Frozen pipes!

What a start to our day!  The first true cold snap of the season froze up our pressure pump works.

We dismantled the pressure switch and thawed the pieces in front of the wood stove.  Since we had it apart anyway, we replaced the pressure switch and pressure gauge.

We then discovered that the pipes at the back of the house were frozen.  We put a heater underneath and after a couple of hours, the water was flowing freely once again.

In the meantime, Kenny and Dad went to town to buy insulation.  They came back with R-19 faced Certainteed.  We are hoping it will be sufficient to keep the pipes from freezing again.

Dad and I went under the trailer to put up the insulation.  We didn't finish until 5:30 when it was completely dark.

We also put up temporary insulation in the pump house to prevent further freezing there.  Within a couple of days, we'll need to properly insulate it.

The Big Dipper was beautiful tonight.  A Barred Owl called from one part of the homestead while another owl, possibly a Great Horned, hooted from another direction.  I tried to photograph the halo around the moon, but just couldn't get the settings correct.

I intended to make fire starters today, but I'm flatly too worn out.

Out with the old ...

... and in with the new!

When we purchased our home, one of the features that I liked the most was the old cast iron Earth Stove in the living room.  It has a large fire box and heats well.

The problem is that it heats too well.  It didn't fit in the hearth area, nor did it meet proper clearances.  The mantle would become dangerously hot whenever we got a decent fire going.

One of our first priorities was to replace the stove with one that was safer and more efficient.  A nice bonus would be the ability to see the fire in the stove for that perfect, cozy feeling.

We finally settled on a US Stove Country Hearth 2000.  It met our budget and is rated to heat a larger space than we have.  We got the bonus of a viewing window, too!

We bought a few items to round out the purchase.  I wanted a hearth rug to keep the carpet clean and safe from sparks.  We knew we wanted a fireplace screen to keep the little ones from getting too near the stove and were happy to find one with a star to match the patriotic decor in our living room.  Dad gifted us with a new cast iron hearth tool set.  An old cast iron dutch oven holds our homemade fire starters.

We are warm and toasty this evening.  We only lack mugs of hot cocoa, which I believe we will remedy tomorrow night.