In which the Pellet Stove is again functional

My last post ended on a note of hopefulness that was not to be.  Despite repeated applications of PB Blaster, and the purchase of a vise, and much prying and pounding and the best attempts of anyone who wanted to give it a shot, the auger and auger motor are still stuck together. So - given that we were not sure if the motor would have survived the separation attempts - we ordered a shiny new auger and guaranteed-to-still-work new motor. 

The items arrived promptly (Thanks, Vicky!) and once I got some caulk for the hopper (since I'd had to remove the hopper to get the auger out), I was all set to put things back together.  Filius and Filia chipped in with assistance, and things got put back together.  I turned the stove on and the motor worked, and the auger turned, and ... the auger was a lot harder to turn than it was when last it worked, and the motor didn't behave quite the same as it did when last it worked.  Had I forgotten to add some lubricant somewhere that needed it?  I emailed the stove tech help line and got a prompt answer:  No. 

And so, I added some pellets and started up the stove.  After a few weeks of silence, hearing the hum of the motor was odd.  But it WORKED!  And although the room blower didn't kick on, another email to the tech help line resulted in a troubleshooting step which solved the problem (THAT's what those two wires are for!) and we've  got a functional stove once again. 

The test knits had to dry on their own, though. They were delightfully fuzzy and a total change from my cotton counterpane yarn.  I might need to design a shrug or cowl or something with the same yarn -- it would be like wearing a cozy insulating cloud, minus the damp clamminess.  If the cowl was dry.  If it was damp and clammy, then it would be JUST like wearing a cloud.

I've two pairs of glove and a pair of mittens in my mending pile.  All of them have holes in the thumb, and all the holes arrived within 24 hours of each other.  They belong to three different people.  What are the odds of that?  (And they were made and/or last mended in three different years, I think.) 

This week has held editing and lots of harp playing for me.  And a bit of knitting.

Also, some Sudoku problem-solving.  My mom gives me a page-a-day Sudoku calendar, and I keep up with it throughout the year.  She came across one which stumped her, and popped it (in black) onto a nifty dry-erase Sudoku board she has.  I tackled it (in blue) and came up with the sticking point, which was solved by the X-Wing method.  I snapped a picture of it after erasing some of the 2s which the X-Wing showed to be impossible, and circled the 5 which I was able to place as a result of the extraneous deletions.  And from there, the puzzle behaved itself.