Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
You can sometimes find soapstones in antique shops. Bricks work too. Make sure you wrap either ones in a towel.A large oval stone from a beach or a gravel pit works really well because you won't stub your toe on a corner.
(Why do Mainers know this stuff anyway?)
We heated bricks when we lived in the boonies in WA state.. Each evening when we gathered for supper, each of us including the kids would bring back their brick, wrapped in a terrycloth hand towel, to put in the woodstove oven.
We'd unwrap them and hang the towel over the back of our chair at the dinner table.
When it was time to go to bed, they were all toasty warm. The older kids, or mom or dad would grab them one by one out of the oven with a potholder and lay on the towels that the kids had spread on the table. They would wrap the brick and scurry off to put it in their bed before gathering on mom and dad's bed for reading time.
By the time we were done reading, all the beds had a warm nest in the middle, just right fot a little body, as they pushed the brick down to continue warming their feet all night.
i have to try this, i have prenty of soap stone left over from heart for wood stove project and we build our house in the Ecovillege that use to be soap stone quarries alot of them still on our community land.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Northern Maine Land Man
You can sometimes find soapstones in antique shops. Bricks work too. Make sure you wrap either ones in a towel.A large oval stone from a beach or a gravel pit works really well because you won't stub your toe on a corner.
Every house I've owned right out of high school had a wood stove. I learned at at very early age how to run a wood stove or a fireplace w/ drafts etc. When I was young, my folks had a very large field stone fireplace. My dad taught us all very early about how to build a fire. That carried through as I become an adult and built my own home. I've always relied upon a secondary heat source to heat my own home. As a single parent it was my job to teach my children the same. To me personally, building a fire and keeping my kids warm was not an option, but a necessity.
If you live in Maine, you had better figure it out soon. Winter is upon you. Once you figure it out, teach your kids. It's a skill they'll always rely upon.
We heated bricks when we lived in the boonies in WA state.. Each evening when we gathered for supper, each of us including the kids would bring back their brick, wrapped in a terrycloth hand towel, to put in the woodstove oven.
We'd unwrap them and hang the towel over the back of our chair at the dinner table.
When it was time to go to bed, they were all toasty warm. The older kids, or mom or dad would grab them one by one out of the oven with a potholder and lay on the towels that the kids had spread on the table. They would wrap the brick and scurry off to put it in their bed before gathering on mom and dad's bed for reading time.
By the time we were done reading, all the beds had a warm nest in the middle, just right fot a little body, as they pushed the brick down to continue warming their feet all night.
After you get the wood stove you wonder what you were thinkin tryin to keep enough wood around to burn all winter. When we put the insert in our fireplace two years ago, I couldn't help but smile when I only had to replace four cords for the next year instead of the ten I was used to. We got down to 20 last night 19 night before last.
After you get the wood stove you wonder what you were thinkin tryin to keep enough wood around to burn all winter. When we put the insert in our fireplace two years ago, I couldn't help but smile when I only had to replace four cords for the next year instead of the ten I was used to. We got down to 20 last night 19 night before last.
You're right! I probably have enough wood for two winters with the 6 1/2 cords we have now!
Our eldest son has been 'given' some wood. He has been cutting up some trees and hauling the wood home. He now has 4 cords stacked in our driveway from this wood he was given.
About a third of it needs to be split. The problem though, is that these pieces of wood are up to 4 foot in diameter. He has cut it all into 18 inch lengths. But many of these are big enough round to make card tables.
We do not have a splitter, and I am not sure that a 'normal' splitter would do much to these huge things.
You're right! I probably have enough wood for two winters with the 6 1/2 cords we have now!
Good feeling huh?
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
