Think cold, then colder

Life seems to whir by anymore. It could be that we have a two-year-old...or chickens...or busy everyday lives...or an old house to fix up...or visitors here. Nonetheless, I often think "Hey, I need to post that!" and weeks go by, while I ignore the story, until I see a picture of the event. Things like this picture, which was a result of a mid-winter furnace fiasco.

See, for some reason every time we have loved ones visit, something major happens. LIKE, 4000 ladybugs invade our house...or the water in our well runs out...or the septic backs up. Small issues like that. We kind of laugh about it, because it would just figure that things would run smoothly until we need them to. No wonder Iowa's population isn't growing, the houses revolt whenever they have visitors!

This past January- in the dead of winter - my mom came out to help me with some "accounting issues" I had with my city job (ok, and to visit the grandson). We thought, "Hey, this would be a wonderful excuse to add on a wood-burning stove to the main furnace, we could keep the house warm for mom!" Small job with my handyman husband, right? So, three days before she comes (yes, I know, error number one, but we didn't get a lot of notice here, ok?) we head to the hardware store and purchase one of these stoves (for 25% off, might I add!).

We have a couple over for dinner, and as us women cook, the guys spent the evening downstairs hooking the add-on into the existing furnace. It's going really well, but they have all of the heat turned off for this, since it's a bit dangerous to cut into the side of a burning furnace. We have heavy coats on because it's about 4 degrees outside. And windy. But, the guys make so much progress that Phil decides to just stay up a few more hours and hook the rest of it up - "All it has to do is hook into the chimney!"

At 4am he trudges up the stairs. "It's not going to happen."

"What does that mean?"

"Well, I unhooked the furnace from the chimney, and found that the liner is aluminum, and crumbling."

"What does THAT mean?"

"It means I can't hook a wood stove up to it because it is too hot to use with aluminum. And I can't hook the propane furnace up to it because it could leak through the liner and poison us to death."

I look at the thermostat, a weak 39 degrees, and force a smile.

"So...what do we have to do to fix it?"

After a long sigh, he explains how he will have to get on top of the roof, remove the old liner, insert a new liner into the chimney, and hook up the stove and furnace to this one.

Ha. On top of the roof, half covered with snow...in wind-chill factor of -15...SURE...

OR no heat for a 1 week visit with mom. Not to mention the rest of winter.

(Note to reader- sorry, I thought this was going to be a short post...)

The next day, neighbor Mike happened to stop by. (I was told not to call him because Phil didn't want him to worry.) When I explained the story, he walked through the house, looked at the work Phil had already done, went home to get a space heater, and informed me his plans had changed because our project seemed more exciting than his original plan. Austin showed up a short while later- willing to work even given the new circumstances, and the three men spent the rest of the morning, afternoon, and evening hauling lining up on top of the roof where Phil assembled and dropped it down the chimney. At 9:30pm we were able to turn the furnace back on - safely.

Mom arrived the next day to a warm house.

Amazing.

So, my parents are here again this week. I would write about all we are doing but I will save that for my next post. Really, really exciting stuff. But I mention this because there was no large fiasco this time (knock on wood). Though the weather was awful for the previous weeks, it has been gorgeous since they arrived. Sunny and warm. Maybe the house is turning a new leaf, deciding it doesn't hate visitors after all? Your guess is as good as mine, but I am sure thankful for it!