Woodstove Unveiled
October 9, 2008
Written by: Katie
The stove is now happily installed in the house. We still have to open some windows to cool things off when we use it but oh, we enjoy it so much. There was great excitement when the wooden box came in and Jeff used the pry bar to open our package. I had pictures but I was forced to take them with the kids’ camera due to my missing battery charger. And I’m not going to share with you the details of the stove unwrapping because I don’t like the pictures the little camera takes and I can’t stand to edit them. I find myself throwing my hands in the air repeatedly when I look at the pics. "What will I do?? These can’t be salvaged!" And I used to be perfectly happy with my little camera.
At night we close up the house and stoke the fire. In the morning there are coals and we stir them up, throw some wood in and start all over again. I figured out ho to make alot of smoke billow into the house when I tried to revive the fire one morning. One word. Damper.
Now we need to teach the kids how to feed the fire. It is not a complicated procedure. And based on my boys’ current preoccupation with fire (although it seems they never outgrow it) I should never have to tend to the stove again. I’ll just sit near it and warm my tooshie.
The warm air pools in the diningroom and kitchen. Then it seeps into the livingroom making it toasty warm (and if you have a baby sleeping on your lap it gets overly warm). Then it slowly meanders up the stairs and into the sleeping quarters. It remains to be seen whether the master bedroom will stay comfortable but thankfully we have 3 warm bodies all snuggled in one king size bed with two quilts and many pillows available. Jeff is like a heat pump and I’m sure I’ll have no trouble find a place to warm my feet.
Thanks, Honey!
October 9th, 2008 at 11:48 am
Beautiful! I want one!!!
We grew up in a house with an un-heated upstairs, but we all survived just fine, and I think it makes you healthier to not be so warm all winter. If you stay closer to the outside temp it’s not such a shock to your body when you go in and out of the house. Like you said, Dress warm and have lots of heavy blankets handy; it makes backing up to that warm stove so enjoyable when the house isn’t a perfect 72 degrees. ;-)
There’s nothing better than the smell of a wood burning fire, mmmmmm. . . I’ll be right over to inhale. LOL.
October 9th, 2008 at 11:53 am
What room is that in?
October 9th, 2008 at 12:16 pm
That looks exactly like the one I have on my wish list! :)
So happy for you!!!
Love,
Chas
October 9th, 2008 at 1:50 pm
We grew up in an antebellum home with just such a stove. One thing we had was a dutch oven of water or a pan of water on it in the winter to allow warm steam in the house so the air wasn’t so dry. In later fall, a pot of soup was kept warm there as well. Be wary of paper used to start a fire, ours at one time caught fire in the L because a friend had begun a fire using paper (we used kindlin) and the piece flew up where it caught inside pipe soot buildup on fire, it was never seen from the interior of the house, but caught floorboards between floors on fire first. You will love your stove, it truly become part of what makes a house “home”. Our asthma children have always slept without heat upstairs, dressing in warm sweats with a blanket and quilt, they have healthier winters that way…and when we did move to a modern house, as we are in now, we learned after one very full of sickness winter, the colder air is much healthier for knocking out viruses, etc.
October 9th, 2008 at 3:28 pm
During my childhood we lived in VA for a year and had the most wonderful woodstove. It was during our first adventure in country living. I loved it. I think our woodstove was called a Ben Franklin. Enjoy! :)
October 10th, 2008 at 4:35 am
It’s called a “pot belly” stove. And I wish I had one. You can cook up a good stew on that thing, or custard, or creamed rice…….
One is permitted to dream……….
October 10th, 2008 at 6:04 am
My husband is feeling behind on the wood cutting. How big is your pile? Will this be your only source of heat?
Last year at this time we were already using the wood furnace… so far we haven’t stoked it yet. We let it get down into the 60’s in the house before we do that.
Our pile is tiny. I suspect we (they) will be cutting wood all winter to keep up. :) Yes, the furnace was removed during our unintentional remodel. It is wood heat all the way. -Katie
October 19th, 2008 at 9:27 am
Katie,
Where did you get yours? I really like the simple look of it. All the ones I can find are supper fancy models. We are looking at a house that has a wood stove set up, but no stove.