When I was in Ireland 25 years ago (where has the time gone?!), I saw peat being cut, and several of the hostels I stayed in had peat fires burning. Thanks for reminding me of a happy memory :)

Here in Maine, we have a saying that wood warms you twice - once when you cut it (or stack it), and the second time when you burn it. The house my mum grew up in was poorly built and always cold. She always vowed that someday she would live in a house and keep it as warm as she wished. When we moved to the coast of Maine when I was 15, the house we rented only had electric baseboard heaters when we first moved in. Maine has long, cold winters, and my parents were worried about being able to afford the electric bill. Our landlords liked us as tenants so much, that they installed a wood-burning furnace in the cellar for us. Mum finally got her wish. She would order four cords of wood (a cord is a stack of wood four feet wide, four feet tall, and 8 feet long, for those who don't know) in the fall, and when it was delivered, all social engagements that my sister and I might have were cancelled and we would all spend the weekend throwing the wood into the cellar and stacking it. My sister and I hated it, but we liked being warm, too, as mum would remind us when we'd start to complain. Not only that, but it taught me a useful skill.