In the wintertime I heat the tiled stove. It is located at the corridor of the ground floor, immediately after the rear door, which leads into the garden. I built this stove myself twenty years ago. I also made a stove bench - so you can warm your back, if you want. The rooms are heated by natural gasoline from a central heating system. The tiled stove makes the hallways of the whole house cosy warm - up to the attic.
This warmth is something special - sensuous in a comprehensive way. I sawed the firewood myself, I know the tree from which it comes. I stacked the wood for drying under the roof of my garden hut, and very often I pass it until I feed my tiled stove with it. The process of firing - it is an active attention when I go out into the garden, get a few logs and brushwood, put it into the stove and light it. You have to keep the oven door open for a while until the flames go into glow. So you can watch the blazing flames, its play of colours... listen to its cracking and whispering... and breath the smell... - a special sensual experience of warmth and light.
I think qualities of this kind are important in a world that is increasingly digitized and automated. We are human because we feel...
We mostly use wood heat and cut down and process our own wood. There is something about it that is very satisfying, especially right before winter and you look at the large amount of wood that you've processed and know that you will be warm and comfy throughout the cold months. Nice photo.
This looks so great on black. I love your description of the process of building and using the fire and the satisfaction that comes with achieving warming your home through your own efforts.
I have cut up and split more trees as a young man than I care to think about; so much admiration for what you are doing. And there is nothing that beats a wood fire.
@moonmtn Thank you for your nice comment, Kahsia!
You also heat with self-cut firewood. So you can feel it very closely. It is the way you say it: You see what you have done - in this case the heap of firewood. You held it in your hands when you sawed it, split it and stored it to dry. It is an immediate meaningful and sensual activity. And it gives you a sense of security when you have prepared your firewood stock before the cold season. You are independent, self-determined; you can dispose of it as you want.
@barb_b
Barb - It is as you say it - good conditions from your own effort. This gives a sense of self-efficacy, self-determination - and that makes you satisfied.
@scotthouston
Scott - You cut and hacked trees. This is great. At a younger age I worked in the forest and got the firewood from there. Now I am a little bit older... Last summer, I sawed several trees, which the neighbour no longer wanted to have. I hired a helper for chopping. So I can heat two winters, maybe even three.
I have made many things in the house and in the garden - the garden hut, the fence, garden gates, a terrace with canopy; Floors in the house, doors, shelves, furniture. I have also set up my own workshop. I'd like to have more time for it. There is so much I want to do ...
And it is as you say: A wood fire is something wonderful - a living light with original warmth. Authentic in the immediate sensuality.
@dyanstevens
Dyan - "sexy description" ... :) - lighting a fire as an erotic process... In any case, meant very sensual. I think, that all we do should be located in an encompassing view. At least I try it. And I do not always succeed. The failure is common to me. But you should not be discouraged. Do not lose yourself.
The idea is: feeling, thinking and doing in a coherent context. Erotic encounter is beautiful when the thought, the feeling and the physical interpenetrate. This is the aged idea of the unity of soul, spirit, and corporeality. Already the ancient Greeks took this beautiful idea into beautiful words. I think it is important to reinterpret this old idea anew, to carry it to the present, to the particular situation. Thus it remains alive - as a change in the stead. Like the river, which always remains the same, because fresh water always follows.
I think there is very, very much happening when this attitude permeates everyday life - in the words we use, in our gestures, in our contemplation and our actions.
@skstein Sandy - I planned the tiled stove with a professional stove fitter. It takes a lot of experience to adapt the size and the design of a tiled stove to the respective spatial requirements. Then I made it alone - cutting the chamotte slabs, bricking and plastering. It was a lot of work and time intensive. But it made sense to create something useful; with sensual experience in making and using.
What a lovely description to give context to your glowing fire. I can feel the warmth and imagine you in your home, appreciating the fruits of your labours. I watched my father build a fireplace in our home and we have enjoyed many a time warmed by his fire - especially at Christmas times.
@helenhall
Thank you, Helen, for your nice comment!
Your visit is always nice. I appreciate you a lot.
