Brrrrrrrr
November 15, 2007
It was 34 degrees earlier today and we had some icy flurries that decided to come down.
Wouldn’t you think that this would be the perfect time for our wood burning stove to decide to stop working? Really, it is. Warmth and feeling in your extremities is so over rated.
I am so tired of this particular stove. It has given us nothing but trouble since we bought it. This will be the fourth time it has needed repair and this is only our third winter using it, and winter hasn’t even STARTED YET. Rob wants to take a sledge hammer to it and then throw the pieces through the window of the place where we bought it. And if the thing weren’t so damn heavy I might agree. Oh and the fact that I actually like to be warm.
Right now I am huddling in front of my kerosene heater. If Susan calls to tell me that she has her air conditioning on today I am going to throw her through the window. With love.
Over at my other blog I have a Holiday Gift Guide in progress.
Toys that are actually in my home and have stood the test of time.
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Well, I’ve had the AC on here today in Texas. You wanna throw me out the window now too??
Sorry, about your stove. I hope the thing shapes up and acts decent the rest of the winter
November 15th, 2007 at 11:05 pmGetting cold here too. I realized all of a sudden that there was no need for me to freeze (we have forced-air heat here, which bothers me, so I don’t have it on much); our new house has 2 gas fireplaces. But I couldn’t figure out how to turn them on. Pathetic, really. I’m ready to rip out those expensive inserts, shove some wood in there, and set it ablaze. Sometimes the old-fashioned way is the best.
November 15th, 2007 at 11:22 pm(Wondering if I should tell Chris that it will be in the 70s here tomorrow? Hmm, maybe not.)
November 15th, 2007 at 11:43 pmUgh, I can’t believe you are having problems with your stove again. I love the idea of a wood-burning stove. It seems to snuggly and romantic. It would be totally impractical here in Atlanta, but I still love the idea. Of course, in my fantasy, the stove actually WORKS. Good luck with that.
November 15th, 2007 at 11:45 pmI had my heat on in Texas today if that helps.
November 15th, 2007 at 11:51 pmdandelion dust,
November 16th, 2007 at 12:03 amnot OUT the window, THROUGH. Through the window of the stove dealer. And yes I do want to toss you also.
We have had power outages up the wazoo lately. Our wood stove works, but we have another beast that is even better.
A pellet stove.
It. Is. Awesome.
It requires electricity to run, but it burns clean and is SO WARM.
Check it out
November 16th, 2007 at 12:07 amreasons i love my gas fireplace:
1. it works
2. i don’t have to chop, haul, stack wood
3. it works
i hope you find a way to stay warm. i’m in ny and understand how stupid cold weather is.
November 16th, 2007 at 12:14 amUg. I hate wood burning stoves. You’re either 400 degrees or you’re freezing. Give me ugly and boring gas over picturesque wood burning stoves any day of the week…
November 16th, 2007 at 12:22 ambut i didn’t run the air conditioner today and wore a very unsightly sweatsuit today.
what’s wrong with me?
wait, don’t answer that question.
November 16th, 2007 at 12:30 amTo clarify, ours IS a wood pellet stove. Angella, just curious, who is the maker of the stove you love?
November 16th, 2007 at 12:57 amOnly semi-related, but it makes me think of how our thermostat is only at 60 degrees . . which doesn’t feel bad if it’s 50 degrees out, but is freakin’ FREEZING if it’s a windy 30 degrees out. Shouldn’t 60 degrees always feel the same?
While it is way too expensive, I sometimes envy my parents’ all-electric heat. As many zones as you want, and always there (at least if you have a generator in case of an outage!).
November 16th, 2007 at 6:57 amWe love our wood stove! I highly recommend it–it is a Jotul. We have had it for 2 years, and there has been no trouble with it.
November 16th, 2007 at 8:32 amChris, we’re moving to NY soon and are researching stoves…what is the brand that you so dislike?
November 16th, 2007 at 8:41 amHow does a wood stove break? Don’t you just put wood in it and light it on fire? Is the chimney part broken?
November 16th, 2007 at 9:02 amWe are considering a wood-burning stove here on Long Island as well. We are first waiting to see if our re-insulation work we did over the summer keeps us warmer this winter. However, I was recently told about corn-burning stoves. I’m checking into that. Smell is huge with me so I think corn-burning could either be really great, or really bad after a while.
