SPLIT, STACKED, AND READY TO GO

Eric has been talking about putting in a wood stove for as long as I can remember.  He lived with one out in Huntington, VT years ago and has been longing for one ever since. . . but it just never made sense to invest in one for a house we were only renting.  After buying our house this past September (and winter quickly approaching) we decided it was finally time.

We found a great old Vermont Castings cast-iron wood stove on Craigslist for $200 (this model sells new for easily $2,500) and Eric researched/rounded up all the necessary piping/chimney materials.  After spending a couple of long days splitting/stacking wood and putting the chimney together we are finally in business!! 

On the second day of splitting/stacking wood the weather was chilly and there was a heavy wetness in the air. I had on my nubby wool sweater, yesterday's braids, and wet work gloves.  If I ignored our redneck neighbors walking by and focused on the swing of my ax I could almost imagine I lived on a farm in Scotland.  

**Bonus: While cutting a hole in the side of our house for the chimney pipe we discovered that there is are great wooden clapboards underneath the current ugly aluminum siding!! It's most likely covered in lead paint but i'm already psyched to get started on that unearthing project this summer!