burning wood – New England's Narrow Road

One of the most difficult things for me to do since moving to the northeast is finding firewood for my wood stove. Actually finding it is not hard, but finding good wood – split nicely and seasoned – is what I’ve been having trouble with.

A couple years ago I called up a guy from a newspaper ad and he was happy to deliver a truckload for a reasonable price. Once I began stacking it, I realized that the pieces were about as big around as tree trunks. Fortunately I had a big wood stove, but still, some of the pieces were just too big. I don’t use an axe so there was no way I’d be able to split them and lugging them was back-breaking. I wasn’t too happy.

Now I’ve sold my old, mid-Moe stove and replaced it with a new Jotul that is quite small, but perfect for my little living room fireplace. I definitely need decent size pieces of wood and not tree trunks. But where to find good wood? I asked the guy who came to fix my chimney and roof, but he didn’t know because he cuts his own. That is usually the answer I would get from any guy I asked. “I cut my own”. Now, I can’t even imagine having a husband who would go out and cut all the firewood needed for a season himself, so any of you ladies out there who have a guy like that – be grateful! But that didn’t help me.

Then I took a walk the other day and ended up passing by my neighbor’s house and they were – you guessed it – lugging wood that had been dumped at the edge of their yard. So I asked where they got it and now I have ordered my own cord from Northern Lights Landscaping in Milford, NH. I won’t be getting it for a few days, and then I’ll see how I like it, but the woman who took my order over the phone said it’s cut 14-16 inches which is perfect.

I guess the only advice I could give about finding firewood is to ask around (if you find people to ask!) or go with a company (such as landscaping) who has a reputation to uphold. They will want you to be happy, even though the wood may cost more.

Now I am deciding where to stack it for easily bringing inside during the winter. It’s a new place and this will be a first time winter, so it will be trial and error. At least I’ll have some wood to burn.

I’m not sure I get the point of having a wood stove in the basement. It seems like the house would be nice and warm much sooner if it was upstairs.
Not that I have any choice, but it seems goofy to have to heat the basement first for little reason. I know that the heat rises and I am sure it helps, but I don’t think it would be my choice, but the living room is way too small for any size stove so it had to go in the basement.

For now, I run (okay- walk) up and down the stairs a hundred times a day to turn the dampers on my stove, play with the coals, add wood and check the temp. At least I am getting some exercise since the days are too cold for walks lately.
The cat (Richie) follows me up and down each time so I will probably trip over him at some point….

snow covered wood pile — My Snow Covered Wood Pile

My outdoor woodpile is quite frozen and piled with snow (thanks to the snow sliding off the metal roof) but I managed to get some pieces and threw them in the back door to dry out.
I read one time that wood makes you warm twice – the handling- cutting, moving, stacking, lugging and then the burning.
At least I finally figured out to put the temperature guide facing the stairway so I could just glance at it from up in the kitchen… duh…I catch on eventually!

Happy New Year to all! I will be watching the Stooges marathon tonight with my son. I hope you will be doing something just as exciting. 🙂