Whose wives/girl friends won't deal with the stove?

Bobbin, I think it can be any of the above. But then my SO looks at the wood & the stove & thinks it's alot of work.

It is very rare when he is here that he will handle firewood. Although he suprised me over the summer by bringing me some wood one of his neighbors had put for trash over the summer, put it in the trunk of his Lincoln, too ;-) His idea for an alternative heat source is a pellet stove :smirk: I told him to get a wood stove, and for occassional heating he could just take wood from my place. He said he'd have to carry wood. I said you'd have to carry a 50 lb. bag of pellets. He was shocked I think this is one of the reasons I dye my hair :coolsmirk:

But, he's not an "active" person with hobbies like mine. After 6 years, he still asks me when I will be home from the barn/horse show/clinic, etc , and I still say "I don't know". (Eileen knows Bobbin will understand this )

My house was the "experiment house" when it came to alternative heating. Made it easier for him to watch and see. But, he's quick to be here in a snow storm, and always asks if I have the stove on He did that when I was using the FP, too.

As for the women folk who don't, I don't understand most of it, as it's just not me. I can tell you that all of my friends have the same attitude I do, and do physical labor, some tend stoves & wood, some want to. But that's how we are. Guess that's why we're friends.

I've never had a manicure in my life :lol:

I can't wait for Perp to chime in here !!

Ghettontheball said:

my wife has a big nose & loong fingernails & claims thats the reason!

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HAHAHAHAHAHAH

Interesting thread...

I think for my wife it is definitely fear. Last year she was all for it. Then she tried and was unable to get it right with the VC. She had it go overtemp several times - once or twice it was her 'fault' due to walking away and ignoring the timers (3) that she set for herself, but the others it was just the stove. Then again, the process there was to try, then try again, and sometimes try a third time to get it to engage the afterburner successfully. So she gave up and would let the stove get cold and the oil kick in (no cold house allowed).

Now bring in the new stove. She is still very hesitant to even try it for fear of making a mistake. I'm hoping that a gentle approach of just doing it and showing her how easy it is now is going to work and so far it looks like it might be. I had a fire today and she watched the whole process and seemed to feel it was manageable - given that it was from a cold start one has to figure it won't be any more complex than that (and yes I pointed that out to her). I told her that once we go 24/7 it will be much easier and her reaction was "are we really going to do that?" ... oh dear, a regression. So there is work to do still.

She has no interest in hauling/splitting/stacking wood though. I'm just going to have to rely on the kids for that part. On the bright side my oldest (7) is showing great interest in all parts of things and I expect she'll be able to feed the stove in not too long if she keeps paying attention and starts showing more self discipline.

My wife is great about helping with the firewood and stove.

This will be our first year with the stove but she was out there stacking the firewood every day off, she didnt so a very good job but thats between us.

My wife is never around so how could she possibly tend the stove ;-P She is all mine & I love it!

the only time my wife will touch the stove is if the oil beast comes on and I'm at work, then I get the phone call.... once she was able to get it going again, the other she shut it off. Can't complain though, she hangs the sheets on the back sun porch to dry and they smell like wood smoke when she brings them in now....and she likes that.

Interesting thread, indeed. Girls I work with give me that "look" when they ask me what I'm going to do over the weekend and I reply "split wood!"
I do 95% of the hauling, splitting & stacking. Not that my husband refuses to help, but more because I have it all mostly done already. It is something I enjoy, for reasons unknown even to me. I also like the exercise, and just working outdoors after being stuck in an office 5 days a week.
Perhaps I could blame my father, who, much to my mothers dismay, turned into a total "tomboy" by the age of 10. Being with him under the hood of a car busting my nuckles, helping him working on plumbing, etc was the norm for me when I was younger.

Last year I got the flu for a few days, of course it was the days that I wanted to restack the wood closer to the house for the winter. To my surprise will I was lying in bed sleeping and woke to find all the wood stacked and done :red: I never asked for it to be done. My wife always steps up to the plate when she has to. She still has a hard time keeping the fire going either too hot or not hot enough and it goes out. She is very willing to try but when I'm not home she seems to get preoccupied with feeding the kids and taking care of them and forgets about the stoves, priorities right geeze, Afew more lessons and she will be right on track but I know she will do that "TRY" and thats all I can ask.

