New wood stove

As I write, I can hear the gentle crackle of wood burning, see smoke swirling outside my window, and, best of all, feel the entire right side of my body getting warmer by the minute. I am happy.

I like to think I’m tough in a lot of ways–I love chopping wood (despite not being terribly good at it), I don’t complain (much) about living without running water, I love working hard. But I am not tough when it comes to the cold. Have you read the children’s book, The Penguin Who Hated the Cold? I’m that penguin. I’m always cold. A couple weeks ago Tim and I stopped at a diner during a road trip and I swear the whole place was refrigerated. I wore a fleece jacket, a down vest, a scarf, and a winter hat the whole time we were there, watching incredulously as other women enjoyed their meals in flirty tank tops and cute skirts. And that was in a (supposedly) heated restaurant. Needless to say, as November approaches, I’ve been chilly in our mostly-roofed, partially insulated little office.

Thus, I’m very excited about our new wood stove. Tim found it on Craiglist, bargained for a great price, and brought it to our office. I cleaned it up with metal polish, stove polish, and an old sponge. Check out these pictures to see how Tim built a hearth. After that, he drilled a hole in the roof and installed the stove pipe. We had the inaugural fire last night and cooked scrambled eggs (our neighbors gave us a fresh dozen), nachos grilled in tin foil, and hot chocolate.

I’m still wearing five layers, but I’m okay with that.

First, Tim built a wooden frame and put down a layer of scrap pink insulation, just to give the hearth some height.

Next, he covered the insulation with a couple inches of cement (pink insulation will melt if it gets too hot). Aries supervised.

Here he’s placing flat stones into the wet cement.

After the cement dried, we moved the stove onto the new hearth. Look how level it is!

And we have fire! Tim drilled a hole in the roof and installed the chimney straight up through it.

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