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We now have our new Resolute Acclaim stove installed, as of yesterday. Here are some photos of the final stages of preparing the hearth area.

The hearth floor - my first time laying tile. Not too bad, eh?

The hardibacker cement board mounted to the wall on one-inch spacers (to provide airflow behind the wall shields):

The hearth complete with the wall shields tiled and grouted. The grouting was done on Wednesday, and I came down with a bad stomach bug that day. I got the one side nearly complete before I gave up and called Ken and asked him to come home. I spent the rest of the day lying on the couch, moaning and watching him work. He finished wiping down the side I had grouted, and then grouted the other side.

And here it is, all installed and ready for action. To cover the ugly thimble, we mounted hardibacker board, and will tile it at some future date. For now, it looks fine! When the installers came, the one guy walked into the living room and said "Whoa - that's great!" He had seen how that corner looked originally, when he came for the site check, and I think he had doubts about how we were going to make it better, but he was impressed.

We started the break-in fires yesterday, so we should be ready soon for regular use. It's just so nice to have this project done! Ahhhh.....

Found this, called "The Ten Cannots" the other day:

* You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift.
* You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong.
* You cannot help little men by tearing down big men.
* You cannot lift the wage earner by pulling down the wage payer.
* You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich.
* You cannot establish sound security on borrowed money.
* You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatred.
* You cannot keep out of trouble by spending more than you earn.
* You cannot build character and courage by destroying men's initiative and independence.
* And you cannot help men permanently by doing for them what they can and should do for themselves.

--William J. H. Boetcker, 1916 (often attributed to Lincoln)

It's been a busy month since my last entry. We've had folks visiting, helping with getting various things done like stacking wood, picking up apples, and painting the K-1 tank. We've sheared sheep, worked on the hearth, and of course, brought home a new puppy!

Ken's dad and Aunt Betty visited for a couple days and helped with getting two cords of wood stacked, and more trees cut in the woods. My parents visited for a week and couldn't sit still either :-) so windows were washed, apples were picked up and applesauce made, and the outside K-1 tank was painted. (Really, we are extremely grateful for everyone's help.) During that week, I went to NY and picked up Jake, our new puppy, and a snowblower from Ken's dad. After I got back we got the sheep sheared. In between I started more work on the hearth, getting the walls spackled and primed and painted, and then we put down the cement board in preparation for tiling. The stove is due to be delivered next week. We actually have the tile base done now, and just have to create the heat shields for the wall and tile around the thimble to pretty it up.

More photos forthcoming, but here are some pictures from the last month.

Jake on his first day home, 9 weeks old:

Tired pup:

Jake on Oct 26th, 11 weeks old:

Chocorua Lake and Mt. Chocorua:

Mt. Chocorua:

Hearth area with walls spackled and primed, ready to paint:

Hearth area painted (wall color is greener than this photo indicates), and cement board hearth base installed:

Naked sheep:

Very soon now we will have a new addition to the farm. We are getting an English Shepherd puppy from the Blacksheep Homestead Farm in Rock Stream, NY and are *very* excited. The English Shepherd (ES) is a type of old-time farm collie. More about farm collies can be seen at the American Working Farmcollie Association website. If you look under the link for Registered Dogs, you will see Blacksheep Kermit's Flame (known as "Piggy") listed. This is the mother to the litter that our pup is coming from. The PRGN registration is a working registration, not based on a standard of looks, like the AKC would use, but based on a dog's abilities in three areas: herding, guarding, and hunting.

From the AWFA website: "The American Working Farmcollie, also known as the Old Farm Shepherd, (Old Shep) was once the most popular dog in the country. As descendants of the Old Scotch Collie, the farmcollies were versatile dogs, indispensable to farmers in the 19th and early twentieth centuries. During that period, it was this dog that most Americans thought of as a “collie”, although they were quite different from the AKC collies of today. The Farmcollie in this country quite likely also carried the blood of other types of herding and shepherd dogs that were brought here from Europe, but he remained a dog that clearly showed his Scotch Collie heritage."

Tish Toren of the Blacksheep Homestead Farm has selected her dogs to be good all-around farm dogs, which is exactly what we need. Piggy's description on the AWFA website says it all. Tish has selected a pup for us that she believes will work well with our Icelandic sheep, which as a breed is more independent-minded and not strongly flocking. He will also be able to keep the poultry from roaming where they shouldn't, guard against predators, and of course, be a wonderful companion.

Today's entry has nothing to do with sheep or chickens. But I hope you will read this and give some thought to the ideas presented.