Wood burning wife

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My wife and my oldest daughter (she started at the age of 15) can bring wood in, start a fire, load, maintane a fire, my middle daughter can load the stove and maintane a fire, my youngest (12) can only maintane a fire. Now the dog, she only enjoys the fire. Hell, they all help bring wood into the house. Im lucky to have all these ladies help.
 
My wife is the daughter of a city fireman...freaked out by fire. Last march when we got the stove she hated it. Now almost a year later she loves it...hates it when I get a bit of smoke that has belched out on a reload, but she takes extreme pride in keeping the heat going.

I just wish I could convince her to pack it tight. She insists on one split at a time.

No need to be freaked out . . . you just gotta be very respectful with a woodstove and realize that it is a little more hands-on than central heating devices like boilers and furnaces . . . getting into a safe routine, practicing good preventive measures and making sure the stove is installed right from the get go is imperative.

Lots of woodstove-related fires up here lately . . . which some folks could construe that woodstoves are unsafe . . . however when you dig deeper you find many of these stoves were not installed per code/manufacturer's instructions, there were unsafe practices (hot ashes disposed improperly, combustibles too close to the stove, etc) and sometimes there was just a complete lack of commonsense such as not being prepared for the worse (i.e. smoke detectors, fire extinguishers, etc.)
 
My wife has'nt had to very often. I spoiled her with the Blaze King, in fact I don't think she ever had to load it. The Cape Cod has been the same so far. Long burns are nice! And with a big stove cranking, you just might get some clothes coming off!:cool:
 
My house has a geothermal system which turns into electric-forced air heat once it's below 45 deg F. The folks before us had $600 /mo electric bills in winter, and they never used the pre-EPA woodburning insert (He said he wasnt lumberjack material). I put the pre-EPA stove to work and cut it back to $400 /mo. Now with the new Osburn installed we are right around $200. She teased me for how excited I was to install the new stove, but now whenever her girlsfriends stop in for a chat and a glass of wine, it's always in the big chairs next to the fireplace. She likes saving money, but she loves the heat. She can and will start a fire from cold-iron, but has really gotten good at raking up the coals and building one from embers. She can get it firing hot in no time.
I haven't got her to cut/split/stack yet, but she is handy with a beverage or a sandwhich when the boys and I are working on "wood days" , and I am just fine with that. She will bring in pieces if needed, but I prefer to stay ahead of that for her.
 
My wife usually just throws in 3-4 splits. This week she's been filling it up a bit more. She did great.
 
Going to teach the wife tonight/this week at her bidding. I'll be traveling all next week and its gets nippy in the basement living room without the insert going. The 5 year old knows what to do, but need to get her to do the lighting. Based on the "kindling chimney fire" thread I'll be cleaning the chimney for the second time this year before I leave though.
 
Going to teach the wife tonight/this week at her bidding. I'll be traveling all next week and its gets nippy in the basement living room without the insert going. The 5 year old knows what to do, but need to get her to do the lighting. Based on the "kindling chimney fire" thread I'll be cleaning the chimney for the second time this year before I leave though.

Good to hear. Be patient with her. Let us know how it works out.
 
Mrs. Flatbedford probably tends to the stove more than I do. I am usually out of the house for work around around 6:30am and can be back as late as 11:30pm. I always make sure there is a day's worth of wood in the house before I leave in the morning. She does it all. Starts, reloads, tends to the fire. She may not have the same enthusiasm as I do for all the finer points of burning that we discuss here, but the fire is always going. She has very little interest in cutting, splitting, or stacking.
 
Last march when we got the stove she hated it. Now almost a year later she loves it...hates it when I get a bit of smoke that has belched out on a reload, but she takes extreme pride in keeping the heat going.

I just wish I could convince her to pack it tight. She insists on one split at a time.

That sounds just like me and my wife......I sometimes don't turn the fan off on a reload, open the door fast and get some smoke inside and she HATES that. She loves the fireplace and has no problem reloading it. I always tell her to load it up more than a piece or two. Lately she has been.
 
My wife from time to time when its really cold she would reload it, she will not light it. She really enjoys the heat but is not comfortable with starting it.
 
My wife ran the stove for years when she was able. Now that she can't she misses it. I could be out of town for weeks and come home in a snow storm to a warm house.
 
