The wood bricketts and coal have changed again.

So we are living in a traditional oven heated flat, these ovens are ceramic blocks that are about 1.5m h x 60 w x 80 l and you can burn coal or wood. Being introduced to it as a coal oven that is what we bought for the first two months.

The first time we went to the hardware store Bauhaus, we got two 25kg bundles, and put them on our friends new flatbed if you like variety of removal trolley and we take it for a walk home about a 10min walk. I love the relaxed bustle of the local markets at Hermannplatz it's low key compared to the Turkish markets down by the canal and it is the most direct way home, so we push it through the busy Friday afternoon markets, in the dark at 4pm and boy did we get funny looks from all age groups. I was laughing so hard but this didn't help us focus on keeping the two bundles from sliding off the edges, where are we, what are we doing?

You see most people order 1 or 2 tonnes of coal or wood to get them through the winter in September or October we are looking forward to our Landlord clearing out some space in the cellar. We were getting quite good at the art of burning coal in the ovens, we thought and then the neighbor was over and she gave us a demo, oh my you have to burn the bricks down so they are all red, and nearly gone, leave the doors open on the oven to keep the draft charging and windows open to let any fumes out. Hmmmm certainly makes the oven hotter and then this radiates the warmth over the next 8hrs, it is the best lower back warmer!

Then one day the hardware store had these wood briquettes and we got tempted, but resisted until they were on discount now they were only 6¢ more than coal, can't ignore the fact that burning coal seems completely wrong. I remember last using coal in a fire in the country when I was about 8 years old. If you let it burn down first and freshen the room before and whilst starting the fire and control the flu properly then the coal heat really is a nice heat.

The ovens also have a middle compartment which is like a warming rack great for baking your own bread and drying clothes the eco way. So the past two visits we have bought wood briquettes and it feels better to be buying and burning them. Now today we thought better save money and buy coal and the isle again looks completely different, the two types of coal are missing, and a different type of wood is there, and it's more expensive, ok it's time to act like a local and get some wood or coal delivered!