First fire fail

Today it was about 45 degrees here and drizzly.  I was sitting on the couch working on a Christmas present that needs to get finished when I decided that today was the day for First Fire.

Usually the first fire of the season in our fireplace includes Daryl, but I made the selfish decision to start one while I was home alone.  I deserved it, after all.  It was cold and wet outside and I had several hours of smocking to get done.

So I wadded up some old newspaper, put the newspaper under my stack of wood, struck a match, lit the paper....

And watched the house fill with smoke.  

There was one major detail that I forgot about -- we haven't taken the top off of the chimney.  It isn't something I can do by myself because it is terribly dangerous and I leave all of those dangerous things to Daryl.  First you get a ladder to get on the roof, then you get a ladder to get on a higher roof, then you take a heavy lid from the top of the chimney.  Obviously not something I could do quick enough to save myself from the smoke.

Oh, well.  

I opened the back door and the kitchen window to air out the house, got the house good and chilly and turned up the heater.

First fire has been postponed!