It was 27 degrees when I went to the barn this morning. The tank heater was working great so I didn't have to chop ice. That's a wonderful thing. The horse "apples" in the turnouts were frozen to the ground. After a few minutes of scraping I gave up and decided to finish that part of the daily routine at a warmer time. There was frost everywhere so we have started feeding hay in the mornings in addition to the evenings. This adds a bit of time to the barn work, but I bought some new gloves, so it's not as bad as it could be!
Lee has found that working in the shop when it is this cold is impossible. Cold weather and bare hands on metal is not conducive to a pleasant day. So we have been looking for a wood stove and today we bought one. The stove weighs about 300 pounds, so the man we bought it from loaded it in the a long pipe attached to his tractor front loader. Sort of a jury rigged fork lift. I love the ingenuity of the local farmers! Lee then backed the truck into the shop and we used the engine hoist to get it out and on the ground. Boy, that thing sure comes in handy. Lee said it was worth buying even if you didn't use it for engines! It sure makes moves moving heavy items around the shop easy.
The stove has a bit of rust, so we think we will paint it. A bit of cleaning will help! Then we have to figure out the location of the chimney and then buy and install all the sections. It is a TALL roof to accommodate lifting up trucks to work under them. We may need to consult a contractor or do it ourselves and hope for the best. And THEN we will get "free" heat.
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