I am twitching. I can’t help it. My synapses are all ablaze and I have that overwhelming feeling I get when I use my GHDs: did I leave them on? Shall I just check the plug is out one more time? So what if I’m twenty miles down the road – I’m going back to check… In this case, it’s not the GHDs I’m worried about. They, I believe, might even turn themselves off after a while. No, in this case, the GHD OCD pales into insignificance, for tonight, there is no doubt – there is a fire burning in my house.
Big Seymour rocked up home from work this evening with his mate, Dave, in tow. Dave is clever with wires ‘n’ stuff. Dave also seems to be a good luck charm of sorts – or a security blanket. When the fireplace is being lit for the first time, Dave needs to be there.
For you see, The Fiery Beast is no ordinary fireplace. It is a SUPER FIREPLACE. It has tubes and wires and cables coming out of it, there are digital wotsits linked up to it to gauge its performance and let’s not forget, it is inextricably linked to Sputnik. They are in cahoots. So, we were praying that Old Sputnik and Fiery B were going to play ball.
It was rather unnerving, seeing a big orange flame dancing in The Funny Little Bungalow. Clever Dave and Big Seymour had been tinkering awhile – I had kept out of the way. But eventually, I could keep away no longer. I needed to know the verdict: do we have heating? Or should I call the Fire Brigade..?
Well, the culmination of a whole lot of work, stress and brain-teasing was that the fire was going, the gauges were all on and happy and Sputnik, fed by the copper veins that link it to our Fiery Beast, was behaving impeccably. He was filling up with free hot water which, one day, will hopefully keep us toasty on a budget.
The relief!
Which just leaves the one problem, because, of course, anxious brains never rest. It’s ten o’clock, we are in The Shed, The Funny Little Bungalow is shut up and yet… there’s a fire still burning therein. It’s behind toughened glass, it looks relatively tame, but still. All that wood! All that work! I do hope we don’t wake up to a pile of ashes in the morning. What a blog entry that would be…
I have just taken Little Seymour Number Two up the garden with me, to assess the situation. Yep, the home fires are still burning – it’s even warm in there. There are little ticking noises as the wires and tubes do their thing. I’ve felt the flue – it feels cool. Weirdly. And I have had to say goodnight to it all and lock the door.
I guess it’s all going to take some getting used to, this “fire inside” business, but in the mean time, I’ll keep my fingers crossed, whilst shivering in The Shed.
Tonight, I am going to have steamy dreams about under floor heating.
(Yes, I’m just popping up to check we’ve moved that box…)
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