banging on the door to let us know that the seed
is running low, we will know that the end times are near.

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Dealing with a balky Emergency Generator

We were snowed in for a few days and ice built up on the trees to the point where branches were snapping off and blocking the roads.

Here is a picture of our lane taken by Tom King as he and a chainsaw-wielding neighbor cleared their way to the main road.

Silverleaf

I was completing a backlog of Christmas framing projects when the power went out but I was not too concerned because I thought my emergency generator was ready to go and save the day. After all, I had started it every few weeks after the last storm and everything had been working perfectly.

I had purchased an extra spark plug in case it was needed and had three 5 gallon cans of gasoline in addition to a full tank on the generator. I felt that I was much better prepared than last year.

Little did I know.
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We Appreciate Simple Pleasures in Hard Times

18 degrees-1 web It's 18 degrees outside and the wind is picking up, so the chill factor is probably 8 degrees. The weather in Floyd today is brisk.

Fortunately, we decided a long time ago that we would install one of those new-fangled wood burning stoves with an outside air feed. Our medium-sized wood stove keeps our 1650 sq ft house comfortably warm with no other heat sources except for tiny bathroom heaters in the remote ends of the house.

Our 3 1/2 acre property supplies enough oak firewood that we do not expect to need any other fuel source  for the next four years. Our winter fuel costs include chainsaw parts, gasoline, and bar oil but not much more.

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