Pretty much every time I venture outdoors this time of year, or when it’s wet any time of year, I pull on a pair of muck boots. (When I say “muck boots,” I mean it generically, not Muck® Boots the brand. Mine are Georgia Boots.) They’re waterproof, sturdy, easy to don and doff, and they’re relatively comfortable.
And let’s be clear here — muck boots are not Wellington boots. Real American mucks have actual support, unlike classic British “wellies,” which are flaccid and downright punishing to wear.
You’ll find both here in rural America. I prefer mucks. These Georgias are holding up well to what I ask of them on The Mountain.
Pro tip: The consensus seems to be that the quality of Muck® Boots has suffered considerably since the brand was sold by its creator, Jim Donohue, in 2003. Folks are raving, however, about a relative newcomer to the market — Dryshod®, which Donohue founded so that he could keep doing business his way. I’ll probably give Dryshods a try next time around.
The wind this morning was 6mph, gusting to 10mph, at the high end of what I like to see when I’m about to burn trash.
My concerns were eased by the fact that we’ve had over two inches of rain since Tuesday — even if an ember escaped, it wouldn’t catch on this sodden landscape.
I let the fire in the barrel burn down (which takes no more than five minutes, by the way), and then moved on to the next chore on my list.
Since the woodstove was cold this morning, I figured it’d be a good time to scoop the ashes out of the firebox.
I deposited them in the ash can outside, then returned the bucket to its place on the hearth.
This is the first woodstove I’ve ever owned that has glass in the door. It’s great for watching the flames dance (kinda like TV for Country folk) and keeping tabs on a burn, but that plate of ceramic glass doesn’t stay clean forever. Soot accumulates and eventually gets baked onto the pane.
I’ve seen all sorts of suggestions for ways to remove it, from complicated to caustic (like oven cleaner). Our stove’s glass had gotten foggy since we began using it, with dark buildup in the lower corners, so I decided to clean it today.
I pulled two paper towels off the roll in the kitchen, got one soaking wet and wrung it out. Then I bunched up the damp sheet and dabbed in it the thin layer of ashes that remained on the floor of the firebox.
I applied the ashes to the inside of the glass in a circular motion, putting a little extra pressure where the soot was heaviest. Once I was satisfied that I’d covered the entire surface, I used the dry paper towel to wipe it off.
It took less than two minutes to get the glass so clean it squeaked. If you haven’t tried this trick, you should. You’ll be amazed at how well it works.
I believe I’ve mentioned before that we compost whatever we can — vegetable scraps, coffee grounds, even juice drained from corn and beans and pickles. A three-leg journey begins in the kitchen, where anything destined for compost is dropped into a (covered) plastic coffee can.
When the can is full, we carry it outside and empty the contents into a (covered) five-gallon bucket. And when there’s no more room in the bucket, we take it to the lower level and dump it into the compost tumbler.
This morning, it was time to empty the bucket.
I’ll be honest with you here — when I take the lid off the coffee can, it doesn’t smell great. The bucket, however, which gets to stew much longer, smells absolutely wretched. It doesn’t vent and it doesn’t drain.
That’s just part of the deal.
Our compost tumbler, on the other hand — provided it’s been cookin’ awhile since the last time I added scraps — smells wonderful. Maybe that rich, earthy, Manure Lite aroma is something only a gardener or a farmer can appreciate, but to me it’s a sign that we’re doin’ compost right.
Damn, I love that smell.
As soon as I can free-up a few more concrete blocks (most of which are serving temporarily as stoops at the cabin doors), I’ll build a three-sided enclosure for an open-air compost pile to complement the tumbler. For now, though, what we have is working just fine.
Better than I expected, in fact. Life is good.
Take care of yourselves, Patriots. Stay calm. Stay sharp. Stay free.
#WiseUp #LibertyOrDeath #Ungovernable
#LetsGoBrandon #FJB