Where's the song ~~ "Don't let your daughters grow up to marry a Cowboy" ?

​​​​​​​Life is tough! Requires hard physical work, long, long days of pain, dirt, and broken fingernails.​
​Days of frigid cold & scorching heat; through the dust & mud; daybreak into the darkness of nite~~​
​the heart & body becomes toughened & weathered replicating leather!​
​A forever constant factor for a real Cowboy's Wife is tons of sweat, oceans of tears and a constant 'drought' in the wallet!​
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​​​​​​​​​IF​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ she wants to spend anytime at all with her Cowboy, she must do as he does, you become partners!​
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​​​​​​Kick off your boots, grab a cup of coffee, sit back and envision yourself in my life!​
​... It really isn't that bad! There are many rewards to be had to make it a great lifestyle! ...​ ​​​​​​​


Tuesday, October 28, 2008

The Chimney Sweeps...

...are coming today!

Their names are H.O.W. & W.O.W.!



This picture is what one should look like,
in the true sense of the Profession.....
But....
Because Cowboy and I are both deathly afraid of heights, I'm quite positive we won't look so confident.
Fear will no doubt preside over our faces,
along with the soot!
Not to mention the fact that our roof line is NOT that flat! Ours has an 8-12 pitch!

That is STEEP!
(and no... I'm not talking Tea Talk!)




The next few hours shall be interesting to say the least.

Of course, since we are a family with a long history of Procrastinators, this chore has been put off way too long!
We must now, face our fears head on!
It has been downright chilly for well over two weeks, in the frigid range of 13º to 22º through the darkness.
Many a log has turned to glowing embers of scarlets and orange, already.
Smoke is infiltrating our breathing spaces each time the door is opened.

This old house has two, 2-story chimneys and the one with a funky crook in it's configuration has brought us nothing but billowing grief each winter.

Yet, for the sake of warmth which is nurturing for the heart and soul...not to mention for proper functioning of the hands that cook or these hands that want to blog, these chimneys are a blessing.

Thus far, this cold and blue morning, we have managed to kill some time by downing a pot and a half of coffee for courage as we sat in solemn silence.
Each of us secretly drawing from within the depths of our minds,
searching for the strength to carry out this dreaded task...

It is 7:18 am and the time has come!
...Without further ado, we must don our hats, gloves and coats;
grab the chains, the brushes and ladders!
We must meet the demons of creosote!

I fear, if we continue to drag our feet any longer,
we will cause holes to form in our souls soles!
New boots are on our list of things we cannot buy!

Just to make this more ordeal even more eerie....

The first time we were forced to clamber up the steep pitches towards the chimney top, was three Christmases ago (2005) in a pouring down rain.
We had had a chimney fire and all the burned off creosote came crashing down to that funky crook, plugging this whole chimney not allowing any smoke to leave. That fire smoldered for days. We were forced to hire a Pro Chimney Sweep.
Do you know they charge by the story?? It was way too costly, so we have taken on the amateur ways of a Chimney Sweep...do it yourself!
* * *
That cold and wet December night, was our second 'encounter' of having another "Presence" amongst us.

* * *

Maybe I'll post about that for Halloween...but it is the truth, and Hydro was here to witness it too!
Even the mere thought of, or the mention of, gives Cowboy the willies,
so I think I'll wait until this sooty story is behind us to remind him of that night's encounter!


By the way...if you don't hear from me in a few days?
You might send the search & rescue our way!
(Does not mean they'd find us though, Fed-ex never can!)
Silence on my end, could mean that our fears got the better of us
and we took a giant "leap of faith" and landed elsewhere....
OR...
the "Presence" reappeared at an untimely moment!


OOOooooowwwWWW




(Sorry, but I had to enable that word scrabble thingy...spammers are getting me
and I cannot find the "garbage can" thing to delete their nonsense!)

27 comments:

Sarah said...

Oh boy. Good luck...

Janice Thomson said...

What a hoot you are Barb! It's always such a pleasure to read you.
Good luck with chimney cleaning - just don't look down :)
Now what's this "Presence" all about?? You got my curiosity piqued...

PS: I had to add comment moderation just yesterday because of spammers - porno ones- yuck!

Train Wreck said...

Hey I am on my way!! I hate heights too, but I would get ashed just for you!You are supposed to clean your Chimney? Hmmmmm! I better get Cowboy up there! Every year he say we are going to get a Heating and cooling unit...he means well. Good luck up there! I don't want to hear talk of not hearing from you! No I will worry all day!

Train Wreck said...

Chim chiminey
Chim chiminey
Chim chim cher-ee!
A sweep is as lucky
As lucky can be

Chim chiminey
Chim chiminey
Chim chim cher-oo!
Good luck will rub off when
I shake 'ands with you
Or blow me a kiss
And that's lucky too

Now as the ladder of life
'As been strung
You may think a sweep's
On the bottommost rung

Though I spends me time
In the ashes and soot
In this 'ole wide world
There's no 'appier bloke

Up where the smoke is
All billered and curled
'Tween pavement and stars
Is the chimney sweep world

When the's 'ardly no day
Nor 'ardly no night
There's things 'alf in shadow
And 'alf way in light
On the roof tops of London
Coo, what a sight!

I choose me bristles with pride
Yes, I do
A broom for the shaft
And a broom for the flume

Though I'm covered with soot
From me 'ead to me toes
A sweep knows 'e's welcome
Wherever 'e goes

Chim chiminey
Chim chiminey
Chim chim cher-ee!
When you're with a sweep
You're in glad company

No where is there
A more 'appier crew
Than them wot sings
"Chim chim cher-ee
Chim cher-oo!"
On the chim chiminey
Chim chim cher-ee
Chim cher-oo!

