Gather round the old “fire”

I have gone on and on about our old house.  There are a hundred (or more) things wrong with this place and we are working, slowly but surely, through most of th big ticket items.  The house has a great fireplace with a huge chimney that is, unfortunately, not in great shape.  I don’t think it is going to fall down anytime super soon, but we’ve been told by chimney-folk that burning a fire would hasten its failure, what with the expansion and shrinkage and all from the temperature changes.

Speaking of shrinkage, I can’t say the word without thinking of this:

Anyhow, until we get around to fixing the chimney, we won’t be burning any fires. But gee whiz, on days such as these, sitting around a warm fire surely sounds nice. Our house is a little short on insulation so heat is pretty precious around here. In lieu, of a real fire though, we have devised a new scheme to allow us to enjoy our own little “fire”.

When we get a hunger for hotdogs, we fire up the portable utility heater.  It is mostly safe and makes for a mean wienie roast.  Marshmallows work pretty well too though they smell worse when they fall onto the heating coils.  The best part about it is that there is no smoke to contend with as we gather round…

When Emily feels like a cup of hot cocoa, we don’t have to fool with heating a pot on top of the wood stove.  Oh no, we simply break out the hair dryer and let it blow!  She can have lukewarm cocoa in a mere 18 minutes!

7 thoughts on “Gather round the old “fire”

  1. I have a neat idea for your fireplace. Take a tunafish can and clean it well. Cut some cardboard strips to a height just below the rim and roll them up until they fit into the can snugly but not tight. Melt some parafin or bees wax and fill the can almost to the top of the cardboard. Let cool and harden completely. To light just set the cardboard on fire. This will burn for hours. To extinguish just place a larger can over the top. It can be reused until all of the wax and carboard is gone.
    .-= Gary Dillon´s last blog ..What a Load of Crap =-.

  2. We had a floor register for heat in our apartment as a kid. They used to find me sleep walking and sitting with a blanket on the register. Brings back warm memories of family.

  3. Don’t feel bad. Our old farmhouse is lacking on insulation too. We have a couple portable heaters we use occassionally in addition to the wood stove.
    .-= Kim´s last blog ..In the barn =-.

  4. I hope you get your fireplace fixed up, or at least strong enough to put a chimney liner inside, or a stainless liner and add a woodstove? We lost power for nearly 5 days a few years ago, and made stew on top of the woodstove. ‘Course a Coleman stove worked well too 🙂
    .-= Beau´s last blog ..Remembering How Life Happens =-.

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