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TUESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2007

A cool crisp clear morning.  This became perhaps our most hillbilly day to date.  Up early and a quick breakfast.  Dan and I figured out what lumber and supplies we needed to finish up the gables and soffits, fix the broken windows and install the new woodstove in the kitchen.  Headed to town and decided to stop at Army Surplus to see if they might have the stove parts or some sheet metal we could use.  I’ve been past that place thousands of times in 9 years, but never once stopped before today.  I stayed in the car with the hounds while Dan went to have a look around and negotiate any deals.  He finally tracked down the proprietor, a stalwart, extremely taciturn old boy in camouflage, who leaned casually against a truck and munched an apple, while Dan poked around and asked questions.  We found a chimney flange and a large piece of sheet metal that we could use and after a bit of dickering , we got him to agree to $5.  Frankly, the junkyard cat, a huge yellow tiger was more forthcoming.  I’ve known New Hampshire farmers who were absolutely chatty compared to this old boy.  Then we headed for Lebanon and picked up the lumber we needed, but had no success with 12-3 wire, which Lowe’s doesn’t sell by the foot.  They wanted $30 for a 25-foot box, which was more than I needed.  We had better luck at MFA finding an 8-inch stove elbow, but we completely forgot window glass.  Stopped again at the Army Surplus on the off chance they might have a stove grate. No such luck, but Dan persuaded our laconic friend, the proprietor, to part with an old metal bedstead, which we can adapt into a stove grate.  Another big sale, $2.50, which combined with our previous $5 purchase, probably made a red letter day, profit-wise.  Got home about 2:30 and after a quick lunch, started to set up the stove.  Managed to cut a huge hole in the kitchen roof and reframe for the stovepipe without mishap, but then we managed to break the new elbow and couldn’t get it back together, without mangling it.  Finally got the pieces back together and tried to secure them with some plumber’s strapping and sheet metal screws.  But we could only find a phillips bit for the drill, the screws were standard and they weren’t self-tapping.  It was now 4:45, so we jumped in the car and flew to the MFA in the Grove to buy a new elbow or some self-tapping screws and a standard bit.  We thought they closed at 6pm, but alas they closed at 5pm.  So we headed for Hartville, figuring that the bustling county seat of Wright county would have an MFA that staid open late.  Wrong again, Hartville on a Tuesday evening at 5:45 was devoid of any commercial activity, except for the liquor store, the gas station and a high school car wash at the grocery store parking lot.  Even the Halleluiah Sawmill and Lumber company had closed for the day.

So back home we went and managed to borrow a standard bit from old Steve, up the lane.  It was getting cold and dark, but Dan was determined to get the stove pipe in place.  We managed to repair the elbow and cut out the sheet metal for the roof, but then we noticed that the lengths of stove pipe were made in such a way that they would seem to leak smoke, as there were obvious gaps.

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