The Saga of the Wood Stove

I decided this afternoon to check out the woodstove that sits at the end of my livingroom. This is fourth place in a row, I have lived that had either a wood stove or a fireplace, but the first time that I have even attempted to use one. I looked inside and it was packed full of newspapers. My first thought - let's burn this stuff. After scrounging around for matches, and lighting the papers, they wouldn't stay lit. I figured out I was probably shutting off the air supply everytime I shut the door on the wood stove. So after checking out the vents in the front and finding that there was so much ash and paper packed in the stove, that it wouldn't draw air, I decided I should probably clean it out. So with my bucket of water beside me, I took some of the newspaper and ash out and then the paper that was left began to burn. Probably not the smartest move, but I did make one heck of a mess with the 1/2 burnt newspapers and ash mixed with water. The stove did get a bit warm, not enough to make any appreciable heat, but enough to make me want to beat my chest and say, "Woman good. Woman make fire!" Tomorrow's agenda: clean out the rest of the wood stove; find some real wood and make a real fire and see how it really goes.