The experiment continues (November edition)

It was our first fire in the woodstove since… what’s it been? Four days? Last tended around 9pm Saturday night, it burned for five hours. By 2am it was down to ashes and a few small coals.

Smudge, in animated fashion, told me it was time to get it goin’.

I’ve been known to employ what a gamer would call “cheats.” Just two, though — paraffin-and-pine firestarters and a Bernzomatic propane torch. This was occasion to use the latter (instead of taking time to coax the coals into flame with kindling and such).

Within an hour, flue temp was 400°F and the cabin was cozy again. My Redneck Malinois approved.

I had two to-dos on my Sunday list. The first required a little prep.

Four jalapeños left over from last weekend’s batch of chili needed to be used fresh, frozen or dehydrated before they went bad. I’d had great luck with the peppers I dried in August, and that jar was almost empty, so dehydrating seemed the logical choice.

As before, I sliced each jalapeño into rings a quarter-inch or smaller and arranged them on my food dehydrator’s trays — seeds, mebranes and all. Only the stems went to compost.

These were fairly large peppers, and the four of them occupied two trays. I set the temperature to 135°F and the timer to four hours. (It’d probably take a total of 12.)

A half-hour later, the sweet aroma of jalapeños mingled with that of wood smoke in the cabin.

*The Weather Channel’s hourly forecast yesterday included advice.*

To-do deux was a bit more important than the first.

On Friday, I winterized the water supply feeding the cabin, about two feet of exposed 3/4-inch PEX. It continues vertically inside the insulated wall, breaking out into the open again after passing through the header.

What concerned me was the run in the wall. Though I intentionally relieved the fiberglass insulation (made a relief cut for the PEX, that is) to give the line some measure of freeze protection, it occurred to me that it probably needed more.

Yesterday I carefully cut away the faced insulation at the stud, from floor to (nonexistent) ceiling, and uncovered the PEX. I slipped foam pipe insulation (bought Saturday at Miller Hardware) over the entire vertical run.

I feel a lot better about that.

I folded the fiberglass back between the studs and secured the facing with tape. The stylish green accent stripe eventually will be covered with cedar paneling. (At least I hope it will.)

*Jalapeño rings after four hours in the food dehydrator. Lookin’ good, but still a long way to go.*

Sunday’s weather tested us a little. Temps hovered in the low 40s, which is manageable, but northwest winds blew steady at 15mph and gusted to 35mph.

There was no sun to help warm our world. Thick, gray clouds muted the vibrant colors I raved about in yesterday’s post.

But they were still there.

My attention remained on learning what I could from current conditions, so that I can apply the knowledge when things get a lot more challenging. (They will.) One particular lesson arrived in the form of a strong gust of wind against the west wall.

I heard it hit. But then, unexpectedly, I felt it — a strong, cold and sudden draft. It was as if there was an open door or window in the bedroom.

Like I’ve said before, this cabin is a tight structure. It may not be completely insulated, but it’s definitely not drafty.

And then the answer to the riddle dawned on me. I looked up.

When the wind hit the exterior wall, some of the blast was directed up toward the soffit vents. Polystyrene rafter baffles (pictured) are supposed to channel that air away from the living space and toward the ridge vent. This one, half-attached and flopping around, couldn’t do that. In fact, it did the opposite.

I talked in July about intending to re-secure a bunch of these baffles, which weren’t stapled properly when they were installed originally. The task sunk to the bottom of my to-do list and stayed there.

My bad.

I got out my step-stool and staplegun and worked my way around the perimeter of the cabin. The totals: 14 floppy baffles fixed, 58 staples driven, ten minutes. Easy.

It must’ve been an hour later when I heard gusts beating against the west wall again. This time it was a sustained barrage, lasting several minutes.

I didn’t feel a thing.