Heat! And tile. And stairs. And a trench. And smoke from the chimney. And shares still much needed.

Photo copyright Aji, 2017;
all rights reserved.

We have heat!

The small woodstove, the one whose flue runs up through our bedroom, was installed yesterday, but we couldn't use it until we had a chance to burn off the paint residue (and therefore the fumes). We did that today. The second stove is installed, too, but it was finished too late in the day to do the burn-off, so we'll do that tomorrow. It's beautiful, though. And given that it got down to something like nineteen overnight, having this one functional is very welcome. I have to say, though, that even with only the space heater and the electric blanket, we were warm enough last night — that's how energy-efficient our house is, and how solid the construction is. But the stoves will be exponentially less expensive than space heaters.

We got a lot more accomplished today, too (aside from tearing my hair out at intervals over the pace and the stress and the money and my health). For one, the start of the downstairs bathroom tile:

Photo copyright Aji, 2017;
all rights reserved.

Also a drain in the back, where the guys trenched it yesterday to deal with the runoff from these newly-heavy storms:

Photo copyright Aji, 2017;
all rights reserved.

Sherm spent the day installing the PVC pipes and putting the gravel into the trench.

The other guys worked on the stairs for the deck:

Photo copyright Aji, 2017; all rights reserved.

It's beautiful work.

And there's the smoke from the chimney:

Photo copyright Aji, 2017; all rights reserved.

We haven't had a woodstove in seven years. Our heating bills should go down by an order of magnitude or so.

And there's a lot yet to do and a long way to go.

And while it got up to around 55 today (and is slated for 65 tomorrow), winter is obviously here at night, and there's a lot more cold to come. As close as we are, there's too much to be done, and that means a lot of labor, which means a lot of expense, and a lot of materials to buy and damaged goods to replace. So here are the links:

• Wings's direct PayPal link;
• Wings's site, for sales;
• Lowe's cards (the physical version) via our Amazon wishlist;
• Lowe's e-cards (delivered via e-mail) here; and
• Home Depot cards via the company site. The e-version using my e-mail address is great; I take the tablet to the store with me, and they scan it off the screen.
• Our Amazon wishlist generally.
• Wayfair gift cards, to replenish all the furnishings that the RV has destroyed in one way or another.
• Partial registry #1, from Bed, Bath and Beyond. It's not complete; what's on it so far are drapes for the upstairs, associated curtain rods, bath rugs for both bathrooms, and doormats and a few other miscellaneous items.]
• Partial registry #2, from Wayfair. Also not complete, but covers a number of the area rugs needed for the upstairs and some kitchen items. I've finally added a bunch of items to it, although nothing in the way of small tables or lamps or kitchen items beyond three basic things, because yesterday proved to be a time-suck of epic proportions, and today was more of the same. What I did get to is all of the rugs for the whole house, and a few basic furniture items. But about Wayfair, and VERY IMPORTANT: They make it possible to crowdfund each item. So if you'd like to help, but the prices are too much for one person? You can kick in 20 bucks, or ten, or five, on any one item; many small donations can add up to one item. Also, it appears that everything that was listed as out of stock/on backorder is back in stock. It's a slow process, but every day I find a few more items that fall into the badly-needed category, because the wiring and mold and lime and everything else in this toxic tin can has destroyed so much of what we used to have. I'm sickened by the amount of stuff we have to throw out (on top of the things that were simply ruined, such as the microwave fried by the wiring in this place).

Many thanks and much love from us both, for donations, gift cards, shares, recs, moral support, and just generally helping me not lose my mind. Not much has changed on the health front:  As I've been saying daily, it seems, this has been a difficult day health-wise, with my flare itself seeming to flare, no doubt in part due to our high winds and drastic weather changes. But there are also the breathing difficulties, and sundry other issues secondary to the AI problems, and so I am moving very, very slowly, and accomplishing things only with quite a lot of difficulty. I'm going to be slow, and late, and unfocused; please bear with me while we try to get into a much healthier space. We are both so thankful for each and every one of you who made it possible for us to sleep now, for the first time in seven years, in a safe and healthy (and warm!) place.

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Aji, 2017; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.