In search of cheaper heat;

We've been looking at pellet stoves to provide our heat in the winter instead of the oil furnace and the wood stove we presently have. Our wood stove povides a good heat but it is getting pretty worn out (we have a brick on top of the inner lining because there's a hole in it. We're going to try and get a low interest loan through the government in order to get the stove and make payments. The stove itself is fairly pricey because we want to go for the higher end because in the long run it will be save us money. Presently it costs us close to $1,000. to fill our tank and we usually burn around $600 of that in a month. If we can get the loan it will cost us anywhere between $90. to $120. a month for the payments plus $5 a day for the pellets (the stove holds a $5.00 bag and that should last a day) so that's approximately $150. a month for the fuel and $120 for the payments if we get the most we can get, making our heating cost $270. Less than half of what we're paying now.

We will still use our present furnace for out domestic hot water and for a backup if we happen to go away for a few days and there's not anyone home to fill the pellet stove.

The end of this month we're getting a guy to come out and do an energy assesment on our home to see what improvements we should do in addition to the stove to make our home energy efficient. We know that there will need to be some additional insulation done in the bottom part of the L of our home. Our home is a storey and a half on one end and a storey on the other half forming an L. We also would like to replace a few more windows and finish replacing the siding.

Tomorrow is back to work. My back is still giving me problems and I have a doctor's appointment on Thursday but I have a feeling that she's going to say that I have to just suffer with it because there's not much they can do for arthritis. I find it so depressing to be in pain all the time and I've been missing so much work that I now wish that I didn't have to go back. I find I get that way when I've been off for a while.

Oh well, guess I'll just have to suck it up.

I now have 17 of the 76 Tarot cards done and they're coming along really well.. This is a sample of what they look like and I'm really excited with how they are turning out. Well, gotta go, see you on the flip side..