Imbolc \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Valentine Moon<\/p>\n
“Bob. \u00a0Gas man Bob.” \u00a0The sales rep from Centerpoint energy introduced himself, pronounced himself of German ancestry and therefore very excited about strong coffee, minor league baseball and variable speed fan motors.<\/p>\n
The second estimate is on the table. \u00a0Literally. \u00a0At the end of our kitchen table. \u00a0Reliance and Center Point. \u00a0Nice folders. \u00a0Roughly similar costs. \u00a0A few bells here, whistles there.<\/p>\n
Tomorrow Brad from Air Mechanical comes out. \u00a0He’ll be the last. \u00a0We’ll make a decision and should have a new furnace by mid-week next week. \u00a0At least 95%, maybe 96.5% efficiency if we decide we want the quieter variable speed fan motor.<\/p>\n
Owning a home means these kind of transactions go on all year. \u00a0The handyman fixes the door. \u00a0The snowplower clears the driveway and the sidewalk. \u00a0Ray cuts the grass. \u00a0Mickman’s opens up our irrigation system and closes it down in the fall. \u00a0We have a crew that washes our windows outside twice a year, cleaning the gutters at the same time. \u00a0It’s all part of a balance among the things we can do and want to do and what we’re willing to pay others to do.<\/p>\n
We do our own pruning, tree removal, garden amending, planting, bee keeping. \u00a0I maintain the electric fence and installed it. \u00a0We harvest our flowers, vegetables, fruit and honey. \u00a0We’re lucky that we can sort tasks out along these lines. \u00a0It makes life so much easier.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Imbolc \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Valentine Moon “Bob. \u00a0Gas man Bob.” \u00a0The sales rep from Centerpoint energy introduced himself, pronounced himself of German … Continue reading Running the Manor House<\/span>