let the fireplace begin!!!

Well, for me , Fall season has officially begun...looks like cool weather finally...it's raining now as a truck backs in to my driveway and delivers my firewood....hubby not to happy about stacking it in the rain but will appreciate it tonite as we sit by ourfireplace with our coffee and dogs around it. I tried lighting a fire one day last week but only had a couple of logs left over. I wanted to introduce my 16 month old puppies to a fireplace...the golden, Cosmo, was afraid of it and headed for the couch. Cali, my chocolate lab/springer was indifferent....funny, all my other dogs in the past loved it, which brings to mind a funny story....Years ago, my first golden, Max and I were sitting on the floor in front of my fireplace. It was pouring, rain, the kids and husband were at work and school, just the two of us with my coffee, book and Max with his favorite toy enjoying the warmth of our fire. I decided to put a third log on but soon discovered that wasn't a good idea..the fire began to build to the point that the tops ofthe flames couldn't be seen, shooting up the chimney....the wall above the hearth began to turn black...As I scampered to the kitchen for some baking soda(great for quelching fires), Max headed for the front door because the heat was so tremendous, you could hardly get near it. Returning with a small box of soda which didn't do much, I tried to get close enough to poke the logs around to disperse the flames which, short of a 911 call , began to work....lesson learnedhere....if more is good...less is better...