The joy... The joy..!

[FionaD]

Yes... I don't think there are any scots over here who don't have relations in Canada.. Goes with the territory.

 

[gyrfalcon]

Wonderful to hear, Fiona. I get frustrated sometimes over the long winter with lugging the firewood around, but then sitting down by the stove on a cold evening with my tea or a glass of something, seeing the cats luxuriating on the hearth rug, watching the fire... man, it doesn't get a whole lot better than that.

It's indeed gorgeous up your way. I've got a wonderful view across the valley to the Green Mountains of Vermont out my front windows, but yours I think actually beats it.

 

[Simonkenton]

Yes Fiona I will post pics of my new Jotul install, and the cabin.
Tell me, is it hard to get firewood over there in Scotland? What kind of wood do you burn?
Whenever I see a movie of Mel Gibson running around in Scotland, it looks like just rocks and meadows and very few trees. I thought KIng Henry VIII chopped down all the oak trees to build his fleet.
Hell, y'all have to burn peat to smoke up that Scotch whiskey. Are you burning peat in that wood stove?

 

[FionaD]

Yes Fiona I will post pics of my new Jotul install, and the cabin.
Tell me, is it hard to get firewood over there in Scotland? What kind of wood do you burn?
Whenever I see a movie of Mel Gibson running around in Scotland, it looks like just rocks and meadows and very few trees. I thought KIng Henry VIII chopped down all the oak trees to build his fleet.
Hell, y'all have to burn peat to smoke up that Scotch whiskey. Are you burning peat in that wood stove?

I'm tempted to try burning some peat in the stove actually! But I'm not sure how the stove will respond.. And I'd have NOT A CLUE what sort of a burn cycle etc it would need. Best not to go there, I think. I used to burn a lot of peat in the open hearth before getting the stove.. I miss the smell sometimes...

Actually, a lot of Braveheart was filmed in Ireland but the land looks just the same. We have trees in some areas of Scotland. Wood isn't as plentiful in any part of Britain as it is in some of the U.S. though.. I suspect you'd faint clear away at the price of the equivalent of a cord of wood over here... In the region of at least $500 in England, usually less in Scotalnd. When I buy some wood, I get the cheapest I've been able to find, around $350 . Still way cheaper than oil though, which is at least 4 times as much as in the US.

I 'glean' much of my wood from nearby woods. We have lots of them here in Stirlingshire (real 'William Wallace county actually, where his pivotal battles happened) I go for the biggest fallen branches I can drag to the nearest road and then drive there later to load them up and bring them home. It's a real mix of woods in our woodlands; oak, birch, ash, rowan.. Then sometimes some beech or chestnut. Sometimes I go for some larch, it's good for starting a fire up. I suppliment gleaned wood with some bought splits, which are mostly oak, ash and birch. Suppliers usually give the option here of buying a load of soft or hard wood, the latter costing a little more.

I should probably mention that we have no trespass laws here in Scotland. Of course that doesn't mean you can just wander onto anyone's property and cut down their trees! But it's pretty much OK to take fallen branches from most places if you check first.