The Fire Wood Poem

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Beech-wood fires burn bright and clear
If the logs are kept a year;
Store your beech for Christmastide
With new-cut holly laid beside;
Chestnut’s only good, they say,
If for years ’tis stored away;
Birch and fir-wood burn too fast
Blaze too bright and do not last;
Flames from larch will shoot up high,
Dangerously the sparks will fly;
But ash-wood green and ash-wood brown
Are fit for a Queen with a golden crown.
Oaken logs, if dry and old,
Keep away the winter’s cold;
Poplar gives a bitter smoke,
Fills your eyes and makes you choke;
Elm-wood burns like churchyard mould,
E’en the very flames are cold;
It is by the Irish said;
Hawthorn bakes the sweetest bread,
Apple-wood will scent the room,
Pear-wood smells like flowers in bloom;
But ash-wood wet and ash-wood dry
A King may warm his slippers by.
Originally By Lady Celia Gongreve (Slight Adaptation)

Wood Storage Is Always Changing

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It is safe to say we are most suprised by the ammount of wood we have used since instaling the fire. We always knew we would get a storve but for the last 3 years it was very much only a plan. In that time though we built a wood store and started collecting. We had Three years of collected dry wood ready to burn untill we found out that you really need split wood to burn best. So Rob started the process of cutting every sacked log up to more approriate sized logs for the fire. Obviously this wasnt an activity to do at once, over the winter he has just removed and replaced as he has worked his way through. However now, with less wood we have become our most organised with it.READ MORE

Decorating your home for spring.

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I am a really big lover of having fresh flowers at home. One thing I have really noticed over winter is that the flowers and the fire do not like each other. It is safe to say that the downstairs to our home has never been warmer and because of this my usual abundance of fresh flowers has been dramatically cut as I noticed that they simpy did not last. I made the decision to start buying a few house plants instead knowing that they would actually benifit from the warmth and heat and enjoy the more greenhouse effet that our home now has instead of fresh blooms.READ MORE

New modern medication.

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I often talk about how much I love heat and especially on my back. It is strange, just one of those things I suppose, but I find so much comfort in sitting in front of the fire and letting the heat envelope me from behind. I find it such a heeling thing too, very much a way to really warm my soul and stir up such comforting emotions inside of me.READ MORE

Our Home. Our Style.

 

 

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I cant talk enough about how many compliments our stove now brings. I feel a lot of it is to do with how we have styled it into our house in our open plan living and adding the fire is something that we never could have even imagined would change the house the way it has done. With a very minimalist take on style (well not that minimalist when all the kids stuff is out) I have found that having less out has created a much bigger and open space.

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Discovering Hygge

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If you have never heard of the word Hygge before, fear not, you will quickly see that it isn’t anything too complex that you need to learn about. You will also probably find that it is something that you partake in regularly but we would just refer to it as something else. Hygge, which is actually pronounced Hue-gah, is a Danish term used to describe a feeling or an environment that you have when you are blissfully happy.READ MORE