12-29-2014, 06:19 AM
Thanks ella 
I wonder if some confusion is caused by a difference in fireplaces -- in our living room we had a pot-bellied stove that used to require lighting as well, but never until well into the afternoon as the room wasn't used during the day (except on weekends, and then only if there was a blizzard or something preventing us from playing outside). In the kitchen, though, we had a big open fire. It was probably six feet across, with brick shelves on either side to rest things on. On one side was the kettle, always full -- in the winter, when the pipes were frozen, this meant several trips out into the snow, which was always fun at first but soon got a bit tiresome. On the other side was a big copper pot with lots of dents in it, waiting for porridge or whatever else would fill it for the day. Sometimes we'd be too tired to clean it out at night time, so we'd wake up to a blob of leftover goop that was pretty revolting to remove.
Cold ash has a very distinct smell. Fireplaces in my memory, warm or not, always smell at least a little of sap (mostly eucalyptus for me) and charcoal. There are lingering scents of food or tea. To say that they smell of nothing seems to me just ignorant.
(I actually loved our fireplace. I would pull a chair up close and sit with my legs up on the wall, reading for hours. I'd have to change sides fairly often because it got rather hot. I never really minded setting and lighting the fire either, and always ended up being the nominated firestarter at Girl Guides later on. I quite liked chopping things up as well.)
I wonder if some confusion is caused by a difference in fireplaces -- in our living room we had a pot-bellied stove that used to require lighting as well, but never until well into the afternoon as the room wasn't used during the day (except on weekends, and then only if there was a blizzard or something preventing us from playing outside). In the kitchen, though, we had a big open fire. It was probably six feet across, with brick shelves on either side to rest things on. On one side was the kettle, always full -- in the winter, when the pipes were frozen, this meant several trips out into the snow, which was always fun at first but soon got a bit tiresome. On the other side was a big copper pot with lots of dents in it, waiting for porridge or whatever else would fill it for the day. Sometimes we'd be too tired to clean it out at night time, so we'd wake up to a blob of leftover goop that was pretty revolting to remove.
Cold ash has a very distinct smell. Fireplaces in my memory, warm or not, always smell at least a little of sap (mostly eucalyptus for me) and charcoal. There are lingering scents of food or tea. To say that they smell of nothing seems to me just ignorant.
(I actually loved our fireplace. I would pull a chair up close and sit with my legs up on the wall, reading for hours. I'd have to change sides fairly often because it got rather hot. I never really minded setting and lighting the fire either, and always ended up being the nominated firestarter at Girl Guides later on. I quite liked chopping things up as well.)
It could be worse