Pine cones a plenty

We received a big box of pine cones from our neighbour.

Apparently, pine cones are great as a fire starter for the fireplace. They crack when burning. Just the kind of sound a successful fire in the fireplace should be producing. I like that sound. 

A1 came home from school and asked to have one. He learnt that lady birds make pine cones their home during winter. He wanted to build one by poking holes into it with a screwdriver. Seb proposed to hang it in the garden once the house was completed.

At the moment, it is too wet to go out hang the lady bird's house. And tomorrow, we might have snow.

Wood replenished

We run out of wood since a week.

 

Today, Seb's father came with six steres of wood. He came twice with a lorry loaded with 30cm timber. The right length for our fireplace. He dumped the wood in our garden and Seb had to carry the wood to the garden shed.

 

This was the beginning of his work.

 

Handsome lent support to his master by staying faithfully beside him while his master slogged away. 

 

After working a total of four hours with a few coffee breaks, the garden shelter was full with timber. Poor Seb was exhausted and had turned in early at 9pm tonight.

Last year, we used up three steres. So hopefully, these six steres can last us two winters. 

The first fire in this house

We finally started the first fire last wednesday. It was rainy and windy outside. Seb was working from home and we decided to start a fire. The temperature in the living room was 20°C before the fire started. Actually it was not that cold to call for a fire but well.... we were tempted to start one since we had all the materials.

Once the wood was burning well and the room was heated up, the temperature went up to 24°C. There were ducts that transferred the heat to the rooms upstairs. We opened the vents on the ceilings to have the heat in the rooms. As the boys' rooms were directly above the living room, their rooms got heated up from 20°C to 25°C. It was too hot in A2's room.

The previous owners told us that their girls were in t-shirts and shorts during winter as the rooms were well heated by the fireplace. They saved on electricity bills as the electrical heaters were seldom used.

It is great to have a fireplace. I'm already planning to buy a pan to roast chestnuts and Seb is thinking of having baked potatoes. Will share photos of the goodies here so watch out.

Firewood

We are preparing for winter. Living in a house, we have to stock up wood for the fireplace. The boys' grandfather had a "lobang" and one day, he came along with a family friend and unloaded 2 vans of firewood.

It was so kind of the two retirees who not only delivered the wood but stacked them neatly beside the garden shed. 

Seb is really lucky to have such a helpful father. I had seen neighbours chopping, carrying and stacking wood which were delivered just at their gates.

As the nights started to get colder, we went to buy accessories for the fireplace yesterday. We thought of starting a fire yesterday. However, the night was not that cold yesterday. Today's temperature was decent too. Well, once we start our first fire in this house, I will put up a picture. For a Singaporean like me, a fireplace is a novelty. I'm already thinking of roasting chestnuts over the fire. Yummy!