Birch Steam Noteshttps://birchsteamnotes.com/Notes from a wood-fired lakeside pirtis in eastern Lithuania: cutting birch vantos in June, heating the stove, the ice hole, and bench manners.enThree rounds, and the long half hour between themhttps://birchsteamnotes.com/journal/three-rounds-and-the-half-hour-between/https://birchsteamnotes.com/journal/three-rounds-and-the-half-hour-between/The shape of an ordinary evening in the pirtis: how long each round runs, why the second one is the good one, and how to tell when to stop adding rounds.Sun, 14 Jun 2026 12:00:00 GMTInto the lake in February: the hole, the ladder, the walk backhttps://birchsteamnotes.com/journal/into-the-lake-in-february/https://birchsteamnotes.com/journal/into-the-lake-in-february/Keeping an ice hole open through a Lithuanian winter: measuring the ice, the ladder and rope, how long anybody stays in, and the round that follows.Sun, 25 Jan 2026 12:00:00 GMTThe bench: what is actually rude in a shared pirtishttps://birchsteamnotes.com/journal/bench-manners-in-a-shared-pirtis/https://birchsteamnotes.com/journal/bench-manners-in-a-shared-pirtis/Who runs the steam, where to sit, when to talk and when not to, and how to bring somebody new into a small lakeside sauna without spoiling the evening.Sun, 11 May 2025 12:00:00 GMTThree hours to first steam: heating a cold lakeside pirtishttps://birchsteamnotes.com/journal/three-hours-to-first-steam/https://birchsteamnotes.com/journal/three-hours-to-first-steam/How a wood-fired stove in a log pirtis really warms up: what to burn, what the stones do while the room is still cold, and when to stop feeding the fire.Sun, 27 Oct 2024 12:00:00 GMTCutting and drying birch vantos in the ten good days of Junehttps://birchsteamnotes.com/journal/cutting-birch-vantos-in-june/https://birchsteamnotes.com/journal/cutting-birch-vantos-in-june/When to cut a birch whisk in eastern Lithuania, which branches to take, how to bind it, and how to dry it so it still smells of the clearing in March.Tue, 18 Jun 2024 12:00:00 GMT