What does いろりのそば mean?


I am reading Basic Connections by Kakuko Shoji and came across the following
passage from 雪女 (page 63 of book)

> みのきちはいろりのそばで仕事をしている。

みのきち is a name, but I am not sure what いろりのそば means in this context. I know そば
can be used to mean by someone's side.




An いろり (囲炉裏 in kanji) is a hearth placed in traditional Japanese houses. It
was common more than 100 years ago, but today most Japanese people would see
one only in museums and samurai dramas. Thus いろりのそばで means "near the _irori_
".

See this Wikipedia article: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irori>

