We’re getting the chimney swept soon – actually, it should have been done today, but we postponed it because we’ve decided to get a new and more efficient woodburner in the first dining room.  And the chimney needs to be relined, chiz chiz.  But it’ll be worth it.  Sadly, the Franklin stove that I love is now completely out of date – the problem with it is that the cast iron has cracked and, whilst Justin was able to come up with a very likely reason for that, not only can it not be guaranteed that a new one wouldn’t do the same thing, but modern models are vastly more efficient.  Indeed, it seems likely that it’ll warm much of the house, which will be jolly good.  Last winter, poor Tim missed his central heating and had to rely on me to keep him warm.

Seemed to work, mind you.

Anyway, that’s happening next week, but we’ve brought coal and logs into the drawing room anyway, because we might want a fire in there.  I should say, obviously the new flue won’t need to be swept, but the second dining room flue needs a bit of attention before it can be swept at all.  But then all will be splendid.

In other news, today we’ve been ordering fruit trees, wedding presents from lovely friends.