'supporting each other through really tough times'

missrlr

lovely, our friends have a little perpetual motion fan (about 3 inches diameter) on the top of their stove to push the hot air across the room, this makes the heating of the room feel quicker as heat goes up first above your head if you are sitting down - might be worth a consider???

craigywv

BYATT i want one !!!!!!!!!!!! its lovely!!!!!..................seething with jealousy lol xx

2tonsils

Can someone explain what smokeless eggs are please? Just curious, whatever they are they are unlikely to be available here lol

We have oil fired central heating but the oil is too expensive to run it this year at 1.65 a litre. We are using olive wood for the open fireplace instead and have lit it the last couple of night as its been pretty cold at night. We use kindling from the small twigs from the olive trees or pine cones to light it most of the time but I need to go and collect some from the woods at the top of the mountain.

We also use a special firelighter which burns very hot to light the logs. It looks like a small square of thin coconut matting and smells like mothballs. It certainly gets the fire going quickly. We don't use paper as the olive wood leaves a lot of soot on the chimney and its flammable, if the paper goes up the chimney it could set it off burning. We use a small box of non toxic chemicals that you put onto the ashes and it fireproofs the chimney. It costs about four euros a box and leaves it fireproofed for a couple of months so well worth the money. We have the chimney swept every year and the liner cleaned of carbon.

Had a lovely day, we slept in then had protein pancaked with raspberries for breakfast. Went to town and the sun came out and it was 24 in the shade. Everyone dressed for the cool morning when they set off, so layers being peeled off and people sitting enjoying the sun. Got 50 pounds for Christmas from my MIL so bought a good full face helmet to wear on my scooter and spent the remainder on another bonsai tree. Have three now, one of which is a bonsai banana tree. I love them!

I also found a nice scarf with roses on in the colours I have been looking for and a lovely jacket/top all in one that I can wear over Christmas to the various events we have been invited to. Bumped into lots of old friends in the town and it was lovely that they all stopped to hug us and ask how we were. The Greeks are so caring about others, even in these difficult times. They were very pleased we will still be here over Christmas and the New Year.

I am surprised there is so much going on this year, even though things are tough. We have been invited to the Anglican church Christmas get together (despite me being a non church goer and spiritual rather than religious...I get on like a house on fire with the new vicar ) and to a social morning at the British consulate . I have offered to supply my own gluten free mince pies for that one so the vicar (also celiac) and I can indulge in eating them for once.

We will be going to a Christmas concert and buffet celebration where they are going to perform the Magic Flute for us on 19th December so that will be lovely as well. I wasn't going to bother putting any decorations up this year but all this talk of get togethers has put me in the mood. I have lots of lovely decorative candles and holders so they will go up with my grapevine coloured lights and a selection of greenery I will collect when I go up to get the pine cones from the wood. I am much nearer Pagan than any other description so I will be happy with them. Much better than plastic decorations in my opinion.

greenbee

Byatt - I make firelighters by stuffing empty loo roll middles with shredded paper. It helps motivate me with the shredder! I am currently using old floorboards as kindling, but also use fruit tree prunings and fircones. Tumble drier lint is good - I also defluffed my jumpers a few weeks ago and added that to the pot of lint!

I also have a multifuel stove - mostly I burn wood, as I want a fire for a few hours in the evening. I keep a few sacks of smokeless fuel in an old plastic dustbin by the shed, and use them when it is very cold or I want to keep the stove going all night, as it is easier to do with smokeless than with wood.

I start the fire by putting 3 or 4 of the stuffed loo rolls in the middle, pointing away from each other, add a bit of fluff :-) then put small (splintery) bits of kindling over the top, with bigger bits on the top. Once it has got going I put logs or coal in. I tend to stick with one or the other for a while. OH is better at getting it to burn for long periods unattended, I think it arranges the fuel better. Or maybe pays more attention to the vents.

For wood, you need to close the bottom vent once it is going, and use the top to regulate the burn. For coal, it's the other way round (coal likes air from below, wood from above). So wood burns fine on a bed of ashes, but coal likes the grate to be riddled regularly so air can get through.

When you go out, you can add lots of fuel, make sure it is going well, then use the vents to make sure it burns slowly. It will take a while to get the hang of it.

I use mine most at the change of seasons, when I don't need the heating on, but a little extra warmth in the evening is nice. Or when it is really, really cold and I have the heating on (I work from home, my brain has been known to freeze around when I get too cold to type) but want one room to be really warm and cosy!

The fans are great too - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VE-ShZELO5Q sadly my fireplace is too small to have room for one between the top of the stove and the top of the fireplace

shegar

Byatt wrote: »

My actual stove, now lit.

edit, I'll be back, way too big...

that's a bit better!

How lovely for you, I can imagine how estatic you are, everytime I light my fire im like that,:D, theres nothing like it ever....

Ive just lit my fire in the main room and turned the GCH off, as I normally do this time of a day in the winter, just to watch those flames, they certaintly "float my boat"............

You best scrunch some newspaper up, then get some nice dry kindling wood, as soon as that lights start to put a bit of coal on and gradually build it up, make sure all your vents are open to get a good draw, once all the coal alight shut the vents down , so the fire dont draw away to quick..........

Sit back and enjoy......:D, I always bring a good handful of kindling in the night before and lay it in the hearth , and its really dry to light the next day, you will soon find your own pattern to fire lighting..............

greenbee

Good point about keeping the fuel dry Shegar... as Byatt has that HUGE inglenook she can probably keep a weeks' worth or more of logs and kindling stacked up and drying! She doesn't even need a log basket...

2tonsils

If we want to keep the fire burning slowly all night we cover it with a layer of ashes from the ash box, it works great and doesn't burn any extra fuel.

mama67

fuddle wrote: »

Hey mcculloch, how canny?! That's what I call a result. Enjoy

I went to bed last night with indigestion. Most probably the twinks

I awoke an hour ago in a sweat. Doesn't seem any reason for it :cool:

In a bit of a pickle as the girls are staging a revolt. They don't like mince and gravy and casseroles :eek: That's me struggling with meal ideas. I'm not one for kids eat 1 thing while we eat something else so what I make has to be suitable for the girls (except on chilli nights).

So that's what I'm off to do now. Going to try work out a menu plan that is heavily slow cooker based but not mince and gravy :cool: wish me luck!

My boys did this over casseroles and we came to a compromise in that I only cook the meat with onion in the gravy still in the slowcooker all dayand then do the potatoes & veggies separate; they'll happily eat double quantites cooked this way; just didn't like it all mixed up together.
The only other thing I sometimes do is make a batch of something and freeze in individual portions so that the one that doesn't like has one of those instead.

2tonsils

You may well get the chance to enjoy your stove Byatt...here is the latest weather forecast for the UK , it seems to be bad from Sunday onwards

http://www.ukweatherforecast.tv/very-wet-and-windy-weather-on-its-way-snow-for-some/

mama67

mcculloch29 wrote: »

Thanks Fuddle, I won't be going out of the door tomorrow (or possibly Monday) in case I miss the slow cooker being delivered.

It's not been the best of weeks, so this was just what I needed.

SC has a really useful autostart feature, to start things off at a high temp to get them going, then cook slowly. Some excellent reviews on Am*zon already so I was surprised to be offered it.

I was also offered a set of wi-fi bathroom scales. You can monitor your weight gain/loss with them to the ounce/gramme. DS loves that sort of techy healthy thing.

My old Tower SC (30+yrs) has the auto start facility as well and is really useful as you say.