While tidying up the place, I went to open the sliding door leading to the back / south side. And lo! There’s a little birdie sitting on the ground in an area ever shaded and still damp from yesterday’s rain cooling off perhaps? We looked at each other and the next time I returned my mate had departed.

The ants here have studiously avoided our place thus far. Now that’s not an issue. It is simply not what I’ve grown used to back in California. These larger and reddish guys are clearly not from the same momma as their preto west coast relatives.

Yes, there have been more mice on the bus since my last report.

I’ve been slowly gathering information on how to get a masonry heater inside the Crestonia condo. The HOA says the main issue is getting the thing ok’d by the insurance company. So I called them and was pretty much told it should be UL listed or the equivalent and clean the chimney yearly.

Then I called a mason who had done a million over the last 22 years and didn’t know what was needed.

The sales guy for Temp Cast did though. He was politely blunt: folks have been building brick fireplaces here since the beginning and since bricks can come in different shapes and sizes, one can conclude a brick is a brick. Thus, a traditional masonry heater is simply a Site Built Fireplace.

There are three things that make RMH using a steel drum different from other masonry heaters. First, obviously, is the bell itself; second is the vertically placed wood so it burns up towards the fire box opening; third is single wall of the previously mentioned bell.

People have no doubt made all brick RMHers. Won’t be me though. Another option is to go full on wood cookstove. Stay tuned for the next episode!