So all day, these days, I change between the firehole, the front hall and the computerdesk.  I just wish the coldbox would be colder.

I like what we came up with, but I sure wish I'd seen this Family Circle article before spending an arm and a leg on a custom fireplace. "How to buy an outdoor fireplace" has a ton of good info and plenty of tips on all kinds of pre-made fire pits, fire bowls, chimineas, and combo grill/fireplace units. There's really a lot of neat outdoor fireplace products hitting the market now and it's easier (and cheaper!) than ever to add some heat to your backyard.

Since Tilia misrepresented my relationship with Kip so distastefully as to almost suggest he was a one night stand in her post about her London Gwag Royce Part 1, I felt I should set the story straight now rather than later.

So Kip and I met during a film shoot, which was essentially, my film shoot, during college in London. I was writing and directing a short and he was hired by my course leader to be my director of photography. He himself, was in film school there and came highly recommended. Well just taking a look at him I could have told you that.

We met over coffee for pre-production talk, as filming would commence the following weekend. We connected instantly. (And contrary to this website's material, you may think this happens to me often, but it really doesn't) We had a shared love for deep conversation and philosophy that I rarely find.

Kip was originally from a respectable family in New Delhi and had originally intended to go into economics and engineering like his Muslim father. But during college, his brother introduced him to some documentary filmmakers and Kip discovered he wasn't destined for a 9 to 5 job. He fled to London on a film scholarship to begin his career.

The filming went smoothly, we finished on budget, early, actors were happy and did I mention the camera guy was the best part? We became fast friends but nothing more until the night of the premiere where I was late to my own film. (smooth) Afterwards, there was lots of free champagne, and at this point in my life not only did I lack the sense of a cut off period, I didn't care, as Grey was there with his twit girlfriend, drinking nothing but orange juice.

This upset me more than you could imagine.

However, my chivalrous and handsome friend Kip took care of me that night as I, no doubt, made a complete ass of myself. He saved me from almost losing my passport, and escorted me to the tube station where he sat with me for almost 15 minutes until the last one came. I put my head on his shoulder and he lightly stroked me hair. At that moment, we were more than just friends.

Sadly, soon after our flirtatious period of drinking in Covent Garden and spending lots of time in unconventional  conversation, I'd decided it was financially necessary for me to move back to America at the time, where he would stay in London for a while. It was because of this decision that I made a conscious effort not to sleep with him. I was afraid of falling in love with him.

Kip gave me a beautiful going away present that he bought on the streets of New Delhi; an embroidered Indian tunic and skirt, which for some reason fit me perfectly, even though he had no idea what size I was, nor had he even gotten a decent glimpse. (If you know what I mean, wink)

So we parted ways, but kept in constant touch. It wasn't until a couple months later that I regretted what could have been and actually admitted this to him. Hardly surprised, he expressed the same regret and I made a radical decision to return back to London that December for my 'graduation' which I'd never intended to go to. I needed to see Kip again.

So I arrived in London for a week, where Tilia also joined and we stayed in my old flat thanks to my lovely landlord.

Kip and I finally consummated our relationship and it was a sort of fairy tale week that felt like only a couple of days. (Oh and can I just say the sex was amazing) We drove out to the English countryside one night and spent almost 3 hours in a Christmas decorated tavern with leather couches, a fireplace and lots of mistletoe. We went to our favorite pubs and instead of talking, just made out with each other. (Consider it making up for lost time)

To make it even more movie-esque, he had decided to travel back to India the same day I would later fly back to America. He was going to 'Chaiya Chaiya Bollywood' to try his hand at becoming a famous director and I was embarking on a journey to Hollywood to become a famous writer.

After spending hours together at Heathrow airport on the night of his departure, neither one of us knowing what would happen next, but admitting we still had a desire to try to be together, he walked off into the distance after a kiss goodbye, I returned back to the flat, packed my suitcase and left for America.

(This was the same night Tilia, Royce and I attended the play readings and, hence the part where Tilia goes on a tour of London with Royce)

As time passed, we became more and more distant. And if the time zone difference wasn't enough, our lack of finances also hurt our chances in the communication department. So it was only recently that I called it off between us. Not necessarily due to any fault of either party, but just a lack of knowing what will happen to us in the future.

