Home: October 2006 Archives

I was going to tell you about my trip to Walton's Mountain. Instead I have to tell you about my chimney. I scheduled an appointment with a local chimney sweep for our annual cleaning of the chimneys so that we can safely heat and enjoy our winter evenings by the fireside. Wednesday the sweep was scheduled to be here at 4pm. He showed up at nearly 6:30pm. I plainly asked him if he could properly clean our chimney at night. He answered that it was no problem whatsoever. His assistant got out the ladders and brushes and climbed his way up 27 feet to the top of my chimney. The sweep, a retired fireman, came inside and set up his vacuum and dropclothes and other things he needed. The pair spent the better part of an hour brushing and vacumming. They cleaned up the mess, loaded the van and wrote out an invoice. I paid them $109 for about 45 minutes work. Not a bad hourly wage, huh? Saturday evening we laid a fire. Two things happened. One, the chimney would not draw. Two, the fire would smother out when we closed the stove door. What could be the problem?! The chimney sweep just cleaned the chimney so there couldn't be an obstruction. With smoke backing up into the house and with burning eyes we smothered the fire and gave up on it. Sunday morning, early before the sun came up, I set about to see if I could get a fire built. I opened a window just in case there was a negative draw in the chimney. Once the fire started it would burn clean and bright as long as the door was open. Close the door and it smothered out and set about smoking. We checked outside and smoke was rising from the chimney. Exasperated I closed up the fireplace and let it smother out. I planned to call the chimney sweep, you know the ex-fireman, and have him come out here and show me how to start a damn fire because for the first time in my life I can't start a damn fire! Grrrr! We heard a sudden wooomfff from the fireplace and thought well, that had to be the change in draw. Sure enough the smoke was now rising at it should up the chimney and not back into my livingroom. Defeated and pissed off I closed it back up and gave up on it until this week when I could clean it out and call the manufacturer to find out what they had to say about their noncatalytic combustion and lifetime warranty. Steve went outside to check his work on the roof. I went to the kitchen and began making the kids a late lunch. About 20 minutes later Steve came in and says, "What did you do? Smoke is pouring out of the chimney. Is the fireplace overburning?" I looked him and told him to open it up but first open the windows in case smoke started backing up. Holy Smokes!! He opens the stove door and up in the very top where the chimney pipe is was a blazing fire. We had a chimney fire in a chimney that was supposed to be clean as a whistle. A chimney fire has a roar to it that sounds like a train traveling down the tracks at a fast speed. I have heard many things describe as a sound of a train, including a chimeny fire, but this is the first time I have expereinced it and I can say that indeed it does sound like a train. Steve began raking out the burning coals. I got on the phone and called the chimney sweep and had to leave a message that I had an emergency. The sweep called me back immediately. I told him Steven was raking buckets of burning material out of the stove that was falling from the chimney. He seemed to not believe me. He promised he would have someone come out here and check the chimney about this week. Tuesday was as early as he could fit me in. I was angry but held my tongue and explained I paid him for a clean chimney and did not get a clean chimney and I want what I paid for. He agreed and was apologetic to the max. Steven kept sweeping out burning bits and pieces and eventually the fire up the stove pipe was out. We closed the fireplace and let everything die out. The chimney will be cleaned again tomorrow but I imagine after the burn it is clean as a whistle now. Again today I will clean out the firebox, vaccuum the brick liners and clean the smoked door and windows. Maybe tomorrow we will manage a warming fire in our fireplace to put all of this behind us. We are fortunate that we did not sustain any damage. We had our chimney lined last year with a stainless steel liner and the stove vent pipe. The fire did not cause any harm. I urge you that if you have a fireplace and use it at any time have it cleaned and inspected every year by a licensed chimney sweep IN THE DAYTIME when they can look down it and see the inside more clearly. A chimney fire in a normally constructed chimney can burn your house down. Don't wait. Call a sweep today and take care of your chimney. Give your family a safe warm winter. I am still a bit nervous about it all. And my house still smells of lingering wood smoke.

Yesterday was a busy day. Gracie saw the doctor and did some pulmonary testing. At this point in time she does not have asthma. The tests show her lungs and lung capacity to be well above normal. She is extremely healthy. Should she have another episode like she had last month in Georgia when we ended up in the hospital the doctor will begin testing her for allergies. Steven had his well baby check-up, too. He is 28 3/4 inches tall. He weighs 21 lbs 9 oz. The doctor was very impressed with his growth and developement. She says, "I what can I tell you? He is a perfect baby. He can't get much better than he already is." This we already knew. :-) I took Gracie to school, filled out all of the forms and left an emergency inhaler with school nurse. Just in case. Since it was a cool rainy morning it felt like a perfect day for chicken and dumplings. I add a few peas and carrots for color. After making the dumplings I baked it in a pie just like my kids love. The flakey crust on top is the best part. Brush with a little beaten egg for a beautiful crust. Colby had to leave for school and I served her up a helping with extra crust before I remembered to take a photo of the dumpling pie when it came out of the oven. Mmmmm ... delicious buttery crust. Then I baked pumpkin pie. Steve had requested it. Served with whipped cream and a touch of grated nutmeg. Because I like to please everyone I also baked a carrot cake. Yummy cream cheese frosting! They were all good! Tonight - leftovers. **Update The recipe for the chicken and dumplings can be found on my recipe journal.

Those rains we had last month? Did more damage than we thought. This is what my dining room ceiling looks like this morning. This is part of the original house. Lathe and plaster ceiling. Very cool. This baby has been doing this since we came back from Georgia. He turned 8 months over the weekend. I suspect he may be walking before the month is out. He is very brave and lets go without having his balance. He is very cool, also. I am not so sure I am ready for him to grow up so fast but I am excited to be in his presence and able to witness every single one of his success to date. I pray I am always blessed to do so.