And the Wood Stove Won't Even

We went to clean out and get our wood stove winter ready and this was discovered. A broken ceramic sleeve for the metal tube that takes the smoke up the chimney.

Yes this is broken and not safe to use.

This was caused by our house settling. So we have no one around us who can fix this. We have called and no one wants to drive 3 hours to get to our place in the Ozarks to repair this. And the cold is coming next week. Around here people just do it themselves. But I am not a chimney sweep. So we called the guy who originally put this in for his advice but that answer will have to wait until tomorrow. Supplies we got and the store 45 minutes away has the fireplace cement. So it is looking like I am going to do this myself. Will have to post what happens in the next few days.

And while this is happening, we also have a leaking new pressure tank. The guys who put it in have not returned to fix this leak. This is the 3rd plumber who has not returned to our place in the last few years. Apparently, this is a common thing with some repair people in the Ozarks so I have been told by several locals.

Scary Halloween

My husband was having bad headaches last week. Then one day he got up, picked up the cat and almost fainted and dropped the cat. Then the headaches got really bad and affected his sleep. Nothing else seemed wrong with him but the episode with the fainting got us in to the our doctor the next day, Halloween. We then were told we needed to get a CT of his head stat. So we drove a hour and a half away to the imaging center that was under our insurance. I got to go in the CT room with him as he got to stick his head into the big magnet. Took only a few minutes to see it all, then go home and wait for the doctor to call. And I got a copy of his scans on a CD for my Christmas cards this year. That Halloween night the doctors wife called us and all looked fine. But the next morning we talked about the next step involving contrast and possible side effects (Chuck Norris wife had some). The headaches were subsiding and nothing was seen by the radiologist nor the doctor. We think after lots of tooth work from the dentist might have caused all these problem. He has not had as much dental work as I have. And I am used to living with many forms of pain over the years. We think his jaw nerve might have triggered these spasms of pain and fainting. As of today no more headaches and no more fainting. He is much too young to have these problems. It was a good scare and I prayed for everything. I am grateful nothing was found and happy he is no longer having pain issues.

Restoring Raggedy Ann

 A friend recently took down her old house to make room for her new one. In the attic she found her long abandoned childhood 36 inch Raggedy Ann doll. The clothes were gone and the doll was in a bad state. So she threw it into the washer and it got worse for the doll. She knew I restored quilts, furniture and bones and asked if I could restore her doll. Sigh. The only good news was the eyes are still made if you hunt around for them. The bad news is that the fabric is very fragile now.

The face stain is from the original cardboard behind the eyes. It was also a metal ferrule under the  wet cardboard.

Eyes are sold in lots and not pairs.

Looks better with the new ones.

Hair is matted up thanks to her dryer and pulled into a knot.

Opening the neck to pull out stains.

Had a tear on the face as I worked.

Moth holes covered with black tulle and fabric bond.

Eyes are now in, tear is stabilized and now I am working on the hair and stuffing. After that the dress needs to be sewn and fitted.