Kip is, however, planning to visit London later this year, and I told him I wouldn't rule out the possibility of seeing him again.

Because in a way with Kip, I felt I'd found my counterpart and it was, and still is, the only time I've been in love with someone despite their faults.

It's not just a matter of sprinkling rose petals around the room or lighting candles. Instead, follow a few simple principles to create a romantic bedroom and help keep the spark going all year long.

Eliminate Distractions

The first step in creating a romantic bedroom is to banish the TV set, says Diane Dorrans Saeks, author of "Bedrooms" (Chronicle Books). "I think a television set, both conceptually and visually, is anathema to romance," Saeks says.

However, Saeks recommends installing sound systems in bedrooms. Music can be romantic, but late night TV talk shows are not. A good rule of thumb is to keep the bedroom free of work, computers and other distractions. Instead, reserve the room exclusively for sleep, relaxation and romance.

Create a Great Bed

The ideal romantic bedroom features a top-quality bed and bed accessories. "Get the best possible mattress, pillows and bed frame you can," Saeks says. For instance, four-post beds look romantic and can be further enhanced with draperies and canopies. If a new bed or mattress is beyond your budget right now, treat yourself instead to soft, fluffy pillows.

Next, dress your bed in good quality cotton or linen sheets. For a crisp, fresh touch, iron the sheets or have them hand-pressed at a laundry. "White is the most romantic color, and ecru and the palest pink are also attractive," Saeks says.

Set the Mood With Lighting

Like Saeks, Anne Landers of Savannah, Ga. is an expert on creating romantic bedrooms. Landers is the owner and innkeeper of The Gastonian, a bed-and-breakfast inn where couples often celebrate engagements, weddings or anniversaries. Landers says good lighting is important in setting a romantic mood in the inn's bedrooms. "I use a lot of indirect lighting," Landers says, explaining that she finds overhead lighting unflattering. The inn's bedrooms also glow with light from fireplaces. According to the Hearth Products Association, fireplaces can often be installed in almost any room in a house. Check your local building regulations first.

Looking for a simpler project? Consider installing dimmer switches on your existing lights. Dimmer switches, available at home improvement stores, let you control the light's brightness.

Include Small, Thoughtful Treats

The little things count a lot in relationships so be sure to add some special touches to your bedroom. Chocolate truffles, champagne, strawberries and chocolate and romantic reading are some of the treats Landers leaves in the rooms for guests. "We put a little basket on the bed with six chocolates and a little book of love poetry," Landers says.

Flowers are also welcome, providing appealing colors and scents. "Small pots of flowering bulbs will fill the room with fresh, natural fragrance. I especially recommend hyacinths and paper whites," Saeks says.

With the scene set, all that remains is to "turn off the phone, turn up the music and disappear from the world," Saeks says. By eliminating distractions and playing up comfort and sensuality, your bedroom can remain a romantic retreat long after Valentine's Day has come and gone.

There are quite a few new albums coming out in the next few months that I am beyond excited for. Near the top of the list is Lost In The Trees new LP All Alone In An Empty House due to come out September 9th. Their last release was such a tease, only seven brillant songs, with a running time of 26 minutes, such an engaging album which just left me wanting wayyyyy more. One track from All Alone In An Empty House has been released, "Fireplace", and it shows a lot of potential for the album. The song starts off a little different then the music on Time Taunts Me but near the end the orchestral influence comes flying back in, a little bit like "Are You Afraid Of The Dark" on their last album. Anyways its all awesome, and I will be looking forward to the release! Also, this is how Entertainment Weekly described the sound of Lost In The Trees, "A sublime blending of Prokofiev's "Peter and the Wolf" with a dash of Vivaldi and the vocal stylings of a suaver Ben Gibbard from Death Cab".

Lost In The Trees- If You're Afraid Of The Dark

Lost In The Trees- Fireplace

Lost In The Trees- Walk Around The Lake

buy their music here!!

Portuguese limestone is a beautifully smooth, almost white stone and as its name hints, ;) is from Portugal.

