Still Stormin'

The visit from Larry and Taylor turned what could have been dull, drear days into a fun weekend.  Yesterday we lazed around, played some cards (I didn't win), watched a few documentaries, dozed off and on, ate pulled-pork burritos, and then it was time for them to head back down the hill in the late afternoon.

The storm continues to howl.  The wind has blown the tarp off the wood pile under the oak.  This may present a problem when the firewood on the porch runs out.  The wood stove, when it is needed most, gets cranky in bad weather and requires constant feeding and attention.  If the fire isn't hot enough to create a good updraft in the flue, Stove will belch back billows of black smoke into the room, necessitating open doors and windows even on the coldest days to clear before the smoke alarm goes off and terrorizes the animals.  Even though I stocked the rack well, the wind has blown spray up on the porch as far as the front door and dampened the stack.  I have a system to deal with this, bringing in extra logs to lay by Stove to dry out before they're needed.  I don't know how well that's going to work if the wood is totally wet.  Oh, well.  One problem at a time.