Its that time of the year again. The leaves are changing color, there is a crispness to the air, the house is suddenly damp and chilly. Time to light a fire! Pictured is the first fire of the season. This was after cleaning out the interior of the stove, (and the glass), and checking pipes and chimney. Starting the first fire is fun, there is just something good about it, the second and third fires aren't too bad either, but along about the fifth or sixth, its not much fun anymore, and you realize that winter is setting in and there are going to be lots of fires to keep going and ashes to clean out! I love my wood stove though. Its a Vermont Castings and the glass front was 'mandatory' as far as I was concerned. I saved for several years as my old Ashley died a slow, ugly death. I shopped around, compared prices, talked to 'experts'--even measured my house to make sure I would have the square footage. Things I like about my stove--it holds alot of wood, its a tough little critter, the glass front and the tremendous amount of heat it generates. Things I don't like (and 'if I had it to over again') ---too small--it could be a little larger, front loading ashpan--what were they thinking? (love the ashpan, but you have to open the front double glass doors to empty it instead of the side door and it makes an awful mess when you open the double doors--plus allows more ash to sift into the house). I probably would have gotten a little more of an 'industrial' size stove with a glass front if I had known what I was doing at the time. But all in all I like the stove. Someday I hope to get something like an electric fireplace to help warm up the front. My house has two large long rooms connected by a narrow hallway, so the front part stays a bit nippy in the winter. It sure is nice though to curl up in my leather recliner (a marvelous yard sale find!), next to the fire during the winter! Despite all the mess it creates you can't hardly beat wood heat---its warm! I find it hard to adjust to most central heating systems, as I'm used to a more direct warmth. Enjoy with me the start of the new season, gaze into the fire and dream of resting beside it with a good book! :-)
Wednesday, October 18, 2006
First Fire of the Season
Its that time of the year again. The leaves are changing color, there is a crispness to the air, the house is suddenly damp and chilly. Time to light a fire! Pictured is the first fire of the season. This was after cleaning out the interior of the stove, (and the glass), and checking pipes and chimney. Starting the first fire is fun, there is just something good about it, the second and third fires aren't too bad either, but along about the fifth or sixth, its not much fun anymore, and you realize that winter is setting in and there are going to be lots of fires to keep going and ashes to clean out! I love my wood stove though. Its a Vermont Castings and the glass front was 'mandatory' as far as I was concerned. I saved for several years as my old Ashley died a slow, ugly death. I shopped around, compared prices, talked to 'experts'--even measured my house to make sure I would have the square footage. Things I like about my stove--it holds alot of wood, its a tough little critter, the glass front and the tremendous amount of heat it generates. Things I don't like (and 'if I had it to over again') ---too small--it could be a little larger, front loading ashpan--what were they thinking? (love the ashpan, but you have to open the front double glass doors to empty it instead of the side door and it makes an awful mess when you open the double doors--plus allows more ash to sift into the house). I probably would have gotten a little more of an 'industrial' size stove with a glass front if I had known what I was doing at the time. But all in all I like the stove. Someday I hope to get something like an electric fireplace to help warm up the front. My house has two large long rooms connected by a narrow hallway, so the front part stays a bit nippy in the winter. It sure is nice though to curl up in my leather recliner (a marvelous yard sale find!), next to the fire during the winter! Despite all the mess it creates you can't hardly beat wood heat---its warm! I find it hard to adjust to most central heating systems, as I'm used to a more direct warmth. Enjoy with me the start of the new season, gaze into the fire and dream of resting beside it with a good book! :-)
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2 comments:
Hi Tammy, well said. We had our first fire of the season this week, too. Now Brian wants to know when we're going to have another one...kids are all pyros at heart! Last Sunday we spend the whole day at two different clients' places, cutting, splitting and loading a total of two cords of oak, trading the value off their bills. Cheaper than having split wood delivered, like the one cord we had already bought. Our wood store is a Fireplace Extraordinare, a fireplace insert we had seen and liked at a home show. Mandatory glass front here, too. Your's is sure pretty. Ours is too BIG for our house. We ordered the 36" size and didn't realize they sent us the 42" size until we had already rocked it in and they sent us the 36" doors that didn't fit. It cooks us out, and takes a LOT of wood -- 22" lengths!
Hi Michelle,
Fire building is already old ;-) We had a spell of nicer weather, but its turned nasty again. I do love the glass fronts--so peaceful to look at. My stove isn't very big, but I think it weighs around 500 lb..... so it isn't going anywhere for awhile. What do you pay for a cord of wood delivered? I used to help my cousin and family cut/stack wood when I was a kid. It was fun then, but it sure is alot of hard work.
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