Quality grades of Portuguese limestone have only slight veining within - blemishes found in other grades, should not be sold on the market!

Take a look at the image below!

As can be seen from the image above; the veining is minimal and thus produces a smooth creamy effect - a stone found with large blemishes, demonstrates a different kind of effect (rather like porridge with melted sugar within) not a blend that is commonly recognised as aesthetically pleasing!

Incidentally; I went to a stone show recently and a competitor had some of their products on show - I Have always wondered why they have been able to under-cut our prices? (we always use the highest quality stone)

And then... ;)

It jumped out at me! Literally!

I suddenly noticed porridge-like blemishes within the sides of one of their show-pieces - there were no blemishes on the front of the fireplace, but down the sides they were hideous!!

What did they expect (I wondered)?

Maybe they expect their customers to have a permanent plant, or similar object placed conveniently next to the blemishes to cover them up!!

I could not believe my eyes - I now know how some of these online competitors can charge such low prices - be warned!

A quality fireplace!

A quality Portuguese Limestone Fireplace, should look like the one pictured here!

Of course, if cheap stone is what you are looking for then blemishes can be hidden, but it is not an ideal choice and could ruin the effect of your room!

I chose to put the this particular fireplace in as an example, as we fitted one last week. The durrington, of contemporary design and a great centre-piece to any room... The client was more than satisfied with the finished product and his room effect was wonderful!

I have to mention here; had he been given a fireplace that had the 'porridge' effect, then hey... It would probably have been a complete design disaster!

Some questions to ask sellers:

1. Do you cut out all blemishes?
2. Do you craft fireplaces from the same pieces of stone?
3. Have you got a showroom where I can see your fireplaces on display?
4. Have you got any testimonials from previous customers that I can read?

I hope this post is useful?

Hasta ;) luego...

July 15, 2008 11:43 pm
Feeling: Worn out
Craving: Cheez-Its and Frank
Hearing: Backstreet Boys - I'm jamming out old school tonite
Last Movie: The River Wild
Last DVD: Gilmore Girls
Last on TV: Weeds
Reading: War and Genocide by Doris Bergen and Wicked by Gregory Maguire
Talking to: Myself
Plugging: No one

Geez, I had no idea I hadn't written in so long!!

Well, my first summer class is over. No more Homer for me. I started my class about the Holocaust yesterday. I like it and it's interesting, but there is a ton of reading! I like going to class though because it's interesting the whole time. I don't find myself daydreaming too much.

Because my class is at 11, I work at 9 now. I like it except that I work with another girl at the same time and there's barely enough for one person to do, let alone two.

So last night something fell down into the tubing of our little fireplace, and I guess it made a huge thud, so Bethany thought it was a squirrel and Steveo thought it was a mouse. We spent, like, a half hour trying to get it out and couldn't. We finally tried once more this morning since our landlord was going to have to come over to take it apart. We got it out. And by "we" I mean Steveo. It was just a really big beetle. For a while I was thinking it might have been the mouse we always hear running around in the ceiling, but I guess not haha. Oh well, his running doesn't really bug me anyways.

So Frank went home for the week to help his mom run his grandma's store. I'm so bored without him haha. It's funny cause I'm still busy, but I feel lonely because usually even when I'm doing my homework and stuff he's here too, and we stop in the middle of things to talk, but now he's not here. Oh well, I guess. I'll get over it. It's been weird only making dinner for one person though.

I have good news. I weighed myself at the gym today and I'm down 10 lbs from where I was when I was home. I was hoping for more than 10 because last Monday I weighed myself and I was down 8 lbs. It's understandable though because Saturday was my Grandparents 50th Anniversary party, so there were a lot of extra calories eaten that day with cake and such. It was a lot of fun though, and I got to see people I like (and people I don't haha). Even though 10 lbs isn't that much because of how much I want to lose, I already feel so much happier. I've noticed I'm a lot less moody, which is nice, because I know I've been pretty moody the last few months.

Now that I've finished my tons of reading for tonight, I'm going to go ahead and go to bed.

καλμνúχτα - aka Goodnite!

