What a great feeling.
Last year at this time I was so pumped to have my new stove in my new house that my enthusiasm carried me through two months of frustration with a grin. Big rounds sitting for two years that should have been split the year before, rookie mistakes, burns up and down my forearms, smoke filling the basement, hours spent in the quiet basement watching with wonder as the flames danced. I still grin thinking about it.
This year it's a whole different story. Splits ringing like bowling pins when they hit the trailer, selecting the perfect pieces to execute my cold stove start up, stack them in the clean box, leave the basement door cracked a bit, a few balls of paper to get a good surge of heat up the tall flue, leave the door cracked a smidge for a few minutes, shut it, leave the air on until we get to temp and then shut her down to cruise. No smoke, no aroma of burnt hair, no rabid logs hissing and spitting foam at me, just that brilliant red light and soul warming heat.
I still have so much to learn, my stacks look terrible, i make a mess everywhere i go, my chain sharpening looks like it was done with a rock, but there's definitely progress. And I'd never be as far as I am now if it weren't for all of you folks that are so generous with your time and honest with your assessments.
So thanks again folks, it's good to be back!
Last year at this time I was so pumped to have my new stove in my new house that my enthusiasm carried me through two months of frustration with a grin. Big rounds sitting for two years that should have been split the year before, rookie mistakes, burns up and down my forearms, smoke filling the basement, hours spent in the quiet basement watching with wonder as the flames danced. I still grin thinking about it.
This year it's a whole different story. Splits ringing like bowling pins when they hit the trailer, selecting the perfect pieces to execute my cold stove start up, stack them in the clean box, leave the basement door cracked a bit, a few balls of paper to get a good surge of heat up the tall flue, leave the door cracked a smidge for a few minutes, shut it, leave the air on until we get to temp and then shut her down to cruise. No smoke, no aroma of burnt hair, no rabid logs hissing and spitting foam at me, just that brilliant red light and soul warming heat.
I still have so much to learn, my stacks look terrible, i make a mess everywhere i go, my chain sharpening looks like it was done with a rock, but there's definitely progress. And I'd never be as far as I am now if it weren't for all of you folks that are so generous with your time and honest with your assessments.
So thanks again folks, it's good to be back!