Fireplace

I really want to post about the cakes I have made this past month but I am still trying to catch up. I don't want to get out of order for the sake of my book that I will eventually make this blog into. So here is the story about our new fireplace. I started talking to Justin about a wood burning stove last winter but we never actually did it. In August I started telling Justin that we needed to get a wood stove for this winter, he was not thrilled about the idea mostly because of all the work it entailed for him. (Most of my ideas are usually great ideas however they ALWAYS involve Justin and manual labor, so he hates when I come up with ideas!) Anyway, I started looking on Craig's List for old fireplaces and found one in Shelly the lady wanted $700 for it and we had to move it out of her house. So we were trying to decide what to do when I

happened to notice a small add in our local paper for a FREE Vermont Casting wood stove. I thought it was too good to be true and figured it was in terrible shape so I didn't call until the next day just figuring I might as well try. Needless to say this is the stove that is now in our front room. The mantle and hearth was designed by Justin and all the materials were FREE! I LOVE how it all turned out. The venting was the most expensive and I wasn't that excited about it being 8" pipe because it kind of dwarfs the fireplace but who can beat it? I love having it already and it has been fun to work together chopping and hauling and stacking wood. The heat is great and we hope to save a lot in heating our home this winter.