How lovely your memories of your father, how he built a fireplace. Certainly an efficient man.
Enjoy the warmth... especially at Christmas time...
@jerome Have you considered getting yourself a wood lathe ? -- even if you only made bowls, you'd be doing it with your hands; seems like the sort of thing you'd enjoy.
@scotthouston The handling of a wood lathe was part of my education - I am a teacher for technique/handicraft and art. In my private workshop I have no place for a wood lathe. More important for the everyday work for the house and garden are a stationary drill, a circular saw and a place for welding work. But the turning is, of course, a miraculous process. You can do very, very beautiful things this way.
For all my childhood heating only came from firewood. The oven was fuelled by fire too...and my Dad and my brothers chopped the firewood. No feminist equality in those days!! I got to load the barrow to bring it to the firebox in the house..and search for kindling wood. I loved your story Jerome. I live where it is warm to hot all year round...so rare to think of heating. But I love to remember the days with a warm fire in winter.
@hrs Thank you, Helen, for your nice comment!
It is nice if you remember the warm fire in the winter. So you did not spend your childhood in Australia? It is certainly pleasant if you do not have to protect yourself from the cold.
I did not mean that the making of firewood is such an important thing. It was simply an example that the encounter with this world should be also a sensuous one. I meant immediate experiences in which we can use our whole body and use our sensory perception. I thought there should be enough opportunities to experience the world directly and sensually.
Tis is a great warming, hearty shot - I agree wholeheartedly with your wonderful description - especially the last paragraph. Indeed we need to feel. Feel & Fav.
You also heat with self-cut firewood. So you can feel it very closely. It is the way you say it: You see what you have done - in this case the heap of firewood. You held it in your hands when you sawed it, split it and stored it to dry. It is an immediate meaningful and sensual activity. And it gives you a sense of security when you have prepared your firewood stock before the cold season. You are independent, self-determined; you can dispose of it as you want.
Barb - It is as you say it - good conditions from your own effort. This gives a sense of self-efficacy, self-determination - and that makes you satisfied.
Scott - You cut and hacked trees. This is great. At a younger age I worked in the forest and got the firewood from there. Now I am a little bit older... Last summer, I sawed several trees, which the neighbour no longer wanted to have. I hired a helper for chopping. So I can heat two winters, maybe even three.
I have made many things in the house and in the garden - the garden hut, the fence, garden gates, a terrace with canopy; Floors in the house, doors, shelves, furniture. I have also set up my own workshop. I'd like to have more time for it. There is so much I want to do ...
And it is as you say: A wood fire is something wonderful - a living light with original warmth. Authentic in the immediate sensuality.
Dyan - "sexy description" ... :) - lighting a fire as an erotic process... In any case, meant very sensual. I think, that all we do should be located in an encompassing view. At least I try it. And I do not always succeed. The failure is common to me. But you should not be discouraged. Do not lose yourself.
The idea is: feeling, thinking and doing in a coherent context. Erotic encounter is beautiful when the thought, the feeling and the physical interpenetrate. This is the aged idea of the unity of soul, spirit, and corporeality. Already the ancient Greeks took this beautiful idea into beautiful words. I think it is important to reinterpret this old idea anew, to carry it to the present, to the particular situation. Thus it remains alive - as a change in the stead. Like the river, which always remains the same, because fresh water always follows.
I think there is very, very much happening when this attitude permeates everyday life - in the words we use, in our gestures, in our contemplation and our actions.
Thank you, Helen, for your nice comment!
Your visit is always nice. I appreciate you a lot.
How lovely your memories of your father, how he built a fireplace. Certainly an efficient man.
Enjoy the warmth... especially at Christmas time...
It is nice if you remember the warm fire in the winter. So you did not spend your childhood in Australia? It is certainly pleasant if you do not have to protect yourself from the cold.
I did not mean that the making of firewood is such an important thing. It was simply an example that the encounter with this world should be also a sensuous one. I meant immediate experiences in which we can use our whole body and use our sensory perception. I thought there should be enough opportunities to experience the world directly and sensually.