Yesterday Brenda and I were working on grading the dirt around the back (the walkout side) of the new house.  When we get it all smoothed out we will spread grass seed and straw.  We will not be watering it, as that wouldn't do any good.  When it starts raining in the fall, the seed should sprout.  I got to use the tractor with the front-end loader, and that left Brenda with the shovel and the rake.  I think I got the better end of that deal.  Lots of rocks.  Even though this was all topsoil, it is amazing the quantity of rocks in there.  That's one thing you never have to worry about here in the Ozarks, is running out of rocks.  That's why the farms around here are growing hay and cattle.  That's about it.  Not enough dirt to plow.

This is my wood-fired cookstove in the new kitchen.  I hope to use the wood stove during the cooler months when a bit of warmth from the kitchen stove will feel good, and then use the electric stove during the summer when it is hot.  It is a cabinet Glenwood number 8.  I like the looks of the cabinet style, rather than the kind with legs, and it gives me a storage space under the oven for my cast iron cookware.  It doesn't have a hot water resevoir, but I will have a 2 gallon teakettle on the stove when it is being used, so I will have plenty of hot water.  It's not all hooked up yet, so after the stovepipe is installed, and we have moved into the new house I will build a fire in the firebox and see if it works.  I got it through a place called "The Love Barn" antique stoves, http://antiquecookstove.com/

They did an excellent job of tearing it down and rebuilding it so it should function better than it did when it was new.  Highly recommended if you are in the market for a real antique cookstove.  If you buy a brand new one, you won't find one like mine.  They really don't make them like that any more.