The cover of this week's issue of the New Yorker depicts Barack Obama in Arabic(ie: Muslim to most people) garb performing a "terrorist fist jab" with Michelle Obama, who is dressed like a Black Panther. Behind them, the US flag and a picture of Osama Bin Laden hangs over the fireplace. The New Yorker's defense of the cover is that it "satirizes the use of scare tactics and misinformation in the Presidential election to derail Barack Obama's campaign."

His point is well seen, but nothing on the cover references the fear mongers. This lack of context means that the same people who have fallen for misinformation and scare tactics will think the New Yorker is verifying their point of view. I'm not saying the New Yorker shouldn't be able to publish this. Nor am I saying that the New Yorker has to be positive towards Obama. I'm simply saying that the New Yorker should be above reinforcing the fears of the right. I do assume that regular readers of the New Yorker would get the point. However, this cover will be seen by many who would never read the New Yorker due to how incendiary it is.

A magazine with the reputation of the New Yorker should act more responsibly.

Edit at 11:40 AM, July 15, 2008: I've been thinking more about it and it seems to me that the problem is simply in the execution. If, as an example, they had put the scene in a thought bubble coming from a scared stereotypical white man the satire would be clearer and it would be far more difficult for it to be misinterpreted. Of course, even if was done badly, The New Yorker has a right to say it which is something we should be happy about.

Call Housemaster Home Inspection for a home inspection Suffolk/Nassau County 800-805-1122.

The house currently under our consideration was built in 1950, though many of the fixtures are remanent of a 1940s style.  I love the door handles and the bathroom tile.  The hardwood floors are in great shape as is much of the original plaster.  There are two fireplaces original to the home and a beautiful, delicate banister descending into a foyer flanked on two sides with two small, inset closets.  

While Erick looks at this house and sees work (I believe he calls it the monstrosity), I (in all my sophistication and love of older homes) recognize the value inherent in preserving a piece of history for future generations to enjoy.  The other day, we were discussing the possibility of getting this home on the historic registry.  Erick scoffed.  After some research this morning into asbestos and lead-paint contamination (oh, the joys of home-ownership), I discovered by chance an article on George W. Bush.  At first I thought someone was trying to uncover the root of his ignorance - perchance caused by exposure to environmental hazards in his youth, but that would only explain Jrs. generation, so I read further.  

Okay that last part is harsh and I owe my discovery to President Bush, or at least his fame or infamy.  You see, Bush's childhood home was built in 1950 and is now one of the first being considered for a federal history project.  While my own 1950s "monstrosity" may not carry with it the weight of a current president, this declaration of presumed historic relevance sets a precedent for future restoration projects and subsequent tax breaks for home-owners.

Genoeg is genoeg.

Enough is enough,

A demolition man stripping a fireplace from the former home of "The Lord of the Rings" author J.R.R. Tolkien stumbled across a postcard to the writer dated 1968, and hopes to sell it for a small fortune.

Stephen Malton, who runs Prodem Demolition in Bournemouth on the south English coast, was working in the house in the nearby town of Poole before it was bulldozed to make way for a new construction project.

"Before we demolish a house we do an internal strip out," Malton said Tuesday.

"One of the main features was a fireplace, and upon removing that we came across three postcards. The third one was a postcard dated 1968 and addressed to J.R.R. Tolkien."

Malton said research on the Internet suggested that the carved wooden fireplace with marble inlay, a feature of the house when Tolkien lived there from 1968 to 1972, was already worth up to $250,000.

"To tie in both the fireplace and the postcard, we are talking about a price of around $500,000 for the combined pair," the 42-year-old told Reuters by telephone.

He contacted the Tolkien Estate, which manages the author's copyrights, and said that they had given him the all clear to sell the fireplace and postcard. The estate could not immediately be reached for comment.

Malton said he would probably sell the items at auction, although according to local newspaper the Dorset Echo, he has already had an offer from a Tolkien enthusiast in Belgium.

The postcard was addressed to Tolkien at the Miramar Hotel in Bournemouth, where he and his wife Edith often stayed.

It is from "Lin," which Malton believed could be fellow fantasy author Lin Carter who wrote "Tolkien: A Look Behind 'The Lord of the Rings,'" published in 1969.

