Yup, I Know It Makes A Mess

I posted a comment on a friend's blog recently about loving my wood stove and it got me to thinking about just how much I really do love heating with wood. Last year we thought about getting an outdoor wood furnace which would get the mess of the wood out of the house. We decided to keep our wood stove instead. Here are some of the reasons why:

I love the smell of the wood fire when I first walk in the door from being outside. I love how the warmth of the flames gets right into my chilly bones, chases out the cold and wraps me in it's cozy blanket. I love that other areas in the house are cooler. I love how I can just throw another log on the fire if the house seems cold or damp. I love being able to move my reading chair closer, or farther away, to adjust the temperature. I love being able to put a pot of stew or soup on top to simmer all day, filling the house with delicious aromas. I love being able to sit by the stove with hot chocolate in hand and watch winter kept at bay just outside the windows. I love how the light from the fire bathes the great room with it's soft, amber glow, and the reflections dance on every surface.

The wood fire also brings up memories of my childhood and visits to my aunt's farm. When Aunt May knew I was coming for a visit she'd fire up the wood cook stove in the kitchen and fry me up a batch of her famous donuts. Or cook french toast right on the stove's surface or bake bread in the oven. Perhaps it was because I was a child but anything cooked on that old wood stove seemed much better that if would have been cooked on an ordinary gas or electric stove. And that stove, too, bathed the farm house in it's warmth and kept winter's frosty bite far away.

So heating with wood may be messy, not to mention a lot of work. But I wouldn't have it any other way. Sometimes it's good to stay with the old ways.