I played around with the fireplace last night. I haven’t made a real fire in the past year. There were a couple of those fake fire logs stashed in the cabinets that I found after I moved in. I burned them last Christmas, just because they were here. I have some real wood now, so I decided to try it out. I haven’t started a fire since winter before last. I moved here before wood stove season at Stringtown Rising last year, so I missed a year. I had a hard time learning to make fires when I lived there. It was a big accomplishment when I finally started being able to regularly start fires from scratch, and keep them going. I’ve still got it!
I didn’t have any real kindling, but I grabbed some twigs and dried weedy stuff on the fly out of the gardens around the yard, was real persistent, and made fire. Then I let it die because I really just wanted to go to bed, but I went to bed satisfied.
P.S. I will have the Buck Stove checked out before I remove it. I’m not a fan of it, but I don’t know why it may have been installed, and neither do the previous owners, so it does bear some inspection.
Mim says:
Might be interested in this if you are going to sell it. :pawprint:
On November 17, 2012 at 12:34 am
Sue, a Florida Farm Girl says:
Good for you. There may be a valid reason for its placement, and you may just find that it suits your needs very well.
On November 17, 2012 at 11:28 am
janet gordon says:
The likely reason the woodstove insert was put there was bevause an open fireplace is one of the least efficient means of heating. Most of the heat goes up the chimney with the smoke.
Given that, the current insert you have is no longer cutting edge and you need to look at your budget and a specialist’s opinion.
And as for getting a good fire going, once you acquire that knack it doesn’t leave you – I’ve been burning a woodstove for about 35 years now and of course, it’s second nature. Make sure you have a good hot burn at least once a day to rid yourself of creosote build up too – you really don’t want a chimney fire – been there, done that.
On November 17, 2012 at 11:39 am
whaledancer says:
There’s such an atavistic sense of satisfaction in building a fire, a connection with the first cavewomen ancestors to bring warmth and light to their homes. “I can make fire. I can overcome winter. I can survive.”
On November 17, 2012 at 3:44 pm
Old Geezer says:
When I finally write a cowboy novel one of the characters will have to be named “Buck Stove”.
On November 17, 2012 at 6:12 pm