Chimney Sweeping on the homestead and what not to do.

 Chimney Sweeping on the Homestead

 If there is one thing I can tell you about this experience it is; you need to know what you are doing ahead of time. I must stress that we didn't know, and we made some mistakes on our first try.
Step one: always start at the bottom.

When you embark on your journey, don't do what we did.

Well, after we got the sweeping brush stuck in the chimney, we had to pull off the top three sections of the chimney pipe to get it un-stuck. I had to climb up onto the roof to help with that. Let me tell you, I was not thrilled. Little known fact, I don't care for heights.

Starting at the top.

Once we got the brush out Gary was able to see down into the lower sections of pipe and saw quite a bit of creosote built up in there. So he then proceeded to go into the attic to re attach the pipes and clean the lower pipes from that much closer distance.

Once that was completed we then went inside to the stove and that's when we realized that we had a big mess on our hands.

Realizing we would need to clean the debris.

I got to work after I spread a large plastic bag around my floor to catch all the debris.

there was so much creosote plugging up the stove I dug out as much as I could.

Then I got the vacuum and cleaned out the rest.

Creosote plugging up the wood stove vent hole. No bueno.

I guess the moral of this story is, If you don't know what you are doing, find out the steps first and save your self all the trouble of a messy clean up afterwards.

Of course all of our mistakes are now lessons learned(in what not to do) and we can pass this on to you.

First you want to place a large bag(paper grocery bag works well as long as your fire place is totally cold.)around the bottom of the chimney pipe ( the one that attaches to your stove).

Then you need to make sure that you have the correct size brush for your pipe.(measure the inside diameter of your chimney) Ours is 6" but we had an 8" brush. You do the math.......it means it gets stuck.

Once you have the correct brush for your pipe and you have put the bag around your bottom pipe you may now go up on your roof and sweep your chimney safely and with minimal clean up.

Next time we will do it right.

As I was searching for the correct brush size to replace the 8" with a 6" brush, I came upon a product I am interested in trying. I would love some advice if you know anything about it or have used it your self.

Here is the link:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002PC274S?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=ox_sc_mini_detail&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

As always, I wish you all 

Peace.Love.Joy

~ Vicoria ~

Homestead Kitchen Update

Click here to see the current Kitchen Update Video

It has been a while since my last  Homestead Kitchen Video.
Click here to see my first video.

This was in 2014, soon after we bought the property.

I look back at it now and  it's so funny how we get used to things.

I was used to filling jugs of water from a hose.

I was used to boiling my water on the propane grill.

I was used to washing the few dishes we had in two buckets on the table.

Fast forward a year and a few months...now I have a counter, with a double sink (I got on Craigslist for $25) and cold running water.

I still have to heat my water to do dishes and clean up with. 

But some how it feels like less of a chore.

I keep a large pot of water on the wood stove (we also got from Craigslist for half the price of a new Vermont Castings) at all times, so it's like having on demand hot water.

Water on the stove and my babies on the bed together by the heat of the wood stove.


I have so many favorite things in my new homesteading life, this picture represents one of the purest. The dog and cat lounging by the wood stove(their favorite spot) together.
It is a representation of the peace I feel here.
I can't tell you how much I love being here.
I feel joy every morning that I wake up here and look out the window at the sunrise.
I am truly  thankful for all that I get to do and share with you all.
I hope you enjoy this new Update on the Homestead Kitchen.

~Victoria

Peace.Love.Joy

Homestead Tip #2: Drying egg shells.

Maine.Homestead.Project Facebook Page

This is a really simple tip. once you have used your eggs, put the shells into a heat safe metal pan/tin

 and place them on top or to the side of your wood stove.(or in your oven on a low temp for 25 min.)

Before you know it they will be dried and ready to grind down into a usable form.


I do this daily, because we use a lot of eggs.

We feed them to our chickens and use them in the garden.

Here are a few links on the subject;

30 ways to use Egg shells!

6 Reasons to start using Egg shells in your garden!

How to Make Calcium using Egg Shells