Kathleen wrote:
Yesterday and today are perfect, but Friday morning was exactly
what I hate when we get our usual week of Winter weather (unless I
have nothing to do but stay inside in front of the fire......)

Has anyone here ever used a chimney sweep? I wonder if it's really
that dirty up there, or if perhaps our fireplace is meant to be
ornamental only. We used it all last year but it got to where the
smoke got in my throat and kinda awful (yes we checked the flue).
With hope and heart,
Kathleen

Yes. The carbon and smoke builds up in the chimney and can combust and
cause a chimney fire eventually, especially if you never burn a really hot
fire.