Winter Warmer

It's getting nippy down here - and we've just burnt the last of a rough load we bought off a dodgy farmer when we didn't know any better. Today we took delivery of a great load of wood, which won't all fit in the shed. It's mainly ash which will burn as soon as it's cut - as the poem goes:

But ash logs,
all smooth and grey,
Burn them green or old;
Buy up all that come your way,
They're worth their weight in gold.

At the moment wood is our only fuel source whilst we live in this cottage and long may it continue. We have two stoves - this large one pictured takes care of the entire central heating (3 bed semi). I estimate if we were to heat the house every night for a month, it would cost us about 50 quid. So about 500 quid in a year factoring in summers and nights away. This compared to about 800 quid for a gas boiler and probably whole lot more for an oil one. A few other pluses are that wood is pretty much carbon neutral, smells nice, and makes a home cosey, plus you can use some of the wood ash on your garden.

I know this isn't a very exciting post - doubtless this is a symptom of married life; soon I'll be writing about conservatories and fun days out at Clarks, shopping for the kids. However whilst I was stacking the wood this morning, I felt a little shiver course through me knowing that the wood I handled was part of an ancient system that's kept us warm for many millennia and probably will for a long time from now.

On the subject of central heating (cough), I read the other day that the average household temperature in the UK was about 15 degrees, since then it has risen to around the 22/23 mark - this, when the world is getting warmer - what's that about....bunch of Nancys!