primalmommy on sat 19 nov 05
Thanks, all, for ideas on heating my pugmill. I think I will have to
choose between moving the pug mill into the studio or moving the boxed
clay in. I think, since I can empty the pug mill until spring, the clay
will win.. but I will be better prepared next winter, and come up with a
plan.
I will hit tractor supply and look for that heat box, for sure. I have a
heated platform that the chickens' water hopper sits on, and have rigged
a box with a foil and wire bird bath warmer and some insulation onto the
water bottle on the rabbit hutch. I wonder whether either of those would
provide heat in a closed/insulated box?
Phil, maybe this is the year to run the cord to the neighbor's house,
though I may save that one for mid summer when the in-laws come to town
in the enormous RV, and hook up to our water, cable and electric to run
the oven, kitchen and air conditioner ;0)
The garage itself is freestanding, 70 years old, cinderblock, with big
windows on both sides six feet square. We built a storage loft up under
the roof last year, but the roof is just boards with shingles, little
black nails poking through and a few bats cuddled up in the creases
between the rafters. It HAD a nice little pot bellied stove, but when I
built the studio against its back I moved the wood stove out there.
Electric heats the studio just enough to keep the ice off the glaze
buckets, but when I go out to work in the studio I fire up the stove
(and put the teakettle on top.) I don't drink tea but it keeps the air
moist and warms my throwing water.
The garage used to have the old hinged wooden doors, but now has a
generic push-button automatic garage door. I'm kind of sentimental,
though, so a few years back I painted the hinged doors back on... a row
of stable windows and all. It fools the eye from the road but it's a
little surreal when you push the garage door button and it folds itself
in thirds and disappears. The vehicles have not set tread in the garage
for years - it's Jeff's wood turning space on one side, kilns/pug
mill/slab roller on the other, and all kinds of junk in between.
As for coal, Phil, that's how my neighbor heats his house.. so mine is
the one with the peeling paint ;0) (actually, the sooty siding.) We
burned coal to heat our country place when I was a kid, but winter
weather seems to bring asthma problems for me and coal smoke seems more
harsh that the wood stove I am used to.
We heat the house much like my grandparents heated the farm -- just the
sections we use at different parts of the day and night. My kids all
have wool lined slippers under their beds and sleep in thermal jammies.
I made everybody in the house a big square polar fleece bag with a
collar and hand/feet holes in the corners, and we pull them on over jams
in the morning or after baths. We all wear undershirts and long johns.
The thermostat kicks the heat on around the time we get up, and after
supper when we retreat to the woodstove end of the house, the furnace
turns down for the night. The kids are warm in bed under their
comforters by 8:30, reading.
We have a pretty good wood pile this year, so we hope to tread lightly
on the power grid when it comes to heat. Most days, though, my kids
leave enough lights on that we could land airplanes here ;0)
For now I am juggling the shipping deadline for my wholesale order with
producing some stuff for the holiday sales. I think I will have to make
some rules for my wholesale customer about giving me buffer time around
the holiday, since every kiln load of
she-could-have-ordered-these-a-month-ago replaces a load of
this-might-make-me-some-Christmas-cash pots. I wrote and said I would be
shipping in two batches, since I have to fire holiday sale pots in
between.
If anybody is driving distance from Toledo, the Heralding the Holidays
weekend is December 2,3 and 4. The potter's guild, glass blowers guild,
painters galleries, herb society, rockhounds club, photographers guild,
stained glass guild, etc. will be open to the public, with free cookies
and cider and lots of artwork for sale. Also a sit down meal and pretty
lights in the garden. If you come during the day, you can check out
Laurie Spencer's lovely teepee-sized coil pot dome. It's at the Toledo
Botanical Garden on Elmer Drive, if you're a mapquest junkie. Details at
http://www.toledopottersguild.org
Thanks again for great ideas!
Yours
Kelly in Ohio.. where hubby and 140 pounds of venison are on the way
home.
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