Depicting a scene from Ireland, it reads: "I have been thinking of you a lot and hope everything has gone as well as could be expected in the most difficult circumstances."

Malton was not sure what the "difficult circumstances" might be.

Tolkien had achieved fame by the time he moved to Poole in 1968. His epic "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy, already popular before the hugely successful film adaptations appeared, was published in 1954-55.

He remained in Poole until his wife's death, when he moved back to Oxford. Tolkien died in 1973, aged 81.

By Mike Collett-White

Walked in, checked the post and email and then got on with my list..

I made my usual 'white, two sugars' coffee and sat down to do a price for a fireplace and installation.

Anyway...

While I was sitting there I heard the main door open, but no customers were present, which I found a bit strange, but hey, I assumed that the door had been ajar and maybe the wind had caught it?

Mmm yer right!

The door (almost immediately afterwards), opened a second time... As I got up to shut it, I noticed two black and white kittens taking their own tour of our showroom :)

There seems to be a different animal here every week.. First ring doves and now cats! lol

It was a bit of a surprise I must say, but I suppose it was a pleasant surprise...

Unfortunately, I don't actually have a picture of them but I found the following picture on google image search and they looked just like these two!

I love animals and I know I have said it before (on the ring doves post), but we truely are so lucky with our location!

I remember the days of commuting through London on a daily basis - it's like a second job! ;) - I still do have to travel to London for work engagements, but fortunately it's not all of the time...

Anyway, I hoped you enjoyed learning about my cat experiences! :) They are now back with their owner.. She said that they had escaped from the garden and couldn't thank me enough for "saving the day" as she put it!

Until the next time...

Feelings, nothing more than feelings
Trying to forget my feelings of love
Teardrops rolling down on my face
Trying to forget my feelings of love

Feelings, for all my life I'll feel it
I wish I've never met you, girl
You'll never come again
Feeling, woo-o-o feeling
Woo-o-o, feel you again in my arms

Feelings, feelings like I've never lost you
And feelings like I'll never have you again in my heart

Feelings, for all my life I'll feel it
I wish I've never met you, girl; you'll never come again

Feelings, feelings like I've never lost you
And feelings like I'll never have you again in my life

Feelings, woo-o-o feeling it,
woo-o-o, feeling again in my arms
Feelings

http://www.youtube.com/user/LoveKassandra1

We called a local company who was able to drop off the dumpster that same day in our driveway.

It became the neighborhood conversation piece. Strangers were coming up, asking us what we were doing with a dumpster, and could they put something in it. Neighbor friends were curious too.

It was very convenient to toss the things we couldn't throw in the garbage, like this:

This was an old, non-working, ugly, spider-infested electric fireplace that has been an eyesore in the basement since we moved in. I'm so glad it's gone!

We also were able to toss things like the old, rotten, carpenter-ant-infested wood from around one of our trees, the moldy, flooded carpet, and scary garage items from the deep recesses of the garage.

I know a dumpster is not very environmentally friendly, but we tried to be eco-conscious, and not throw away toxic things like paint.

I wish we could have a dumpster in our driveway all the time.

Extract from Safretti

Anyway...

While I was there, she posed the question; can I get a fireplace that will fit in my room?

Simple answer!

A fireplace can be a centre piece to any room, but a BIG fireplace in a small room can ruin the effect the room has to offer!

Still, there are some fireplace styles that can offer a complimentary effect to a small room, for example; hole-in-the-wall and hang-on-the-wall fireplaces can be an ideal choice for a fireplace, where space-saving is required...

Brands such as; Magiglo and Newman Fireplaces are good choices!

Custom fireplace designers can tailor sizes to match your requirements... Fireplaces such as a hole-in-the-wall can be made quite small indeed, allowing the fireplace, yet again to be a centre-piece to any room!

So... As long as you take size and measurements into consideration, then there are fires and fireplaces suitable for most living spaces!

