On Mon, 05 Jan 2009 14:47:06 -0800, tom.harrigan wrote:
Looks like we are in for a seriously cold night tonight - about the
same as a balmy Minnesota day. I reckon I will get about -12C which is
by far the coldest temperature I have experienced while living in
north Oxfordshire.

Yep. I think around -10C was the coldest I ever remember in the UK -
although to be honest I think the temperature difference stops feeling
noticeable somewhere around that sort of mark anyway. It's just sodding
cold, regardless of the actual numbers...

My house is about 350years old and I'm doing a rather extensive
renovation which is going very slowly at the moment.

Nice. Our place is late 1940's, so comparatively new - it's fun to work on
timber-framed places though (although gas-fired forced-air heating is
the worst thing ever; give me good ol' UK radiators any day)

I'm still doing wet
work - lime pointing and rendering and it's seriously chilly!

Heck, didn't even know you could do that kind of thing during winter - the
labels on most things seem to indicate that they stop functioning
properly below a few degrees C.

The wood cooker is pretty unusual here too. I've not met anyone who's
got one. Seems like it might be just the thing for a Minnesota winter!

I've seen one over here, but it was probabaly a good 100 years old (and
just a cooker, not something that also provided house heat). So does it
take an age to stoke up (so not good for 'quick' things), or are you
supposed to just throw a log or two on each day and just leave it
permanently running?

cheers

Jules