Fireplace Fail

We've been getting cold here, and we've been left out in the cold by the contracting company meant to install our heat pumps by the end of October. No matter many times we pester and contact them, the response is never promising nor informative. So we resorted to lighting the woodstove (miniature by US standards) over the weekend (it's about 40°F overnight, and warms up to almost 50°F inside during the day). Armed with the instruction manual, we followed directions to the letter. 

Ooh, it looks like we know what we're doing!

 But oh no! This happened

And soon the whole room was full of smoke - it huffed and puffed like an old steam engine. 

Ack! Nothing was coming out the chimney outside, so we had to shut it down, open every window and  run fans to direct the smoke outside. We sneezed, coughed and shivered while the cloying smoke cleared out.

So now the woodstove is sealed over with duct tape until we can get a chimney sweep to come and rectify what's wrong. I suppose the chimney's blocked ...

So much for having a backup!

Well Hung

Beef in the U.K. is 'matured' (dry aging) by hanging for a period of 21-30 days at a minimum. Longer hanging improves the flavor and tenderness of the meat fibres.

In the U.S. the hanging process usually lasts about 14 days.

And while we're at it, the price of a roast joint of beef starts around $6/lb, so yes the cheapest cuts here are similar to prices in the U.S. from my recollection. The pricier cuts are aged longer, and would be around $8/lb

False Ivy

 What is this? An artificial fabric flower woven into an English ivy (Hedera helix) plant on the outskirts of a parking lot. Why? Who does this? There were multiples on this plant.

The real flowers bloom between September and November, providing late season nourishment for pollinators. They've been attracting ivy bees and hoverflies for some weeks now.

Is Your Name Dale?

On a shopping trip to get groceries in Welshpool, 20 minutes drive from home, in the middle of the shampoo aisle, a woman we didn't recognize asked, out of the blue

"Is your name Dale?" 

Semi detached council-like houses in Welshpool

"Um, yes, how do we know you?"

"I sold you Isfryn. It was my Mom's house. I remember talking to you on the phone and recognized your accent while you two were talking to each other."

Boy, was that a surprise! We had not met the seller face to face, we'd only dealt through estate agents. What an interesting conversation that became in the middle of the store. She told us our house had been built in 1985, something we hadn't managed to pin down before. There was so much to share that it made for a very extended shopping expedition. She said she'd heard that Dale was involved in trying to get the broken bench near the well repaired (and she doesn't even live in our town!). What a small world.

We heard that she'd placed her parents' ashes in the pot of the cherry tree that had been standing in the middle of our lawn. Thankfully we hadn't ditched it (!), but had only moved the pot to the edge of the lawn so that it wouldn't be in the way of the lawnmowing efforts.

Interestingly, we had came across the local dog-groomer in town last week (we'd mistakenly committed to buying a yellow couch from him back in January) and he'd mentioned recently coming across the previous owner/seller of our property, and then we ran into each other, just 11 miles away! Small town living ... or rather small country living!