A wife wood burning story. I had been in Europe on business for a couple of weeks. When I got home I noticed that our breezeway was chocked full of branches. Seems she got tired of getting home from work with not quite enough coals for a reload and then having to tramp around in the dark for twigs to get the fire going. She had gone out in the daytime and dragged up a bunch of limbs so she could just walk out the side door and break off her kindling. ;lol

She would have LOVED Super Cedars back then.
 
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A wife wood burning story. I had been in Europe on business for a couple of weeks. When I got home I noticed that our breezeway was chocked full of branches. Seems she got tired of getting home from work with not quite enough coals for a reload and then having to tramp around in the dark for twigs to get the fire going. She had gone out in the daytime and dragged up a bunch of limbs so she could just walk out the side door and break off her kindling. ;lol

She would have LOVED Super Cedars back then.


That's a good woman :)
 
my wife is as girly as they come, so the extent of what she will do is light the super cedar i place in the load before i leave for work. i forgot to load it up one night, and she got desparate for some more heat. she tried to load it and came out about as well as peter griffin's breakfast machine (for those who have watched family guy.) ha, not that bad, but i came home to randomly placed splits with a few black marks. she likes the wood stove as long as all she'll ever have to do is light a super cedar. i also have the air control handle marked for where she should have it at a given time after she's lit the fire. i never put more than 4-5 splits in for her when i'm at work (2 on 2 off 3 on 2 off 2 on 3 off schedule), because i get home while she's still asleep, and the recipe i give her leaves the house at about 65-68 by the time i get home if it's cold (by nc standards.)
 
Hah! Glad my sister got all the girly genes :)

French manicure? I have a manicure alright, but it isn't black polish on the tips, it's ash under my nails!

And that nick out of my knuckle? That's just from being sloppy changing the chainsaw chain.

Don't put your hands in the pockets of most of my fleece or jackets looking for money, you will only find saw dust.

And yes, they ARE combat boots, the steel tip ones are being re-soled and Corcoran jump boots are very comfortable.

Happily married too....My hubby wouldn't have it any other way ;)
 
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My other not only loads but likes to turn splits into kindling with the little Fiskars and is certain she starts a better fire than this coot (well, maybe sometimes) and hell...we're old!!!!

Littlalex
 
My husband is just beginning to learn how to work our stove. He can now load it but so far has not started it from scratch. He has however done the hard work of sawing and chopping and stacking the wood for me. In fact he said this morning that it is a good job that our stove speaks to us so he knows when to feed it! He is right, it does make distinctive noises at various stages during the burn. Weather has turned colder and wetter of late so the stove has been kept in for the last three days and nights. Works fine!
 
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My wife will load, start fire and remove ash but wants absolutely nothing to do with the process outside of house. She told me if i get it in the house she will take it from there. She has a few scars from the flapper above the door burning her and I tell her thats how we recognize other wood burners ;lol.
 
My wife will load, start fire and remove ash but wants absolutely nothing to do with the process outside of house. She told me if i get it in the house she will take it from there. She has a few scars from the flapper above the door burning her and I tell her thats how we recognize other wood burners ;lol.

That's great. She's a trooper. Get her some long gloves.
 
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My wife does pretty darn good with the stove, she's even got the scars on her forearm from reloading without gloves to prove it (no lie)! But the fireplace is a little trickier, she's got some learning to do. She's a doll of a country gal, she's good lookin' AND she can take care of herself!

Wouldn't trade her for the world........
 
A few years ago I got a new zero turn mower and told my wife when I got home from work I would show her how to run it. Well, when I got home the yard was already mowed. So obviously she now runs the wood stove. She bought the Husky splitter this year so she also splits and stacks. All I have to do is say my stack looks straighter than yours and she will spend hours creating the perfect stack. She wants to run the chain saw but that's where I draw the line.
 
A few years ago I got a new zero turn mower and told my wife when I got home from work I would show her how to run it. Well, when I got home the yard was already mowed. So obviously she now runs the wood stove. She bought the Husky splitter this year so she also splits and stacks. All I have to do is say my stack looks straighter than yours and she will spend hours creating the perfect stack. She wants to run the chain saw but that's where I draw the line.
That's nice that your wife helps you out like that... Mine helps me as well,,, she mows with the walk behind,, but a little intimidated by the zero turn..I'll get her on it one day here... then she'll love it! She does help me stack wood as well and split. I think we are fortunate to have wives that will help out the way they do... She runs the Esse Cook stove at times but hasn't touched the Fireview yet. I think she has a pretty good idea as that's a walk in the park to run.. Don't forget Valentines Day;)
 
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