Home Elevator

[Gwaithmir]

I recently had a landscaper come over to give me an estimate on some tree work I want done this month. When I mentioned that I had an elevator in my house, he was eager to have a look at it. He never saw a home elevator before. He rode it from the cellar to the attic and down again. Afterward, he was as giddy as a kid who had taken his first amusement park ride. 

A home elevator is so much cooler than one of those chairs that glides up and down the stairs.

I would ask what things you need to have moved upstairs (or down) and then do it one by one.  LOL

Well, the first thing I needed to move up and down stairs was myself. I have advanced arthritis and severe mobility issues. If not for my elevator, I would have had to sell my house and move into an assisted living apartment.

My elevator is a necessity for bring in my groceries and carrying my clothes to the laundry, which is located in the basement. The elevator also goes up to my library and attic.

[Gwaithmir]

A friend came over for a visit yesterday. I asked him to get something from the attic while I was preparing lunch. It was the first time he'd been to the attic since I had the stairs removed. He was impressed with the quality of the carpentry work. 

[Gwaithmir]

The house was a bit stuffy when I returned from visiting Mom yesterday. The phone rang as a went to the attic to turn on the ventilator fans. Fortunately, my elevator has a phone in the cab, so I didn't miss the call. 

[Gwaithmir]

I finally managed to get a Mahjong game arranged at my house. Marge is an elderly woman who was a regular player at the Chester Senior Center before this Covid business closed the place down. She came over Friday, along with my houseboy, and we played for nearly four hours. Like me, she has trouble with stairs, so she found my home elevator an absolute delight. Hopefully, we'll be playing Mahjong each Friday afternoon from now on. I might be able to get my brother over as a fourth player this fall. 

[Gwaithmir]

The cooler days of autumn have arrived. My houseboy will be removing the A/C's from the windows and putting away the attic ventilator fans next week. As usual, summer passed too quickly.

[onlinebiker]

Yup. We took the window shakers out this weekend too...

Next thing is putting away the patio furniture and bringing in the woodshed (mounted on a trailer) and filling it up with seasoned wood.

[Gwaithmir]

Yup. We took the window shakers out this weekend too...

Next thing is putting away the patio furniture and bringing in the woodshed (mounted on a trailer) and filling it up with seasoned wood.

Before I had mobility issues, I would bring in my firewood on the third weekend of October. I heated my home with firewood for 40+ years. Most of the wood was harvested from my own land each spring. I miss the whole process of cutting, hauling and stacking, the aroma of wood burning and the cozy image of smoke curling from the chimney on a cold winter's day.

[onlinebiker]

I have gotten out of the cutting and splitting business as much as possible. I have found woodcutters are happy to get rid of green wood in the spring. Everybody wants seasoned wood.

We have enough barn space to store and season many years worth of wood. It gives us a good advantage. When you buy green wood - you don't get any dry rotted. 

We go through 4-5 cord of wood on an average year heating the house and shop. ( cord = 3.625 cubic meter of stacked wood)

[Gwaithmir]

I have gotten out of the cutting and splitting business as much as possible. I have found woodcutters are happy to get rid of green wood in the spring. Everybody wants seasoned wood.

We have enough barn space to store and season many years worth of wood. It gives us a good advantage. When you buy green wood - you don't get any dry rotted. 

We go through 4-5 cord of wood on an average year heating the house and shop. ( cord = 3.625 cubic meter of stacked wood)

I was burning nearly five cords of wood annually for the first few years I was living here (1976). I was clearing a lot of dead trees from my property at the time and the house wasn't well insulated. My wood consumption was consistently at 3-5/8 cords annually after I had the house insulated and double-paned windows installed. Upgrading to better windows during the mid-1990's lowered my annual firewood use to 3¼ cords, where it remained until I had to give up wood heat around 2015.

[Gwaithmir]

Hooray! My kitty entered my elevator this morning and rode from the cellar to the main floor without getting scared.