As another Lame Cherry exclusive in matter anti matter.
I have written of our cellar project and here is the end result, minus the rammed earth. I'm surprised in how nice the cellar looks, as a close up looks like Better Homes, but in reality most would recoil from it.
Those are real stone cement walls. They probably are 140 years old, and they look better than they are. The floor is dirt, except where we poured this floating slab of concrete which the stove sits. The chimney pipe to the right, extends 15 down the alley we excavated from August into September all by hand.
I look back on the horrors as I type this, as I hada little idea beyond the idea of putting this heat into the cellar which is working out wonderfully with wood smoke scents in keeping the house war in 20 below weather.
I remember the test hole I dug by the foundation to prove I could get under the foundation to get the chimney pipe into the chimney. That is 3 feet down, where this pipe enters the chimney and then exits to the outside, where more pipe extends it over the roof.
This is the glow of long dead Box Elder and Elm. 2 inch sticks do not burn as long, but I can really get a great deal of BTU"s from a half armful of these broken limbs. I have found in this hyper cold, that I have to do about 3 burns, and then have a few split logs to keep things going on the coals to make the house very balmy in a warm comforting heat.
I told TL I would much rather service this wood barrel stove than to be running Mr. Heater propane units as we had before to try to keep from freezing. What is nice is this heat does rise in the house and makes the floors not so absolute cold. The kitchen though is still cold on the north side as that sits on frozen earth and that cold just seeps in. Otherwise I have for the first time in the history of this old house a house which is moderate heat almost all the way through it.
I'm well pleased as these woodstoves are good therapy for all the wickedness and evil which has taken over America.
I still have finish in shoring up the alley walls, and get some mats down on the dirt floor so it is not so dirty in walking in dirt, but after the investment in this stove, we are really done with the input of costs. That is where it is now earning it's keep as I have the opportunity with our free wood just rotting away, of cutting our heating by 1/3rd this year. It should be 1/4 at least, and next year I hope to half it.
Yes wood is a great deal of work in cutting and splitting even with machines, but I'm receiving the extra benefit of solace in watching fire burn is soothing to the human psyche, Certainly better than doping, drinking or jacking off.
So now you have got to look at the real project. I only would that our shack looked as nice as this picture.
I'm really blessed though as God helps me always in building things in making them work and turn out right. This is just a lovely thing to enjoy after all the work we put in for several months.
Once again, another Lame Cherry exclusive in matter anti matter.
Nuff Said
OH PS, TL said we should keep the wood ash to put in our garden. That is what that aluminum container you can barely see is receiving. On to potato crops in a few months. Just like mother Russia, without burning up the tiaga.
agtG
