End of fall

On the 5th of December, we hosted an open house for Brian Klipfel for people interested in masonry heaters. To our surprise and delight, over 20 people showed up, many staying for hours. People are interested in non-fossil fuel heating alternatives and certainly masonry heaters are one of the most efficient ways to do it. In the picture you can see some of our guests looking at pictures. Ted LaMastra is the guy in the back with a hat on. He did much of the masonry work for our foundation.
That was the last fling of fall. It started snowing and by midnight we had over five inches. The seasons have changed.

Our masonry heater

Well, we cranked up the three-ton masonry heater again last weekend. It was down to 55 degrees F inside and 20 degrees F outside, so we decided it might be time. It worked beautifully and we baked yams, hubert squash and biscuits as well. The slow cooking does a great job.
In these pictures, Linda is cutting scones from our first baking back in March.
Another image shows the kitchen side of the heater with its oven big enough for pizza.
The heater is ornamented with Mercer tile from the Moravian Tile Works in Doylestown, Pennsylvania. The dragon has been a Loder badge for a long time.

We took a few more pictures in September. Here is the south side the week before the soybean harvest and Linda standing by the heater. We fired it up for the first time this season this last weekend. I guess we were impatient, because it was up to 70 degrees F by late afternoon as a warm front passed through.
The heater was built by Brian Klipfel of Amazin' Masons—a fine craftman and artist who did a beautiful job.