"I think that I shall never see, a thing as heavy as a tree"

Here in the countryside, where connection to the utilities is less straightforward, we tend to use oil-fired central heating and, if possible, wood burners. Ironically, with the increase in the price of oil, anyone prescient enough to have a wood burner installed, say three years ago, will be saving an unexpected fortune.

Having married such an oracle, today saw my first delivery of logs, and an impressive sight they were too. The only setback is that, due to the layout of buildings, the nice man who delivered them at 9 a.m. (on Sunday? Beat that for service, city dweller!) had to leave them in the drive. This in turn, means that we have to carry a truckload of logs to the shed to be stacked in the dry. I'm not as young as I used to be and the logs are awkward and irregularly shaped. However, Ros is organised and efficient, and despite the odd complaining muscle, we managed to get them safely and neatly put away.

Nothing beats a real fire, and the warm glow is made even better by the knowledge that not only are we using a renewable resource, but we are saving money too.