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Clair
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[quote user="Clair"][quote user="sweet 17"]Clair, where did you get the kettle in the picture?
I ask because it would be such a good idea to have a big old-fashioned kettle on top of the bois-charbon oven sort of on the go all day.  Then I'll have loads of hot water for cleaning and washing up.  But, I would imagine that trying to get a kettle like that in France is no easy matter?[/quote]
Sweet, sorry to disappoint, but this is not a picture of the woodburner in my house...[:(]
I wish my house was that tidy![:D], but where would all the spiders go? [Www]

You can get similar kettles on line:
http://www.leboncoin.fr/
http://www.twenga.fr/dir-Maison,Batteries-de-cuisine,Bouilloire/Matiere-Cuivre-1-28539
http://www.google.fr

PS: It's a picture of the same woodburner we have in the house, but in tidier surroundings!
[/quote]

Merci, Clair.  Have looked at your sites.  Very kind of you to give me the links.

Have more or less decided on a kettle from le Creuset!  Won't buy it from France though.  Have found a site where it's at a good price.

Will attempt to have it delivered to a friend in the UK and they can bring it over later!

Shame as I would like to buy in France but the prices are seriously scarey!

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I picked up a very large 4 litres aluminium kettle for 2 euros at a vide grenier a couple of years ago which I keep on the woodburner all winter. I only use the water for washing up etc., never for tea, as I think it tastes funny! I have 3 different height trivets for it to sit on as the heat intensifies so that the kettle doesn't boil dry. Wouldn't be without it (or the Villager) as I abandon the gaz hob during the cold months and use the woodburner for all the cooking . Started lighting the wood burner in the evenings on Wednesday.
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[quote user="Clair"]... The night temperature has gone down to 5°C (40° in old money). The northerly wind blew non-stop last week up to Tuesday and the thick stone walls have no more heat to retain. It's been drizzling on and off all day and and the chill added the the damp air outside got the better of us [:(].[/quote]

Completely opposite weather today: blue sky, warm sunshine, birdies in the sky, 20°C already...

Proper end of summer stuff!

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[quote user="DorothyJ"]I picked up a very large 4 litres aluminium kettle for 2 euros at a vide grenier a couple of years ago which I keep on the woodburner all winter. I only use the water for washing up etc., never for tea, as I think it tastes funny! I have 3 different height trivets for it to sit on as the heat intensifies so that the kettle doesn't boil dry. Wouldn't be without it (or the Villager) as I abandon the gaz hob during the cold months and use the woodburner for all the cooking . Started lighting the wood burner in the evenings on Wednesday.[/quote]

Dorothy, good tip about the different height trivets.  I had visions of the kettle being yet another item I have to keep my eye on and constantly tend!

I was only intending to use the water for cleaning and washing up anyway.

I can't entirely not use the gas hob but I only use it to get things to boiling point and then I slide it across to sit on top of the bois-charbon oven.

Other thing I found this week was that if I do a casserole type dish, I have to put in a lot more stock than I would normally because my pork dish did nearly dry out.

So, now the next item to hunt down are trivets!  Whoever said life in France was boring and that there's nothing you want to buy in the shops!

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[quote user="Clair"]This is it

[/quote]

Clair, do you ever sit in front of that lovely fire with your little sewing machine making mittens and hats to give to the poor? I remember when I got me first sewing machine back in Kildare when I was only 10. Me mammy bought it off of Miss O'Flynn for £2 and a bag of apples. Miss O'Flynn was born with one of her hands suffering from giantism, and could not keep hold of a man after they saw her huge hand. One winter I saw her making a pair of mittens for herself, one was really enormous and the other was so dainty and petite. She saw me at the window and called me in for a drop of tea and a arrowroot biscuit with butter on it. As she handed me the biscuit with her small hand she patted me on the face with her massive hand, I said to her "your tiny hand is frozen but your big hand is so lovely and warm" She was delighted that I had something good to say about her giant hand, and was not a bit afraid of it, so she gave me another arrowroot and blessed me with a drop of holy water she got from Lourdes.

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Furry, as the weather has improved, the fire has not been lit for a few days.

I am moved to read how you made your friend Miss O'Flynn's day. I cannot begin to imagine how difficult it must be for her to find a suitable pair of mittens and I'll be very happy to send you a pair for her as soon as I manage to make one.

How did she get hold of her holy water?

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  • 2 weeks later...
Yes it's a Jotul F600 and it's brilliant [:D]

Having checked the prices recently, I'm glad we don't have to buy it now, as it seems to be a lot more expensive than when we got it in 2005.

We've had a fire almost every evening for the last few days, as we can feel the temperature difference as soon as the sun goes down (we're at 2000 ft+).

In winter, it runs 24/7 and ticks over nicely overnight, ready to go again in the morning.
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Yes, same model.  We got ours last March, and tend to light it in the evenings for a few hours.  Because we also have oil-fired central heating (and the kitchen is in part of the house that the heat from the Jotul won't reach), we only use the woodburner for sitting around in the cold evenings - it heats the cathedral-like salon quite well - and looks cheerful, too.

We have tried keeping it in overnight, but failed dismally - what's the secret, Clair?

And no, we haven't needed it here in the Correze yet this autumn (only a couple of really chilly nights so far) - it's still summer here today!! (Oh, and we're at 450 metres - not quite as high as you).

Chris

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[quote user="ChrisnJulie"]We have tried keeping it in overnight, but failed dismally - what's the secret, Clair?[/quote]

It

should keep through the night provided you have a good bed of ambers.

Just stick a log in and keep the air vent very nearly closed.

In the

morning, open the bottom door (ash tray) and the air vent, stick a

thin-ish log in and the remaining ambers should get the fire started

again.

With a judicious placement of small wood, it can be started with barely any ambers at all [:D]
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[quote user="DaveOlive"]

hi ok

             yeh we are in 79 and still in shorts and sandles  ,  sunshine ..... but gusty .... put a jumper on at night though

   Dave

[/quote]

Yes, same here in south deux sevres !

The only really cooler day was last sunday.

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  • 2 weeks later...

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