If you’ve been a visitor of our blog for awhile, you may have noticed that we just get silly-excited, about the darndest things.  About lots of things, all kinds of things, and sometimes most anything. : )  That’s just how we are.  Sometimes, those things have to do with accomplishments with our home.  If you knew the transformation our home has taken, and what we’ve been through to make it happen, you’d probably appreciate that more.  That’s another ‘post all it’s own’, but needless to say…..it’s been a very long, but very exciting journey.  And having done most of the work ourselves (which is still a work in progress), every single ‘check off the list’ is a big deal to us. So indulge us, won’t you please?  Because we’re jumping up and down here with excitement!

ONE of our home projects has been to get this wood/coal stove vented to the outside. It’s a WESO Ceramic Radiant Heat Wood and Coal Stove.
And it’s a family piece. More on that in a bit.

Except….we needed a chimney, since our old one was knocked out with a wall, and was falling apart anyway.  The sun room this stove is in now, is in it’s place.  So…..hooking up this stove, and getting a proper chimney up, that would pass inspection of course, was a major project.  We had a deadline goal to get it done by, that was really important to us.

It was  BEFORE LAST WINTER began!

Obviously, we missed that goal by a long shot!  But it did get done, in all thanks to my husband, who can do all things, when he decides to. And he’s ambitious.
😉   He cut a hole through the ceiling  and roof just so, got everything squared away and boxed in, and patched up the ceiling in no time at all.  Well….a few days. lol  His brother in-law did send one of his roofing guys over, to do the roof part properly. (Thank you BIL!!) But my husband even assembled the mile-high chimney on the roof all by himself >>> during the 2 absolute coldest days of the winter so far—in the single digits.  Crazy I tell you.

I know…we’re looking a bit like Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory now. (Actually, that wouldn’t be an entirely bad thing, if it were true. lol).  But hey…..it gets the job done.  And it meets inspection standards.

I have a thing about woodpiles.  I think because they mean FIRES ARE GOING TO HAPPEN!  I have always loved fires.  Well….the good ones.  Wood stove fires.  Camp fires.  Those kind.  And our whole family really enjoys them together whenever we can. It’s a such a big-fun-deal to the kids, when we build fires outdoors, just to sit around and chat….which we do quite a bit in the summer and early fall. Sometimes we even have s’mores!  Plus….woodpiles are so…country-ish.  We just love the smell of wood burning, too.

Back to the stove (and re-using this photo).  We’re not only SO excited to be having a real wood/coal stove for our home, because we love having fires to gather around, making our home cozy, and just adding to the comforts of  home feel.  But this stove in particular, has meaningful family history. It’s a WESO ceramic wood and coal stove, made in the mid 1970’s, and it was Michael’s (my husband’s) grandparent’s stove. They had it up in their home in Maine, practically for all of his childhood.

That makes it really special, because Michael was really close to his Nana, and spent a lot of time up there.  Even his school vacations, if he could.  He often brought one of his friends, all of whom took him right up on that offer, because his Nana was cool! So he essentially grew up with this stove.  It was there all the years I knew his Nana, and visited her with him, as well. When his Nana passed away (about 8 years after his grandfather), the stove went to his parents home, where he grew up.  By then of course, he was no longer living at home.  We were planning to get married by then.  But nonetheless, it was there in their home, where we often visited and gathered, for years into our marriage and having four children, until his parents sold the home and moved.

That’s when we took it, in Nov 2006.  And we’ve been waiting to make it part of our home, ever since.

The older we get, the more family pieces mean to us.  To have things around our home that have family history, is just such a blessing.  We don’t have a whole lot.  Lots of little things that are just as precious.  But this stove is a treasure to us.  It’s a beauty!!  And it was finally time to start her up!!  Heading into a bitter cold weekend, too.

This corner, and  just to the left of it where our french doors into the rest of our home are, is the only parts of the room that are windowless.  This room is pretty much all windows, and a sliding glass door out to the deck.  LOTS of natural light.  We are essentially surrounded by the outdoors, but inside. We have spent A LOT of time in here……even though it is no where near decorated or furnished as it will be.  The kids just LOVE this room as well, and spend a lot of time in it too….until the winters came.  It just got BITTER cold out there.  The stone tiles were like ice.  So when we come in the front door, we  kick off our shoes and get through the french doors and into the house as soon as possible. It’s been a 3 season room.

But not anymore.  It’s finally a 4 season room!  I have to say…..it’s been one very enjoyable, very snowy, and very cozy weekend for us, here in our home.  We’ve spent much of it in this room…..surrounded by a winter wonderland, but warm as can be.  Just gathered together as a family, hanging out by the fire.  Right where we love to be.

We’ll be back to tell you more about our cozy weekend really soon.  Meanwhile, if you have any really treasured family pieces as part of your home, we’d love to hear about them!  It doesn’t matter what it is, big or small, pretty or not…..if it matters to you, it matters!  Please feel free to share family pieces with us if you have a moment.

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