Tips for buying small fireplaces

1. Buy from a reputable supplier
2. Always clearly specify sizes and measurements for your room
3. Buy a fireplace suitable for you fuel source

Ciao for now ;)

This living room set was made to think about the customers of C&S, with a very young and innovative design, produced with the best quality and good taste. This set is made with sculpt prims and shadows to give realism to your house while saving prims to reduce the lang and so that our customers can have more articles in his house.
At C&S in addition to find the best products, you also will find the best prices with the best quality made by builders with years of experience in second life.

This living room has contemporary lines and a very light design, young and inspiring.
This set is made of Bordeaux velvet and shiny metal, the set comes with all the decoration that is in the pictures, all items that are in this pack, are separated for the customer can apply only those that most like and combine with other articles, and decorate the house to his liking.
The kitchen is equipped with animations for the avatar sit properly, beyond this the lights turn on and off and the entire living room is composed with the best textures to make it more realistic and interactive, this set also includes a fireplace.

PACK:

sofa - 15 prims - transf
small sofa - 9 prims - transf
small table - 3 prims - transf
small light- 5 prims - transf
light- 5 prims - transf
puff - 4 prims - transf
center table - 4 prims - transf
firepalce - 8 prims - transf
rug - 1 prim - transf

book - 2 prims - transf
coffe - 5 prims - transf
inside plant - 4 prims

wall - 1 prim - copy | modify
small wall - 1 prim - copy | modify
floor - 1 prim - copy | modify
fence - 1 prim - copy | modify

You can buy this product in: http://www.slexchange.com/modules.php?name=Marketplace&file=item&ItemID=763452

Or visit in world in http://slurl.com/secondlife/Steine%20Gardens/51/73/33

And for more information you can contact Caty Matova or Scorpionsoul Paine, we have the pleasure to help you with any kind of questions.

 That's just part of what I did back in Houston.  Yup.  My parents bought a house last year and built a new one from the ground up, and we finally moved in last week. 

Usually they both go online at work.  Dad loves the tech blogs and on my walks home from work, we'd discuss what I'd read on Gizmodo and he on Yahoo! Tech News.  Mom loves reading the gossip blogs in Chinese for Chinese immigrants and emails me cute links, pictures and recipes.  But finally, we have DSL at home (thank god!).  Of course setting it up was a huge pain in the *%#, and we didn't have time to tackle it until close to end of week.

I arrived Saturday afternoon.  In addition to the Starbucks ground coffee for mom and Ghiradelli chocolate for dad, I brought the scrapbook that been in the works for a year.  Undoubtedly, I thought they would have noticed the missing pictures and two photo albums.  They didn't.  The surprise on their faces was well worth the effort and my friend teasing me about buying scrap paper from Kozo Arts.

Sunday, we bought my bed, matress and matching bedside table.  For most of the week, we just moved boxes and boxes.  The two houses are only about a minute drive from each other, so we took trips in the SUV.  I thought I had a lot of stuff.  Just the cooking supplies took two trips, that's like 12 boxes!

.

This is where I usually paste tons of pictures, and here it is:

This is my bedroom with along with my new bed.  At first I thought it was just black, which makes my room look so basic (black and white).  But there's actually nice accents of red fades throughout the wood paint/varnish thing.  My mom and I still need to pick out a book shelf and maybe a print for the wall.

Our living room from the second floor.  At this point, it's still all bare, but I love the gray marble and the real fire place.  (Now there's a place for Santa to visit!)  All those huge cards in the corner are Mother's Day, Father's Day and birthday cards I've sent them, since I'm almost never home for those occasions.  Most of the pictures on the mantle are of me- I'm an only child.

This is our dinning room.  The furniture delivery guys and I hit our heads so many times on the chandelier putting together the table.  My dad and I helped cuz... well... we like building stuff together.  Apparently, the rug under the table costs more than the whole dining room set.  Something about handmade... blah blah blah.  Personally, I never understood rugs.  I love hardwood floors, tile, marble and hard, tactile surfaces.

This is the kitchen and my favorite room in the house.  I love the different lighting fixtures from ceiling lights to cabinet lights to the two low hanging bulbs over the range, and all the different variations.  There's also a huge pantry that's not much smaller than my dorm room in college (okay, like 1/5 the size but still huge).

