Paper bricks

I mentioned we've had more than usual packaging material to dispose of. The good news is it is mostly card and paper. A lot of paper from a terracotta plant pot order. With some time on my hands back in lockdown #1, I dug out that paper log maker someone gave me years ago but I've never used. Only to make a few to test for myself, with low expectations - everyone says they burn poorly and leave a load of ash.

I threw a few handfuls of sawdust and wood shavings in one batch for good measure, and avoided any glossy or other high-grade paper which would have lots of China clay in it. I didn't leave it to soak long - it was all such weak paper it fell apart quickly. I let them dry thoroughly in a log store, then the garage.

Well, i can report that it was actually a success, They burn OK, the ones with the added wood waste are actually quite good. As a fuel, I guess it is a fair amount of work, but with the added benefit of getting rid of waste usefully, it is worth it I think.

The rest of my logs at the moment came from a couple of doors down where new people moved in and emptied the previous owner's log pile into a skip ! I quickly introduced myself and offered to make some extra space in their skip for them. Nice beech too - it burns lovely,

Its good when that happens. When a new neighbour moved in up the road she complained about the big pile of wood that had been left behind and asked if we knew anyone who could take it away! She was delighted when we moved it forthwith.

We were popular with our neighbours back in London, relieving them of tree trunks from the garden they were clearing. All the wood we used in our stove was free.