Winter Warmth in Spring

I'm almost always cold and am constantly seeking out warmth. I always want to sit by a fireplace. Our last house had one and for a while I didn't want to look at houses that didn't have one. I quickly realized that was a bit ridiculous. When we found this house I was very excited to see that the previous owners had put in a stove pipe for a wood stove. They had taken the wood stove with them, but had left the fixture from the ceiling through the roof. Over the next couple of years my husband and I debated whether we had the room for a wood stove. We talked about putting in a fireplace in the corner. We've had so many great conversations about possible changes we could make to this house; it's such a blank slate. 

After having multiple snow days this winter we decided to get one. I picked up a few brochures at a local family owned shop on day in January and that evening it snowed 8". We were snowed in for the next week. We spent that snowy week drooling over those european wood stoves, wishing one was already in our home. We picked one out, only to find out it was on back order. We chose a different one, much smaller, only to hear that not only was it also on back order but it was the 'most popular stove in the world.' We decided to stick with it and wait. I kept calling, trying to get an idea of when it would come in. I didn't hear anything. We were frustrated. Six weeks later, after complaining and complaining, we finally got it. As it was delivered we were told that we were lucky because they're still on back order and the other one they received had fallen off the truck and had cracked. The squeaking wheel gets the grease! I'm so glad I kept calling.

Now it is officially spring, temperatures are warming up, flowers are blooming, and we now have this wonderful wood stove. Neither of us had ever built a fire in a wood stove before and wrongly assumed it was the same as a fireplace. It isn't! It's so much easier. You pack it full of kindling, paper, and dry logs, light it and close the door. That's it. It puts out so much heat when it gets going. I'm actually looking forward to next winter already so I can keep a fire going all day.