Hi,
I realise that this is probably already on the board but it is such a lovely evocative piece.
The Firewood Poem
Beechwood fires are bright and clear
If the logs are kept a year,
Chestnut's only good they say,
If for logs 'tis laid away.
Make a fire of Elder tree,
Death within your house will be;
But ash new or ash old,
Is fit for a queen with crown of gold
Birch and fir logs burn too fast
Blaze up bright and do not last,
it is by the Irish said
Hawthorn bakes the sweetest bread.
Elm wood burns like churchyard mould,
E'en the very flames are cold
But ash green or ash brown
Is fit for a queen with golden crown
Poplar gives a bitter smoke,
Fills your eyes and makes you choke,
Apple wood will scent your room
Pear wood smells like flowers in bloom
Oaken logs, if dry and old
keep away the winter's cold
But ash wet or ash dry
a king shall warm his slippers by.
I'm just an old softy.
HAVE JUST TAKEN UP CAGE FIGHTING.
REALLY ENJOYING IT.
DON'T RECKON THE BUDGIE WILL LAST LONG.
TA, not sure they are up to being photographed -
just regular big (draughty) fireplaces ......
We found a very ornate marble fireplace in one of
the barns, all in pieces, not too much of it broken, but we suspect
that it was from the kitchen, as, looking at the house itself, there
are four identical chimneys. The kitchen had been altered some years
before we bought the house, I reckon.
Of the other 3, our daughter painted one of
them (dining room) in a crackle-finish, which I quite like. In the
lounge, she added some architrave-type wood, and the other (where I
am sitting right now in the study) was a little broken, so no photo of that, I'm afraid, the others though - here you are!!
Chippychap said:
Glad you like it.
As toffeapple says brightspark your fireplaces are lovely.
Thanks for the piccies.
As for the different types of wood I wouldn't know Oak from MDF but I will gen up a bit.
I wouldn't know Oak from MDF
Me, neither, Ken
, I wouldn't know one wood from another, but good job that hubby does !!!!!
your fireplaces are lovely
Thanks, and when they have lovely burning fires in them, they're even better! Very cosy!
Ken, what a lovely poem - thanks for posting it. I've just copied it and will have a go at tarting it up a bit before printing off to go by our open fire. It doesn't mention the 'spitty' woods. We are sometimes given logs etc from friend who have been tree pruning, and occasionally get a real spitter. Once there was a very loud bang and the smell of singed fur. We had to scrape the cat off the ceiling. (Ooops, sorry -
). We have an open fire and can legitimately burn both wood and coal. I love the smell of a coal fire when you come in out of the cold on a really dark and dismal evening. We re-built the fireplace a few years ago and were lucky to find a really good piece of marble that was the perfect size for a mantlepiece. It is currently being used as a winter nature table - a mixture of wooden animals, pine cones and twigs, and lots of little paper snowflakes I made one afternoon pre- C-word. These were my festive decorations this year, as a change from baubles and cavorting golden cherubs. Still seasonal, so they are staying put for the time being.
Gone crazy. Back soon.
Heather E said:
Once there was a very loud bang and the smell of singed fur. We had to scrape the cat off the ceiling.
(Ooops, sorry -
).
Heather - back in the day when we were still on the coal fired heating, we got one of those"BANG!"s and DawsonCat jumped up and ran off. I saw a spiral of smoke rising from his back, like tiny native Americans were sending smoke signals. I did the only thing I could think of and spat on his back. It put the fire out, but I'm not sure he's forgiven me yet!
Chippychap said:
Hi,
I realise that this is probably already on the board but it is such a lovely evocative piece.
The Firewood Poem
Beechwood fires are bright and clear
If the logs are kept a year,
Chestnut's only good they say,
If for logs 'tis laid away.
Make a fire of Elder tree,
Death within your house will be;
But ash new or ash old,
Is fit for a queen with crown of gold
Birch and fir logs burn too fast
Blaze up bright and do not last,
it is by the Irish said
Hawthorn bakes the sweetest bread.
Elm wood burns like churchyard mould,
E'en the very flames are cold
But ash green or ash brown
Is fit for a queen with golden crown
Poplar gives a bitter smoke,
Fills your eyes and makes you choke,
Apple wood will scent your room
Pear wood smells like flowers in bloom
Oaken logs, if dry and old
keep away the winter's cold
But ash wet or ash dry
a king shall warm his slippers by.
I'm just an old softy.
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