Wood, Woodstoves, Waiting and Wants

Sweat cleanses from the inside. It comes from places a shower will never reach. ~George Sheehan

So... I had a nice stack o' wood in my driveway -- DD and I worked like dogs (not my dog, but...) and got one done. It was also a matter of avoiding all the yellow-jackets which, for some unknown reason, are behaving in a strange manner this year. Even my neighbor has commented on it. They are VERY active, and oddly friendly... even going as far as to land on you -- but NOT stinging! And they are everywhere. The wasps, too. I've lived her almost ten years now, and don't remember this happening EVER. They are particularly fascinated by the wood.

Anyway... back to our stack...

DH came home and was suitably impressed by all of our hard work and, jokingly grabbed a huge log and said, "Here, I'll help." and slammed it down against the end. And, yep you guessed it, the end toppled over and the pile fell.

***sigh***

Now, to answer some of your questions:

Melissa asked: ...how do you keep it burning all night long. Won't it get cold at night?

Melissa, we pack it full to the brim and then "bank it" but shutting down all the dampers until they are nearly closed. The fire will burn almost all night that way. DH goes to bed late, and I get up early so we almost never let the fire die at all through the entire winter. It gets a little cooler at night, but to be honest that's almost a relief -- there are days it gets to be in the mid-80s inside with the stove cranking!

Jen asked: What kind of stove do you have?

We have a Vermont Castings brand... I can't remember the model. It's a little bitty thing, though. When we got it, DH's dad said there was no way it would have the power to heat our house. BOY, was he ever wrong. Once it gets going, it heats the WHOLE house, including the upstairs.

Amy said: I...smelled someone's wood burning fire and nearly wept.

It's funny you mentioned that. I bumped into my across the street neighbor today and she said she was so excited to see the wood in our driveway, because she LOVES the smell of our stove. During the winter, she'll stand outside and just... sniff. LOL.

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I now have two things out on submission: "Return to Stiller Creek" with Samhain, and "Perilous Love" with Womans World.

I hate waiting.

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DD just finished reading the first book in a new series by Warrior's author, Erin Hunter. The series is called "Seekers" and the first book is "The Quest Begins". She LOVED the book (as she loves the Warriors series -- she's so wrapped up in that set of books, you'd think they were real. She even has a notebook full of herbal remedies that are mentioned through the stories).

Yesterday at the library she asked me to find the second book. I said, "It's not out yet."

She was quite disgruntled. "Don't they know I read fast?"

Now, DD knows about being an author, as she's watched me. She knows how hard I work at writing, and how long it takes. So, I brought that up. "An author can't write 60,000 words overnight. I'm sure she's doing the best she can."

But, in the famous words of Veruca Salt, she said, "I want it NOW."



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So, I'll be stacking wood this weekend. What plans do YOU have?

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