Posts by Liz

We love our woodstove

By “we”, I mean Bob and I…Karl would be happy if the thing stayed stone cold and the heat off… I didn’t always appreciate a woodstove. When I as a young teen, my dad decided to put a woodstove in our basement to provide supplemental heat. Being a mechanical engineer, the project was exhaustingly researched, the stove acquired and installed and then the fun began – getting wood. It was fun the first few times…

After spending 13 years in sunny California, when I moved to Montana and back to a four season climate, one of the things that I wanted was a woodstove in my house. All my houses have had woodstoves or converted fireplaces. And even though it is messy and work getting wood – I don’t cut, but I do split, stack and move it around – I do love both the heat and cheeriness of a woodstove going.

In this house, the stove is a Vermont Castings Vigilante, circa 1977.

It is fairly small but in this little house, I have to be careful I don’t get it running too hot. All stoves have their idiosyncracies and outside/inside temp affect how they will burn. The first year, the first time I closed it up to burn hot through the night, I woke sweating -the entire house over 80 degrees. I have since learned how to (mostly) manage it to keep it comfortable, but occasionally it gets away from me…

When the cat is “sunning” himself in front of the woodstove, particularly when it is from a distance on the ottoman, it is a good sign that maybe it is time to let the fire die back a bit…

Karl prefers the coldest spot in the house, right in front of the slider with all that nice frigid air seeping in.

Bob and I, we love our woodstove.

A little sunshine on a Sunday morning

This morning was clear – stars and the full moon lit our early morning “down the driveway” walk. Despite being -6, with no wind and dressed for the occasion – it did not feel that cold. I love moonlight shining through the woods and we had our usual dawdle back – me on the driveway and Karl on the east property perimeter.

The sun rose and the temperature with it, climbing to near zero by 10 a.m.. I might have waited for a bit more warmth, but 10 is our usual morning walk time and Karl was pestering to go, so I suited up and off we went. I took my smaller (and older!) camera, despite the temps, but it got too cold quickly. I did get a couple shots before it refused to operate..

A bit more snow on the mountains, but not as much as I expected to see. The Swan Range curves around to the north, close enough that my property was in a wind shadow for the cold wind that was blowing out of the North-Northeast. Along a corridor through Columbia Falls and Kalispell, the weather info showed winds high enough to cause the wind chill to be in the -20’s. But even on our walk there was not even a breeze high in the trees – it was quiet, sunny and beautiful.

Karl and I played a little snow soccer when we got home. I warmed up a bit inside and then went back out with camera and tripod to see if I could get a photo (quickly!) of Karl and I…. I call the procedure “the Karl and Ann rodeo” …

Thanks to a timer that will click off a number of shots after a delay, I not only got the story, but both of us almost facing the camera…

For my next trick, I will try to get the Ann, Karl and Bob Christmas photo…this usually takes the better part of a day and ends up with me needing a nap…

It’s cold

I snowshoed, Karl walked and ran – twice – early today. The temperature was dropping so fast that I knew it would be too cold (for me!) to do a long walk before long. In the interest of staying alive and keeping my nose and all my fingers and toes, I don’t do even the short loop walk when it is below zero… it has a few steep ups and downs – more risk of twisting an ankle or something and at the very cold temps and wind chills things can go from a funny accident to an ordeal or worse quickly. I will follow Karl’s “perimeter” walk on flat land very near the house for the next several days. Soccer and stick games will work also. Poor Karl! I believe he is feeling comfortable for the first time since his winter coat came in!

Karl will have snow on his nose until Spring….

It is apparently cold enough to use the dog bed on the front porch. But not yet cold enough to move the tail in front of the nose – maybe tomorrow.

I drove just down my road a bit, to the ridge that overlooks the valley to the west and the mountains behind and north of my house.

It’s cold.

Winter Storm

Thursday, the day I took the “moon over the mountain” photos, it looked like this midday:

Yesterday started beautifully clear with the setting, nearly full moon shining into the sunroom in the early morning. By 10:00, heavy clouds and freezing fog had moved in.

My friends at NOAA issued a Blizzard Warning from 5 p.m. last evening until 11 p.m. this evening – forecasting 3-7 inches of snow for Kalispell area, high winds causing drifting snow and whiteouts, and gradually dropping temperatures. Sunday’s overnight low is to be in the -20’s.

While often the snow part of these monster storm forecasts fizzles, they typically do not miss on wind and temperature. I had a morning appointment and stopped for a few last minute things at Costco. I wasn’t the only one making sure I had everything I needed and wanted – the place was packed! I overheard several employees rushing in ahead of me and saying that they had been called in on their day off.

At home, I got things in order for a cold, windy, snowy couple of days…

An auxillary heater for the fresh water bay of the motorhome. The furnace has ducts to the water bays so they get heat, but the arctic temps make it prudent to provide some extra help. The water bays are insulated but still, it is not a house. I don’t winterize it, although if they drop the forecast temps much more, I may reconsider. I keep rv antifreeze (potable) and it takes about 15 minutes to do. I’ve overnighted to -18 but it consumes a lot of propane to keep it warm enough to not freeze.

The snow thrower has fresh oil and gas. I started it up and ran it a bit. It is ready for action if needed.

But….this morning…woke to just a bit over 2 inches of snow. It is very windy and the temperature has been going steadily down all night and continues in that direction. It is now 12 at 9 a.m.. NOAA has regrouped on the amount of snow as well as the amount of wind and now showing partially clearing skies which WILL send the temperatures even lower. The driving in the valley is probably tough with wind and blowing snow – even a couple of inches blowing around is difficult. But, at my house, it looks like the “story” will be the cold, not the snow.

Twilight View

Last evening, I looked up from working just in time to notice the rising moon was large and visible over the mountains. I dashed out without gloves, hat or boots to the edge of my woods. The rising moon – not quite full – was brighter than bright and both it and the setting sun made the mountain tops glow a pure white.

I do hope I get another chance at a rising moon/alpenglow duel. The reflected light off the moon and the mountain top snow contrasted against a clear blue sky was magic. A winter storm is forecast for this weekend – blizzard warnings until 5 p.m. Saturday at the moment. If it storms and if it clears for Saturday night, the full moon view could be spectacular…

Sun on the Lake

I took a long lunch break to go for groceries. Karl was with me and we always walk on a path in Somers on the way. The road skirts the northern end of Flathead Lake – separated from the lake by hay and wheat fields. It was a gray, overcast day with very few cloud breaks…

…except one dramatic hole in the clouds across the lake…a hole that let wide bands of sunshine through. I have a fondness for rays of sun through the clouds – it feels like God’s particular show for me. Today, in addition to the rays through the clouds, the lake seemed to glow just to the green side of turquoise, despite the overcast sky. The contrast was surprising and beautiful.

Sun on the Lake.