Whoa.....Fifth of July and I'm talking about a wood stove?

Whoa....Fifth of July and I'm talking about a wood stove? You betcha. (Strike that. I SURE don't want to sound like the person who ruined "you betcha" for me.) Yes. I forgot to talk about the wood stove, and I think it's definitely worth talking about. (*Background note: there was originally supposed to be a fireplace in this house, but there was an early mistake that made it impossible to add.......thus, the wood stove instead of my first choice fireplace.)

First of all, it's not easy to find a wood stove that isn't all goo-gawed up with scrolls and eagles and curvy legs......but not too hard to find beautifully sleek and simple Danish or Norwegian or Swedish designs that would make anyone drool....but also cost thousands and thousands of dollars. And well worth it. I'd been searching websites for a couple of years hoping for something affordable and PLAIN......then looked at the dealers around here.....and finally found someone who could order a SCAN stove......at a pretty hefty price.

I had plenty of support in making the decision to spend the money (and the tax credit that I was going to get).....mainly, because I sure needed to have a backup system if the power goes off during an ice storm. Which it will. Thankfully, before I had the dealer order it, I made one last check with other places around the area to see if I could save money and/or actually see a SCAN stove with my own eyes.

Lo and behold, I found one in Ozark, Missouri at Missouri Insulation, drove over and looked at it, liked it, liked the people there.......and that was the beginning of a most wonderful experience from beginning to end. The price was MUCH better than the other place and the people were honest, energetic, reliable, competent and hard-working. And all of those things came along when I sure needed them the most.

The installation guy came out ahead of time to see what he was in for......never having seen a shipping container house before........Jeff, one of the owners, came out twice before the installation and once afterwards.......and I couldn't be happier with the stove or with their whole company.

Yeah, it's July.......but good service and good people need to be remembered any time of the year.