There were advantages to a chimney fire phobia: When you’re cleaning your stovepipe every 4-5 days it never gets very sooty. I could knock the whole job out while the bread was rising. Should have considered that before I started today because stovepipe cleaning, one of the four chores I wanted to accomplish before 2 in the afternoon, turned into a two-hour job.
I mean, I knew it would make a mess. But you sweep it up and that’s that, right? In this case there was such a mess that I figured I may as well do something out of character and really clean up the stove and corner. Swear I get a little more suburban every day.
I need to fashion a tarp of the right size to lay down here if I’m going to go so long between stovepipe sweepings. After picking up the pile the floor tiles were still black. I have a new mop – there’s Mr. Suburban Man poking up his ugly head again – but I wasn’t going to ruin it on this job. So I ended up swabbing up the soot the old-fashioned way.
Then since I had everything torn apart anyway I went ahead and cleaned the wall tiles and dusted the wall’o’kitsch. Which unfortunately only points out how dusty the gunrack is. I may need one of those big dust mops on a pole. That new bedroom has corrupted me.
Now I need to pop the bread into the oven, and while that’s baking I’ll do the more traditional Joel winter chores: clean up the bread-making mess, sharpen the kindling hatchet and fill the woodbox. I’ve had the Jeep trailer in the driveway since before the pipes broke for the purpose of filling Landlady’s wood bin, but there’s a good chance that’ll get knocked back yet another day.
“That new bedroom has corrupted me.”
Good! Honest corruption looks good on desert hermits.
Hey good job Joel and remember it could always be worse. Doing this job is miles ahead of having your home burn down. Only one thing… don’t listen to “Mr Suburban man, next time use the mop. Mops can always be rinsed clean.
so what kind of stove do you bake your bread in and do you recommend it? Looking to get one myself and was wondering.
Also, if you are going to go full suburban man you need khaki pants and an button down
Caren, I have an antique Gaffers & Sattler cabin stove that apparently has always been jetted for propane, and that is also apparently so rare I’ve never even been able to locate another one for parts. So I don’t know what else to tell you – if this one ever goes TU I’m screwed, and it has scared me a couple of times.
Wow, that’s scary. Ummmm…two is one, and one is none – especially for an antique stove you can’t get parts for that is used for heat in your climate. But at least now you have the propane heater and won’t freeze to death if you have money and a reliable supply of propane. Have you considered having a modern replacement stove that you can get parts for on hand and ready to install?
I don’t usually use it for heat, Zelda. It’s a cookstove and at least the stovetop part is unlikely to ever fail. If it does I have a backup camp stove. If the oven fails – as it apparently did once, though it turned out to be a supply problem – I have access to two other ovens in the gulch. Inconvenient but not the end of the world.
But yeah, I was dismayed to learn I can’t find replacement parts for the oven. Also, other propane cookstoves turn out to be not very thick on the ground around here.