As I'm writing this post at 11:00pm, it's 17 degrees outside. It's October 12th, people!Dan got our wood burning stove all set up about three weeks ago and we've been using it sporadically. But now, it's going full force!
Amazingly, it keeps us pretty warm in our bedrooms at night, and if you time things just right, it doesn't bake you during the day (although it has gotten up to 94 degrees in the living room when we've had it loaded with wood.) I'm still trying to perfect my fire starting skills, when to add more logs, when to open and close the damper, etc. I'm often so distracted by the kids or my other chores that I forget and have to start the fire again. Other times I forget to turn the fan on to circulate the air into the rest of the house and we start melting in the living room and I have to open the front door. Nothing quite like a fire blazing with the front door wide open! I'll get it figured out eventually.
This is our current setup. It's kind of an eyesore, a huge jail in our living room, but it keeps the girls from tripping and falling into the stove. We've been loving the ambiance and the warm, natural heat that the stove gives off.
By popular demand, here's a picture of me in my rainboots as the girls and I were heading to church this morning. It was quickly made clear that while these boots are waterproof, they are in no way warm. Looks like I have some more online shopping in my future! (Notice how Amelia is jabbing Mystery Boy, trying to put him in his place and remind him that SHE's still the baby.)
Amelia loves to tag along with Daddy when he goes to the wood pile. She didn't last 2 minutes tonight before she showed up shivering and begging to come back inside.
7 comments:
yeah for snow... Sadly Midway only got a sprinkling of snow and then it melted away... then the clouds disappeared and it just got COLD! But I am not too worried, I know that there will be plenty of snow to come!
Oh... I am loving the boots, but where in the BFE, is your Jacket... HEllo? I feel cold just looking at you??
... Oh, and is Dan wearing cowboy boots??
Awesome!
Freezing...holy cow! And snow--we could not believe that we had it too!
Oooh I wish it would snow here! I love the cold weather although it is nice not to turn on the heat and save me some dough!
We had a wood burning stove in NY and I was totally paranoid about the kids falling in to it since it was in a high traffic area of the house. I was told by a number of people to leave it alone and just be extremely strict about the kids NEVER playing on the bricks where the stove was mounted even when it wasn't on. They also said that any fences/gates or things we tried to put around it would actually be more dangerous for the kids since it would be a false sense of security and they'd get pretty darn hot adn could burn them if they touched it (the gate). It was also mentioned that when the fire was going it would give off enough heat that the kids wouldnt' get anywhere near it anyway. All of these things proved true for us (and my kids were all under 4). The biggest problem I had was keeping myself safe - at one point I did put a hatchet through my knee. The stove is great for power outages. I loved having it.
Anyway, I'd ask around about that gate. Maybe I have no idea what I'm talking about and people in NY are nuts and we just got darn lucky(I could totally see that).
Gram and Grandad Cox would be so proud of you and your wood stove - and your pioneer skills. I am pretty sure that Gram had to learn all those skills when she moved to Wyoming too.
# 1, way cute boots!
#2 - nice wood burning stove, though I don't envy you having to haul your own wood. We had a stove when I was growing up in Vernal. Thankfully I had 3 brothers to haul wood! My mom actually baked bread in ours! We always had a pan of water on it to add to the moisture in the air
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