Hahahahah! Just for you my chimney sweeping friend!! You are in Glad Company! Love you! Top that LL!!

Anonymous said...

Oh...I am so laughing at the song!! Too funny!!
Yeah, we put that lovely chore off as long as possible too...that 15 year roof has made it 24 years, but I think we are pushing it just abit, so no walking about up there...not that Trapper's complaining!! Good thing it's still clean from the last brushing. We are suppose to get something called rain here by Friday...I hear it's wet...hard to recall that sorta thing, been so long....
Hope your chore turned out well and that you're both safe and sound.

Five O'Clock Somewhere said...

Be careful up there, I am terrified of heights too! I think I should start looking into getting my chimney cleaned this year! We might use it if it ever gets below 80 degrees here! That song just cracked me up Train Wreck!

The Blonde Duck said...

Don't fall down! I want to hear the ghost story!

Egghead said...

OH I love a good ghost story. Tell more! We also clean our own chimneys...3 of them. But our house thankfully does not have a steep pitch. We just finished that task last weekend or I should say farmer did that while I blew the leaves and fir needles off the roof and out of the gutters. Team work.

LL said...

"Top that LL!!" WhyIotta...

Ok... If I were closer, I'd come sweep your chimney and let you and HOW sit and watch. Heights and steep roofs don't bother me at all...

RURAL said...

Well, how did it go?

Jen

Anonymous said...

Barb, Can you hear me.... are you there.... is it time for search and rescue? Helloooooooo! Make sure you wipe your feet before you come in the house! (((hugs))))

Ranch wife said...

Hi WOW and thanks for stopping by my blog. I love love your name by the way. I had a chuckle over it.

we clean our chimney ourselves as well. It is a hoot. I can't do heights at all. I hold the ladder for DH, and tell him I will catch him if he falls. :)

Have a great day, and don't fall!

~M~

GeckoGirl said...

Pops cleans the chimney at their house; Mom and I aren't "heights" people! I can climb a ladder just can't get down :( So Pops tells me stay down there and yell for your mom if I need help. He sings while he's up there(he can't carry a tune in a bucket)and the dogs howl along with him. :@) It's a hoot!! Happy Halloween!! ~Teresa~

Theresa @ Take A Sentimental Journey said...

oh my gosh ! Ya'll be careful ! It makes my hands start to sweat just to think about getting up high !

You also brought a memory back to me, now I am on a quest to find a pic I will need to make a post.

I can't wait to hear the story about the encounter !

Jenn said...

Oh My Goodness be careful!

Train Wreck said...

Hello, Are you still on your roof ?? Aw, LL I was just playin! You know you are my favorite far away cOWBOY!

Renie Burghardt said...

Oh, my, hope the chimney sweeping went well, Barb, and both of you are uninjured and well! Let us know!

Hugs!!!!

Renie

Sage said...

Hope the sweep goes well, and all your ashes are swept up along with the rest of the debris. Let us know you and Cowboy have survived this height thing; I don't like heights either.. scared of falling though I know it is the landing that would hurt more than the fall :-)

Freak Magnet said...

I've got my fingers crossed that neither one of you are heads down in one of those chimneys with only your feet hanging out as I type this. We have two chimneys too and I HATE heights! Thank God for 7 sons right now!

Midlife Mom said...

Hey! We NEED to hear from you and know that you both survived the chimney cleaning! I don't like heights either so you have my sympathy. My hands started sweating just reading your post!

Isn't that Train Wreck a hoot?! That was cute putting that song in. Now I will be thinking about that song all evening!

So sorry your son lost his job. You are right he has such a wonderful attitude but it IS a mothers job to worry and I do my job well!!

Linda said...

Stay safe up there!

Theresa @ Take A Sentimental Journey said...

You come down from there ya hear ?
The cinnamon rolls you just mentioned to me sound yummy, and of course with good ole coffee.

DesertHen said...

Oh my, this post brings back memories of living in Idaho. We lived in a two story house, very steep pitch in the roof. Hayman had had an accident in August, severing his toes from his left foot....long story. He was down for eight weeks....which meant NO wood cutting for fall and winter wood for the woodstove. We were forced to buy a pellet stove to heat our house with. In comes the chimney sweep.....he had to clean out the chimney before we could install the pellet stove. He tried to do it the old fashioned way with all of his brushes, etc.....but that failed to produce the results that were needed. So he brought in this HUGE vaccuum, placed it in the living room where Hayman was residing on the couch with his foot in the air ( metal pin inserted in big toe ) The chimney sweep turned on the contraption and left the house to get back up on the roof......I looked over at Hayman and he was ghost white!! The vibration of the machine was traveling through his body via the pin in his foot. It was terrible! I had to scream at the top of my lungs for the man to come down and turn the machine off...he didn't hear me for twenty minutes or so....so by the time it was turned off, Hayman was but a ghost of his former self. He was sick the rest of the night from that encounter! We laugh about it now, but back then, it was awful!

I can't wait to hear your ghost story......

terri said...

Oh, I do hope it wasn't too treacherous and the chimnneys are now sparkling clean! You wouldn't catch me up on a roof either. I have a DEATHLY fear of heights!

Greyhound Girl said...

So not as fun and merry as in "Mary Poppins"?

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said...

This is fabulous.Great post!Thank you for sharing.Keep it up!!!

- chimney sweeps danvers ma