A Visually Uninteresting Update
When I post a new update, I like to include images which I think y’all will enjoy. Sometimes though, things are happening at the Cross House which are visually…dull. This does not mean to suggest that nothing is happening. Indeed, this week, while visually uninteresting, has actually been quite exciting.
But, without exciting images I tend not to post.
Just now though I thought: pish posh! PISH! POSH! Just let everybody know what is going on regardless of exciting imagery!
As such…
…after much much much ado, the huge curved glass window of the round tower, first floor, has been ordered! I am soooooooooo excited! I am beyond excited!
Since 2014, a piece of scratched and dirty Plexiglass has filled this opening after the original curved glass was cracked in half. In October of this year I actually took advantage of the Plexiglass…

…to hang this behind the Plexiglass. I figured if somebody had an issue with my, ahh, interests, they could not do much damage to Plexiglass.
Also this week, an electric blanket I ordered arrived. Squee!!!!!!!! But, of course, y’all are now thinking: What does an electric blanket have to do with the Cross House?
A few weeks ago I would have asked the same question.
Well, you see, one of the last line items to the 2017 Heritage Trust Grant is repointing the north chimney. But…but…here in Kansas we are now officially in iffy weather time. And one cannot repoint when temperatures hit 30-degrees or less. So, the expert at US Heritage Group, where I purchased the correct mortar months and months ago, recommend covering any repointed areas with an electric blanket if the temperature were to drop below 30-degrees during the 28 day curing period.
These last two weeks have been witness to 30-degrees or less nighttime temperatures, but the upcoming week….
But, I need 28 days. Which cannot be forecast. So, while I can go ahead this week with repointing, I will have to pay special attention to the upcoming temperatures. If a scary night(s) or day(s) is forecast, I will hang the new electric blanket over the precious new mortar and, crossing my fingers, all will be OK.
All this makes me laugh (but not in a good way) as I was ready to repoint the chimney months ago. But, one cannot repoint, either, when temperatures are 90-degrees-plus. So, I decided to patiently await the ideal temperature window, you know, like a month of 70-degree weather. My good intentions though were dashed—dashed!—by the sudden arrival of freezing temperatures. In a word? Fuck.
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Trust Ross to wrap the Cross House in an electric blanket to make sure it doesn’t get too cold! Pamper that house!
Hopefully it won’t rain and be cold at the same time, because that would truly be fuck, fuck, FUCK!!
That window will be great to see in! Those curved pieces of glass….so beautiful and so hard to replace. Can’t wait! I am also excited to see you hop into mortaring. I need to do some myself, and am feeling a bit daunted. Very interested to see how you tackle it!
Oooo, new curved window ordered, exciting!
Lucky chimney, it will stay warm this winter.
Ross, pictures are a fantastic addition to any post. However, your writing is marvelous and humorous and can stand alone.
It is satisfying!
BTW, I thought that the expression was Pish Tosh, but it turns out that they are two different expressions that mean slightly different things. Here’s a link to comparisons
https://www.quora.com/When-is-it-preferable-to-use-the-phrase-pish-posh-instead-of-pish-tosh
I have been wanting to ask you for ages about the chimney but didn’t want to make you crabby…didn’t want to be like a naggy sister. But I also didn’t know about that 28 day period. Gosh, you DO have weird weather in Kansas,
because here in central Illinois it hasn’t gotten colder than 30 degrees at night…YET.
Anyway, I can’t wait to see how the chimney work progresses!
How does one adjust a chimney without it falling down? Glad to hear that it has happened.
The electric blanket trick is something I may need to try too. I need to get some bricks reinstalled on my garage, and the window of above-freezing lows seems to be vanishing fast.
I had a Biden/Harris sign in my yard. Trumpers be damned!