Progress!

Before -- heater

After

What we found when the cover was removed -- tons of ashes and debris, part of which I'd already scooped up here.  The cover was replaced, of course, after the vent hole was covered.  Interestingly, he used his lighter to see if there was an air draft in the chimney, and it didn't budge. Something up there is stopping it up, as suspected, and caused the gas smell in here.  We stuffed some insulation up in there anyway, to be extra sure there were no drafts.

This was more of an effort than any of us thought it would be, but then, everything in this house turns out to be more than I ever think it will be.  Story of life in old houses.  They had a hard time getting the pilot lighted, and I hope it doesn't go out because I don't know if I'll ever get it re-lighted if it does.  Not going to worry about that now.  I'm not too impressed with the 'thermostat', which is just a knob with High -Lo settings and lots of gradations in between.  Not my idea of a thermostat.  But, the thing is made by Buck Stoves in South Carolina and carries a 5-year warranty, so I'm sure it'll be fine.

Before -- ceiling fan and heater

After

I really do like the white ceiling fan better, and I like it lower.  Eventually, I'll get a light kit for it, but that wasn't necessary right now.  I need to to move the warm air away from the ceiling, rarely use the ceiling light anyway.  And yes, I do like white and light, although this photo is a little 'whiter' than the real room. 

Since the afternoon is warm and balmy, haven't tried the heater other than long enough to know that it works.  I doubt that I'll be using it much for awhile, other than on mornings when I don't go to work, or maybe even mornings when I do go to work if it's cold enough.  But then, it's set to lowest position, so it'll come on and off when it feels like it.  I'm glad it's here.  One more bit of stress out of the way.  Odd that I don't feel any less stressed.  In time, surely. 

The kitten was righteously discombobulated by all the activity in the house, even though she was closed off in the bedroom while it was happening.  She's still stalking around uncomfortably.