I got this little wood “gasifier” stove which can turn the twigs you find when hiking and camping into a quick and efficiently burning fuel.

It took me a long time to get it going. Then at the point I got it going I realised that everything was the wrong way round. At which point I had to get it un-going, in order to sort out that mess, before getting it going again.

When it was going properly I got myself enough water boiled for a nice cup of coffee in just a couple of minutes. But it had taken me forty minutes to get to that point.

I KNOW I can bring that time down!

But, the moral of this story is: don’t take on a gig that you’re not ready for until you’re ready for it.

Try it out in the garden first.