Last year my wife had a hell of a time getting the stove going. (which I found funny since she can get a fire going in a fireplace far, far quicker than I can). So while she was struggling to get the stove going I would sit on the couch giving her hell.

Me (sarcastically whining): I'm cold.
Wife: Shut it.

Me (sarcastically whining): Why do I not feel any heat yet?
Wife: Stop it!

Me (sarcastically whining): You want me to be cold because you hate me!
Wife: I do now!

Me (sarcastically whining): I think I'm getting frostbite.
Wife: I hope you lose your toes.

My biggest problem is keeping my wife away from the stove, she thinks it needs to be fed every two hours and if the house is under 75 degrees it needs more wood.

She won't run the saw or the splitter, thank god, but she doesn't have a problem carring or stacking wood.

My wife isn't afraid of hard work around the house, but she leaves the stove and wood processing to me.
I'm okay with that. She contributes by enjoying the warmth and taking off some clothes when it gets too
warm.

Getting her to properly load the stove instead of just throwing a large piece of wood on and letting it smolder. Some are just clueless I guess. My son is getting older so there is hope!

My wife didn't want to know any thing about burning wood . If she helped split she mite break a nail .
If she loaded the stove she mite get dirty .
All i had to do is negotiate with her . I showed her the savings and told her the extra money could be used for dinners out .
Then I cut up the oil tanks and dragged them to the dump . If you want heat load the stove ! This was in the 90s now i have sons they haul wood and load the stove. John

wellbuilt home said:

My wife didn't want to know any thing about burning wood . If she helped split she mite break a nail .
If she loaded the stove she mite get dirty .
All i had to do is negotiate with her . I showed her the savings and told her the extra money could be used for dinners out .
Then I cut up the oil tanks and dragged them to the dump . If you want heat load the stove ! This was in the 90s now i have sons they haul wood and load the stove. John

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But do you still have a wife?

It definitely does my heart glad to know so many ladies think wood heat is as easy and nice as I do!

Totally off-topic: Dixie, do you drive? I never have and I really want to learn how! I like Park Horses but my real interest in in draft horses... maybe a Lippett Morgan.

My girlfriend grew up with an open fireplace, so she thinks lighting the Summit is so easy it's cheating. She does use a propane torch to build a fire. Other than that she has no problems using the stove.

It is not a problem here, my wife loves the wood heat and apart from cutting, regularily tends the wood chores..... though admittedly I enjoy it and do it about 85% of the time.

My wife has basically taken over our Kennebec. All I get to do now is cut up the grapple load, split it, stack it, and deliver it to her pre-arranged staging area. Somebody help me .....please.

My SO will run the saw, cutting rounds, and help load the truck and trailer (about 1.5 cords at a time), and stack on occasion, sometimes bring wood in, and run the rental splitter if we use one. She WILL not swing a maul or axe, and complains only when she gets tired. As far as loading the stove and starting it up, no problem for her or her mom (whom lives with us). I keep the propane boiler down around 45-50, so no wood no warm! I am sick of hearing "you dont have enough wood yet" & "are you in cyber space with your woody goons again" & "If you spent as much time with me as your wood, then I might spend a little more time with your wood". She does like the extra 200-300 dollars we save every month though

Wood processing and heat is a one man show at my home. That's ok. Dishes and laundry is a one woman show

Russ in Chicagoland said:

Wood processing and heat is a one man show at my home. That's ok. Dishes and laundry is a one woman show

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Thats how it is here.

Dishes, laundry, wood stove tending, stacking, sorting, wheel barrowing, etc, done by me.

The daughter and the posse help with chain saws, tree felling, etc.

I like it

Bobbin, I know very little of driving, although it interests me.

But, I'm a painted pony kinda gal, so they aren't geared towards that, although they do really great with it !!

All depends on the person, Some will some won't I assume deal with my stove and furnace myself.