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Keeping the Home Fires Burning

Reader Contribution by Amy Conley and Conley Farm
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The very first time we stayed at our newly purchased house, it was the middle of winter. I was seven months pregnant and had a 2-year-old at the time. It was the first time my husband or I used a woodstove. The previous owners left us some wood and gave us some quick instructions on how to use it. My husband got it going and decided to go out and explore the property.

I was busy trying to keep the toddler away from the woodstove, and it was getting pretty hot. I started freaking out, I didn’t know what knob I was supposed to pull in or push out. I bundled us up and headed out to find my husband, I wasn’t going to stay in a house about to burn down because the woodstove might explode from being too hot. So I was screaming for my husband carrying a 2-year-old through feet of snow. Our neighbors are not too far away so they probably heard me and must have thought I was nuts. I was thinking, “What did we get ourselves into?” My husband moved me up to the country and now I had to use a woodstove, what was my world coming to. What happened to turning a thermostat and the heat came on?

We learned pretty quickly that oil heat is expensive when heating an old house. Wood has become a family activity. We cut and stack it together, the boys help bring it in the house so we can enjoy the warmth of a nice fire. I think back to our first night and laugh now. Visit my Facebook page at www.facebook.com/conleyfarm.