As with all things we do, our project to install our woodstove at the executive deer stand has gone slowly. About a year ago, some friends helped me cut a hole in our perfectly good roof and feed a stovepipe through it. Emily thinks we stalled like that for a year, but I prefer to think of that year as all-season, extreme weather testing. Finally, in the last few weeks, we found a little room to breathe in our schedule and finished actually attaching the stove to the well-tested stovepipe!
![The new wood stove!](https://i0.wp.com/myhomeamongthehills.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/11_30_2015-339.jpg?resize=604%2C805&ssl=1)
The funny thing is that we actually bought the stove about 4 years ago. Four years ago we were optimistic on how long it would take us to build the cabin…”oh, about 6 months, right?” Yeah…right…
![Some patent leather beetles I found while cutting wood](https://i0.wp.com/myhomeamongthehills.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/11_30_2015-066.jpg?resize=563%2C1000&ssl=1)
Anyhow, we fired up the stove with the first fire and it was glorious! Although it was an unseasonable 70 degrees, it will still absolutely wonderful to enjoy its heat. I was a little ridiculous, but I bet I ran back and forth outside ten times watching for smoke in the chimney…I just wanted to see it work! Of course, it was a good fire so didn’t produce much smoke which was good and bad I guess.
![Wood piles!](https://i0.wp.com/myhomeamongthehills.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/09_10_2015-059.jpg?resize=604%2C340&ssl=1)
And what will we burn in this stove you ask? We just happened to have to cut down a few trees at our house. The lumberjacks left the tree cut up in sections, but unsplit on the ground where it dropped. All together, I think we had wood from 4 or 5 trees. We burned a bunch in the firepit but still have a really good pile of wood….or actually, several really good piles.
![We rented a woodsplitter...money well spent](https://i0.wp.com/myhomeamongthehills.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/09_10_2015-052.jpg?resize=604%2C340&ssl=1)
At first, I wanted to buy a woodsplitter but decided to rent one instead…right decision. We knocked out splitting a lot of wood in a weekend and hauled it to our woodshed at the deer stand over the course of a few weeks…
So, now we can let it snow and blow. Assuming we can get near the cabin, we can be plenty warm!