First of all, here is the most beautiful Christmas tree known to humanity:
We will have two trees this year. This is a live one, and the artificial one will go into the bedroom.
And now I need some help. I never lived in a house before this one, and many things about it are mystifying. Here are the questions I’ve got:
1. See the firewood next to the tree? We placed it close to the fireplace on a mat. That is obviously not a good idea because it’s messy and just weird. What do people normally do? Are there special boxes or receptacles for firewood? Where are they sold?
2. We moved in on July 1 and never had any problems with insects. However, since we turned on the heating, we’ve seen an insane number of angry, sleepy black flies. They buzz around angrily, then drop down and fall asleep. I get rid of them but on the next day more flies appear. Does anybody know where they come from? What should one do to avoid this issue in the future?
3. We put up Christmas lights outside, and they are beautiful. But then one of the bunches stopped working. I investigated and discovered that one of the cords was broken. It looked as if it had been cut. I suspected am animal but an animal would chew through something, right? This cord looked cut with a ver uh sharp knife. The cut was very clean. There is nothing in the vicinity of the cord that could have produced this cut. Does anybody have any ideas what it could have been?
4. Is it a good idea to use firestarters? I mean, the ones you place into the fireplace in the wrappers?
5. Why is all firewood sold in the area so wet? It is so wet that white pus comes out of it after you light it.
Clarissa's Blog 
I love the Christams tree! 🙂 I’m a complete sap when it comes to all thigns Christmas. I love the tree, the lights, the carolers– all of it. 🙂 ……… I’ve never had a wood burning fireplace before (sigh) but my friends who do store their wood in something like this. 🙂 http://www.llbean.com/llb/shop/79258?productId=1314630&attrValue_0=Gray&mr:trackingCode=07CFE228-2EF3-E211-A497-90E2BA285E75&mr:referralID=NA&mr:device=c&mr:adType=pla&mkwid=KJR9Hotr_dc&pcrid=62960393840&qs=3091382_google&product=0NAM412000&cvosrc=cse.google.0NAM412000&cvo_crid=62960393840
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Thank you for the link! The problem with this firewood is that splinters, pieces of bark and crumbs keep falling off. So I think I need a closed receptacle. Does anybody know if they exist?
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On the firewood I recommend keeping in the garage in a wooden box. This depends on amount of wood you use obviously. But if its a lot, some of the store “wood holders” may be too small. You can buy, but if you or N. are handy pretty simple to make. literally a few 2×4 and a plywood back and you can store a lot of wood. Might be an option. Also an option for dry wood is have extra wood store in that box over summer or outdoors under a tarp.. best burning wood is a few years old of dry storage. I don’t know what type of area you live in, but those are what worked for my family growing up.
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You dry the wood by opening up the wood and placing some of the other wood near the fireplace when you are burning your first fire. The indirect heat dries the wood.
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Makes sense. Ok, I’ll try. I’m wondering how you learned all this in Rhodesia and Australia. Does it ever get cold? 🙂
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I learned it in Rhodie. We had a fireplace and a chimney there. They are not common so much in Australia, where we use heaters.
By the way, here is a graphic I just made depicting the differences I have noticed (after many years of study and observation) between the Rhodie and Modern character structures.
http://unsanesafe.blogspot.com.au/2014/12/old-style-and-new-style-character.html
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We keep a huge stock of firewood in the backyard, lined up against the fence. When we need it dried, I’m pretty sure we use square crates and put them in the garage or the back porch (it’s enclosed) for a time before we put it on the fire. My dad’s usually the one who does it, though, so I’m not positive.
What kind of flies are they? Are they big? Tiny? About the size of a regular house fly or gnat? Where do they cluster?
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These flies are both big and small. And they appear mostly in my bedroom, which is the warmest place.
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Hm. I’d pay special attention to the heating and cold-air vents in that room, to see if maybe that’s where they’re coming from. Flies don’t usually come inside for warmth–that’s more along the lines of spiders and silverfish. It’s possible that something died in a wall somewhere and that’s why there’s so many. You wouldn’t necessarily smell it, either (and you don’t want to–we had a chipmunk die in the wall of the bathroom one year and it was awful). Maybe find someone to clean the air ducts? I doubt they’re sewage flies (we got them in my dorm last year), but you might also try pouring something like coffee down the drain and see if they disappear.
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“It’s possible that something died in a wall somewhere and that’s why there’s so many.”
– Oh Lordy. That sounds very disturbing.
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