November 16th, 2007 at 9:54 am*Chris*
What is the brand of your hated stove?
Thanx. Stay warm. Cold here today.
Didn’t you also have a really hard time finding pellets for it last year, or something like that? Friends of ours had a pellet stove a few years ago and had a lot of trouble with it too.
Hope you find some way to keep warm!
November 16th, 2007 at 10:12 amThe brand is St Croix.
One word of advice, wherever you buy your stove from make sure that they have an in house service repair person. This has been our biggest obstacle. We wish that we had not bought our stove from the cute little local shop with friendly people, because it turns out they are also incompetent. I’ll take surly and incompetent any day.
November 16th, 2007 at 10:41 amDitch it, sell the house and move to the Third Coast. Sunny, warm and all that. I have a margarita waiting for you.
Oh, hey…I am finding myself browsing the camping section at Walmart, making a metal list of all we will need for next summer. We have some stuff, but I need to logon to Campmor to start the process…….utah here we come! you still on board?
November 16th, 2007 at 10:52 amMy hubby and I were thinking about getting a wood burning stove installed, but after I read this, maybe not. It is 31 degrees here, and I had to turn the furnace up a bit. I hate being cold, but strangely enough, I like winter. Hmmm.
November 16th, 2007 at 11:03 amit’s freezing here.. well for Florida. the high is in the low 60s and I cant stop shivering. I’m putting the down quilt on my bed tonight and cranking the heat. the 40s can be BRUTAL
November 16th, 2007 at 1:04 pmI check your blog every day! I’m addicted to it….you have beautiful children….all of them! I know you are a busy woman! I have 3 kids and I can empathise with many of the things that happen in your daily life!! I also love your dry,sometimes sarcastic wit!
November 16th, 2007 at 1:50 pmOh, and I thought Id let you know down here in the sunny south of Mobile, AL it was actually in the 30″s this morning, but it’s in the 60″s to 70’s during the day….and thats a cold snap for us!!!…We pray for snow!!! It happens maybe once every 10 years or so! The whole city and countryside shuts down when it happens!
Carol
wah you had snow? we got nothin but fallin leaves here. I’m ready to see some snow don’t like the cold but the snow yes
November 16th, 2007 at 2:17 pmwhen i was reading your first sentence - ‘we have 34 degrees today’ I was thinking ‘cool, so have we’… only that we have 34 degrees celciuse - so I’m not very cold.
November 16th, 2007 at 3:49 pmI’m waiting for it to get that cold here. It’s not that far off from the way it looks outside.
November 16th, 2007 at 5:29 pmHA, I love that guide graphic!
November 16th, 2007 at 6:06 pmYou do know that here in Australia it’s SPRING TIME ha ha ha and pretty darn warm to ha ha ha … sorry!
November 16th, 2007 at 9:25 pmTrying to click on your Holiday Gift Guide…but I’m not authorized to view?
November 17th, 2007 at 1:40 amThis will be our third winter here without a wood burning stove. Just a lonely pipe that goes up the chimney because I can’t decide how to finish the fire place. Brick, rock, what???
I’m glad you clarified it was a pellet stove because I was also wondering how a wood burning stove breaks.
November 17th, 2007 at 1:55 amThis is awesome. Like you.
November 17th, 2007 at 3:53 amhey, i can’t see the gift guide, am i really dumb? wait, don’t answer that.
November 17th, 2007 at 3:56 amI would love to tell you that I am also freazing AND that my woodburning stove is also going out the window, however I cannot lie. I am still running my $$%#@! air conditioner. Trust me though, I want to turn it off! I am trying to imagine myself cooking a feast to feed an army next Thursday, with the AC on. Ugh. Global warming sucks ass.
November 17th, 2007 at 9:59 am*Sigh* I wonder if we should go to the beach tomorrow? With a cooler full of icy cold beers and stuff, and watch the guys surf?
I will have to shave my bikini line… Life is sooo tough!
November 17th, 2007 at 10:23 pmHmmmm, shaving your bikini line or freezing is a close call in my book.
November 19th, 2007 at 9:44 amHi Chris. Just wondering what model St. Croix. I am battling with them right now because the 2 month old stove I bought from them didn’t automatically shut off when the heat was too high so the few pellets that were remaining in the hopper caught on fire. Thank heavens I woke up in time to avert disaster. What a mess!
December 11th, 2007 at 1:18 pm