12th Feb 2017
At the moment we don’t have much going on, and what with that plus my tendency to share news more on Facebook, which I would never have considered when the Oakstump was envisaged, the family website is not as busy at it ought to be. To keep it ticking over (even though I suspect most of the time the Oakstump is not the most widely browsed site) I’ll upload a brief summary of what we’ve been up to each week.
We are still clearing Dad’s house, sorting through a lot of paperwork and small items, and last Saturday I spent the day there with Pauline and Rob sorting into “keep for the family” “Charity shop” “recycle” and “bin!”. It’s a long process, and we were glad of a break for lunch, sausage sandwiches with Kate and Simon, who were also having a break – in their case, from decorating.
It’s been a cold grey week of dog walking, damp and increasingly muddy. Today in particular was raw with a fine drizzle in a temperature that should have produced snow, and a biting wind. On Friday morning we had the lightest dusting of snow, only visible in bare earth, and more snow during the day, but not settling. Actually I don’t mind the cold too much, protected by a ski jacket and my Tigers scarf, but walking through mud takes the edge off of a dog walk. It will be milder by midweek, apparently. I’m looking forward to wearing fewer layers, but I dont suppose for one minute that the ground will be less squidgy.
As many of you will know, we spend much of our time cleaning the wood burner glass. Whatever we do, it seems to soot up quickly. Yesterday I finally got around to arranging for a chimney sweep to visit, arranging an appointment for tomorrow. Having got into “stove maintenance” mode we not only drilled some holes behind the stove for improved air flow (as recommended by the installer 12 years ago), but also removed, cleaned and replaced a “plate” inside the stove, which catches soot and ash that falls down from the chimney. With considerably improved air flow, the stove and burned without sooting up for 2 days. Less than an hour of maintenance had probably saved almost 2 hours of cleaning each week. Should have done it months ago!
Andree here for dinner today – still getting over a heavy cold, and so not quite her enthusiastic self. Chantal is also still coughing occasionally. I, on the other hand, am fit and healthy despite working two night this week.
Technically we live in Oaktree House, but sadly the tree had to go.
We now have a thriving Oakstump at the front of the house.
