Today's funny

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A small success!

When we first moved here to The Burrow it was spring of 2003.  My oldest, Boy, was 1 and I was hugely pregnant with my oldest girl, The Human Crash Test Dummy.

After THCTD was born (in April), I spent the summer and fall improving the house, building a door to the upstairs, taking down all the weird hooks one of the previous owners had put up everywhere and the hideous, cheap shelves another had.

Then winter arrived.

We discovered v. quickly one of the problems with owning an old house.  There is NO insulation underneath the floor, and the hall, which used to be the porch connecting the house and the detatched kitchen, had gaps between the boards that you could see down into. All of the windows and doors leaked; you could stand in the parlour and feel the wind when it blew outside - which is often.

So I spent the first winter tacking up plastic on the windows, and caulking, and weatherstripping.

My average monthly gas bill for heating was $450.

In subsequent winters I put up more plastic, hung heavy blankets or drapes over little-used windows, and this last summer, I finished installing curtains in front of ALL exterior doors (in the British fashion - you draw them aside when you want to use the door.)  Here's a v. fancy version:

My gas bill (and my electric bill in the summer) has dropped by over half but I didn't really realise the huge difference until this morning.  It's supposed to be 21 degrees tonight and it was right at 30 this morning, but when I walked into the kitchen it didn't feel any colder.  The heater no longer runs constantly (I have it set at 68) and the house is pretty comfortable all over if you have long sleeves on.

Winterizing, success!  (Finally!)

Heroic mule!

This was just so weird I had to blog it: Lou the mule saves Tennessee woman from fire.

"Jolene Solomon [snip] had just finished eating supper on New Year's Day when Lou's braying and acting up got her attention.


Solomon, 63, who lived alone, stepped outside, she saw her house was on fire. She called 911 and as she waited for firefighters, her home and everything in it burned to the ground.


She said her father bought Lou years ago to help her and her late sister, Blue, around the farm. It took Lou months to get over the loss of her sister.


Solomon said she has 'lost it all', but credits Lou with saving her life.


Jolene is staying with family members and plans to rebuild her home. The home was built by her grandfather and she had lived there all her life."

The mule is clearly quite elderly.  I'm so sorry this woman lost her home but I'm glad she and the old mule are alright.  Did you catch the name of her sister, the original owner of the mule?

"Blue"