Yesterday was a rainy, gloomy, dank, chilly day. The sort of day in which a stone house gets just that little bit too damp and uncomfortable. The sort of day in which some heat would be nice.
However.
Nothing can ever be easy at Blackrock, you know? I wanted to just put the furnace on for a few minutes, just to take the chill and damp out of the air. Then A. discovered when he was in the cellar that the metal exhaust pipe that leads from the furnace into the chimney was pretty much rusted through. Which means the furnace would basically spew its nasty fumes into the cellar. Healthy.
So, without the option of the furnace, that left the woodstove. I always resist the first woodstove fire of the season. Not because I don't like the woodstove, or appreciate its heat, but because starting the woodstove means moving the extra woodstove chairs into the dining room, where the woodstove is located. Which means that room will be crowded and cluttered until May. I don't like clutter. I do, however, enjoy having warm hands, so A. fired up the stove and we toasted ourselves for a few hours before bed. Then, just for fun, I checked my archives to see when we had started the woodstove last year. (Because the first burning of the woodstove is always a noteworthy event. OBVIOUSLY.)
It was one year to the day since the inaugural burning of 2008. How's that for coincidence?
Wow, that is pretty predictable! I remember the feeling of the first fire of the year- the warmth is wonderful but the bittersweet passing of summer is hard to accept!
ReplyDeleteI remember using the woodstove at my grandparent's house when I was a little girl - though that was all they had until, I think, 1998 - even for cooking on. No Souffle's in that house.
ReplyDeleteBut how do you stand the smell of woodsmoke in your clothes all the time? That is one of the only smells that just turns my stomach. And yes, I am a riot to go camping with.
I, too, resist the first fire in the woodstove. I love the smell of the wood burning. And I love fall. The cool crisp (dry) air.
ReplyDeleteI hope you have a few more warm days before you need to turn on the warmth for the season.
ReplyDeleteWell we had a fire in our fire place on Sunday. Being in the southern hemisphere it made me swear and gnash my teeth because it's supposed to be getting warmer dammit! And then I snuggled up because, hey, it was cold outside. However, I will say that I am glad that it's going into summer here, though I do enjoy the pictures of snow-covered landscapes. Mostly because I donlt have to deal with them!
ReplyDeleteI'd turn our furnace on NOW if Bubba would let me. But he won't. Not until I've taken to wearing all my clothes and complaining without interruption.
ReplyDeleteSo, you know, a few weeks.