"Self-sufficiency does not mean 'going back' to the acceptance of a lower standard of living. On the contrary, it is the striving for a higher standard of living, for food that is organically grown and good, for the good life in pleasant surroundings... and for the satisfaction that comes from doing difficult and intricate jobs well and successfully." John Seymour ~ Self Sufficiency 2003

Wednesday 4 August 2021

Learning something new at my age

I read somewhere recently that one can clear the glass of a wood burning stove with wood ash from the fire.  So naturally, after one of our winter fires left the glass all "smoked" up recently, I had to try it.
Dirty, smoked filled glass

I took a small wad of loo paper (I don't buy or use paper towel in my home) dampened it and dipped it gently in the cold ash of the fire and then carefully wiped the glass.
Just a dab of wood ash on some tissue (loo) paper

Wow - it works!! 😀  It works beautifully.

Previously, as it doesn't easily "rub" off, I had taken a blade to the gunk in order to carefully remove it without scratching the glass.  But this is now a breeze.

Just be careful to use the fine wood ash - not the tiny (or  bigger) chunks of charcoal which may remain in your ash tray.
Leave the "chunks" of wood ash behind and just take a bit of the finer ash

If only I'd know this since 2012 when we first had the Rosie installed and keeping us warm during winter...
The glass in front of the fire pit
is clean again.  Nothing nicer than
seeing the flames of the fire that
 is keeping you warm - it
somehow adds to the warming effect.

P.S.  The "ashed" bit of loo paper went straight onto my compost heap.

8 comments:

  1. Oh, that is nice to know although living in the (Australian) tropics, I am not sure when I will need that info! Hope you are doing well, I stepped away from blogging for a while but missed the connections.

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    1. Lol - Can't see you needing a fireplace in the tropics either.

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  2. Great to have you back, Dani!

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    1. Thanks Unknown. Please won't you add your name so I know whom I'm talking to ;)

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  3. Hey, we're never too old to learn anything new. So nice to "see" you again. We're still not at the farm, a job loss for a year for 2nd Man and then the pandemic has pushed back our plans but we're working that way again. After our terrible Winter disaster in this state and us being without power for days, I came back here to check out the info on your "Rosie". If we have a remodeling done, we are deciding between a fireplace and cast iron stove of some sort.

    And hey, if anything has a glass window front, we'll have a secret way to clean it, ha.

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    1. 1st Man - the effects of Covid-19 has impacted everyone I fear. Lockdown's certainly are hectically detrimental to businesses.

      Re: the Nordica Rosa (Rosie) - I would highly recommend a cast iron stove that can double up as both a cooking / heating station would serve you better than just a fireplace. Especially during power outages.

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  4. Glad tor you have your son nearby. Life has changed so much for all of us since lockdown. Work from home is the new default for many young people. My niece's kids are teachers and they have often worked online - that is also a good solution for the kids who are at home, for whatever reason - half the class 'here' and the others behind the screen.

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    1. Life has certainly changed - for so very many reasons.

      Thankfully, I have worked from home since 2012 so that "change" has not affected me.

      My grandson is currently writing matric - this year (and last year) cannot have been easy on him. I hope it hasn't affected his results too negatively.

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Thank you for taking the time to comment - it makes my day and removes the "loneliness' of sitting at my screen blogging supposedly to myself ;) I try and reply as quickly as possible so please forgive me if sometimes my response is delayed.