Mairin's Journal

OR YOU COULD WEAR GLOVES, MAIRIN. HA HA.

No, I couldn't or certainly not the marigold ones because you have to tear up the paper, soak it, squash it up, put it into the log maker and press it down well, particularly in the corners.  The marigold fingertips kept getting in the way.  Thought of medical gloves alright. 

Yea they would work alright. I wear those type for work now. Ok they wouldn't last as long as marigolds, I only usually get one day out of them But Steve got a big box of them in work. I think there are 1,000 gloves in them, so they should last for ever. They would definitely work for you. And it's only occasionally that YOU would do the compressing, yea?

i thought it was green fingers you had mairin not black!!!

 are the logs worth it. someone told me they have to be left to dry for weeks before they can be used..

Ha ha lol :)

Mairin, what size are these logs? I could be interested in getting that machine. But then I would also have to find space to stack them up.

Jacinta, I make them every 3 weeks or so - just so that the shed doesn't get completely covered in newspapers.

Yes, Alan, they have to be left for weeks to dry out before they are used.  I did my first batch in September and they are completely dry now - say 15 weeks.  I know there was bad weather and I store them outside in my side passage, which is covered but they still took that length of time.  That's why I am doing them now every 3 weeks or so.  Roughly, one Saturday's Irish Independent with all the extras makes 2 logs.  Once dry, they shrink to about 2/3rd their original size - roughly the size of a Bord na Mona briquette.  They are also hard - i.e. they don't break up in your hands.  So for the amount of paper used, the logs are very small in comparison.  Each one would burn for about 1 hour. 

Jacinta, stacking them is a doddle.  Once dry, they just stack one on top of the other beside the sticks for the (indoor) fire.  Think of the size of briquettes. 

But surely you don't use ALL of these on the chiminea. Sure we had a crap summer, you wouldn't have had the opportunity to use them. Would storing them not be a fire hazard?

It takes my son ages to get his nails looking that 'good'. My teenage son has lots of black nail varnish here : )

Well done Mairin for using the paper and recycling and keeping warm.

Jacinta, storing them is no more a fire hazard as storing your bag of coal and timber for the fire.  Each block will only last for an hour so if it was a fine evening, I could burn 3-4 of them so I could very quickly run out.