What I said before about the kitchen... nix that.  THIS is my favorite room in the house: the master bathroom, equipped with a full walk-in closet that really IS the same size as my dorm room and this full size jacuzzi.  After my dad and I finished moving boxes on Monday and helping put all the furniture together, I actually fell asleep in the tub.  It fits me like a glove both facing forward with my elbows on the ridge and in the fetal position.  There's perfect room for candles and reading a book (The Yiddish Policemen's Union), while enjoying the full jet blasts.

My mom didn't want me to show the picture of the unmade bed, but the headboard is just too beautiful not to show.  The two matching bedside tables, which are basically mini-chests are matching and magnificent.  The whole structure reminds me of a boat drifting peacefully among the waves.

.

One of my next posts will explore all the bathroom features. :)  There are four, and most of them still need decor.

As I continued down my road it struck me how different our physical world is compared to our emotional one. I mean, here we hit winter, we freeze our butts off and when we do, we go and light a nice warm fire, put on the electric blanket, fill up the hot water bottles and get all nice and cosy.

What do we do when we hit winter in our emotional lives? Ten to one we just abandon ourselves to shiver and shake from the cold, we don't throw a warm blanket over our shoulders nor do we light a warm fire to sit by. We just leave ourselves to suffer in the wet cold. Wrong or right?

So often when life's winter's hit us the last thing on our mind is the fact that we must spoil ourselves, the last thing from our minds is lighting that all important fire. Sure we go on binges, be they shopping or eating, we do odd weird fantastic things but none of which are "spoiling" ourselves, we can also have a tendency to focus on anything but ourselves.

Spoiling ourselves? What do you like the most, is it a long soak in the bath with a bottle of wine (sorry I mean glass), your most favourite food in the whole world, doing an activity that really puts a smile on your face (walking, running, climbing walls, cooking, etc). Add all your favourites together and you end up getting a nice warm fire going, doing them more regularly and the fire stays stronger for longer.

Before we know it Winter is Spring, Spring is Summer

Don't forget to light the fire, it takes the chill out of winter...

Multifuel and wood burning stoves are without doubt the front runners in the race to heat your home in the most efficient and green way!

Global warming is a very high on the agenda of both government and many of us mere mortals who wonder what we have to do, for our bit against global warming.

One of the favourites at present is heating at least part of your home with a wood burning or multifuel stove. Wood is (if from a managed source), a sustainable fuel and has very low fuel miles attached to it, especially if it is sourced locally to the user.

Coal is usually thought of as a high carbon footprint fuel, but used mixed with wood on a multifuel stove, it really is not; this is due to most stoves having such a high efficiency - the coal, in the form of a smokeless fuel, becomes both green and economical!

Coal again, if sourced from British pits, has low fuel miles attached...

Stoves are amazing heaters! They can either just supplement the heat in a room to complete heat, or additionally provide hot water for the whole house!

Most stoves are more than capable of heating a large room and supplementing the heat to other adjacent rooms. In homes with an existing central heating system a stove will often cause the central heating to barely operate.

As well as being a heater, stoves can provide us with that most satisfying warm and cosy feel you can only get from a real fire... Especially a log fire - hey, you just have to think of Christmas! ;)

What of the costs...

Well stoves come in many sizes, and many styles, from very traditional to ultra modern. Traditional models are not expensive, small sizes from as little £250 and up to around £800 for the top brands. Larger models cost from around £500 to well over £1000.

The main expense you face with a stove is the installation! All larger stoves should be installed with a stainless steel multi fuel liner of at least 6in internal diameter, backed filled in the flue with an isolative material. This is a safety measure to protect your flue from the very high temperature a larger stove would create. It is highly recommended that a larger stove is installed with a correctly installed liner.

It is also recommended that even smaller stoves are installed with a liner, but they can be installed without, as long as the flue is sound and the stove will not cause the flue temperature to go too high!

Overall, a stove can be a real gem as a heater! A little work for the householder, in fetching carrying and cleaning, but worth all the effort... :)

As a tip; Source your fuel well, this way, it could be very cheap to run, but be aware... If you have the full works, it may be more costly than you expect to have your stove installed!

I hope you have enjoyed reading?

Toodaloo ;)