The heat is on

...and we haven't died from carbon monoxide poisoning. Yet. (ahem)

After a rough start involving regulators (bad advice from 2 hardware stores - WTF, people), we finally got the heater hooked up and operating. As in: Keith crawled under the house with the spiders while I fished copper tubing through the hole and then he did the rest. He's good at that!

So, yes, it's definitely not as attractive as the old stove (which was a beaut), but the efficiency and reliability factors went through the roof with the new one, which runs on propane. We set it on the LOW setting and it keeps it at 70°+ all night. That's with the window cracked the width of my fist to prevent aforementioned CO poisoning.

The black part on the floor that was under the old stove will probably stay (ugly as it is) until we re-do the floor as part of the Murphy Bed Project, so that means who knows how long. Anyway, it's a concession we're living with.

Having heat indoors means we can, theoretically, work on the interior of the house over the winter and you know, cook meals and use a toilet of some fashion. Wow, won't that be an exciting day. The kitchen counter and sink are waiting patiently. Me, not so much with the patience.

Of course the dogs are very happy to have heat, too.

But having a heater doesn't mean they still don't get in bed. I was fooling myself thinking it would. Nothing short of pigeon spikes could keep these two down.

Don't let anyone tell you short-haired dogs don't shed. They do. In enormous amounts. I swept the day before I took this shot.

We're enjoying a mild, if rainy, fall and haven't seen any trace of snow in the valley. It frosted a couple of weeks ago, but otherwise plants are following the late seasons we've had all year. Here's a panorama from the (covered!) front porch of the tiny house. Click on it to see it larger.

I finished up Ashley's senior portrait session (4 in all! whew) and was pretty happy with the final results.

It took me a bit to find my groove and match up what I had in my mind with what I was able to produce through the camera. She was a good sport, too, and very patient with me. If it turns into some referral business, great. If not, it was still a good experience.