That Chimenea tip

Autumn is here and your patio is a tad cool - time to rev up your chimenea. Or is it? To be frank with you the chimenea may well have had it's day.

Those of you in your first summer with your chubby little Mexican friend may well get a nasty shock with the first frost - abracadabra you've got a three piece Chimenea!

So don't forget to slap on the beeswax and keep him well covered through the cooler months.

No, we think that the Firebasket is the new Chimenea - altogether more practical. Easier to maintain, doesn't require you to cut your wood into tiny little pieces and you can have your flames as high as you wish without cracking your brand new clay patio heater. And guess what? We sell them!

But we have to admit the chimenea has its charm - that pleasing, dumpy shape, little smiling mouth and that clever little chimney sending the smoke up into the night sky. Which is where the trouble starts and our top tip comes in.

If you have your chimenea way down the bottom of your ample acreage - no problem and we hope you enjoyed the Countryside Alliance march! But, if like most of us, your chimenea is parked near to the open patio doors, then the new day will reveal a problem nobody mentioned when they handed you your South American patio warmer - a fine layer of ash spread generously around your conservatory, living area or whatever domestic setting your French windows open out from. You see chimeneas burn stuff very well, too well maybe, and the results will be spread all around your home if you're not careful.

So try this - buy a small, metal kitchen sieve of around the size of the internal diameter of your chimney and lo and behold, the heater will still work perfectly and that nasty ash will be well nigh banished. Obviously it wouldn't be too clever an idea to carry on using the same sieve to strain your asparagus tips would it but you knew that anyway didn't you?

Didn't you?

with love
the sourcerers