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| Sitting by the fire to conserve fuel oil, 1942. LOC. |
I was called away from home, early one morning. One of the grandbabies was sick and his mother needed to do a necessary errand. I was happy to stay with the little one, cozy in his home, and take good care of him. His mother returned in good time, and I was able to go back to the coziness of my own house.
The weather here has been incredibly cold. There are freezing temperatures near zero and, at times, below zero. This is uncommon for this time of year. It does not usually get this cold until January or February. It makes one want to stay home and wait out the winter!
All this cold weather is increasing the cost of heating this place. We have a specific amount available for the season. With the higher costs, I need to try to make the kerosene last longer. We are trying to use our wood stove more often. But the fuel supply for this has come from fallen trees on our property, over the previous summer months. It is limited. I have been saving newspapers and scrap paper as a contribution to the warmth of the fireside.
In my childhood home, here in New England, I remember my mother standing in the hallway. She would quietly adjust the thermostat on the wall to just a touch higher than it was to bring the heat up. She was never one to waste anything. She wanted us to be warm, but she expected us to dress in seasonal clothing, wearing sweaters and such to do our part. The oil had to be conserved so that it was affordable to maintain the household expenses.
My father often had a fire in the fireplace, especially in the evenings and on weekends throughout the winter months. It was so cozy and comforting to sit with the family and just talk or read by the warmth of the fire.
The light of home, shining through the window on a snowy night, is a welcoming sight. Inside there is the comfort of family prayer in the evenings. To gather together at day's end in the retreat of one's own home is such a blessing. A peaceful home with good food to eat and a warm hearth is so encouraging when coming in from the cold. The evening prayers and Bible reading remind us of how very thankful we are for each and every day.
Blessings
Mrs. White
From the Archives -
A Blessing - The Light in a Messy House.
Beautiful Living - Feminine Grace.
What many of us crave - An Ordinary Life at Home.
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For happiness and cheer in the kitchen:
Mrs. White's old fashioned cookbook focuses on serving meals and setting the table in a humble home.
"Serving in the Kitchen: Cookbook with Recipes, Advice, and Encouragement for the Christian Home"
152 pages, paperback
6 comments:
I can certainly relate to your post about cold and snow! Up here in northern Minnesota it is not unusual for us to get below zero temps in December. In fact this Friday evening it is predicted to get to almost 30 below and Saturday night about 32 below zero. The high for the day on Saturday will be minus 13! Fortunately we have a good supply of wood, thanks to the fact that my husband is still able to cut trees on our property. Even so, at those temps the house seems cold. I will plan some oven meals and do some baking to warm things up. Also at least several times a week we have hot soup of some kind. Up here we plan for this kind of weather by stocking up on basics and everyone I know has a freezer full of food. We got another 8 inches of snow yesterday and I see the snow plow just came down our road. Several years ago an uncle came to visit during a cold spell. He was from Florida and exclaimed that his niece "lives in Siberia"! We had a good laugh about that!
I have lived most of my life in Georgia, Mrs. White, but all my relatives lived/live in Massachusetts. They are well acquainted with the harsh winter cold. Even in this southern climate, I remember my father being frugal when it came to turning down the heat at night and my mom making sure we had enough blankets on our beds. We also had a plentiful woodpile in case we lost electricity so we could stay warm by the fireplace. I so admire your preparation and can certainly identify with being a homebody. Blessings!
Our hometown of East Haven earned a spot on the WCAX weather as the coldest temp in the US of - 27 We usually have this cold in January
I can most certainly relate to helping with grandchildren and the need to keep a warm house! My granddaughter was sick this past week and I went over several days so daughter could rest and I took care of sick baby. Husband had our wood stockpiled this summer, so we are so thankful to have a good supply. It has been unseasonably warm here and we have no snow, and many places are flooding. It is a strange year indeed! And like you, I just love being home!
Hi Mrs. White, I'm so sorry to be so absent but I've been thinking of you this Christmas season. I'm not able to be online very much with all that goes on with my mother and everything. It seems these days that one of the only times I am online is paying my mom's bills. (smile)
This is a beautiful and comforting entry. Even though my husband and I are empty nesters so to speak, the evenings are truly a comfort in front of our wood burning stove. ...Oh yes, and those grandbabies. What a blessing and privilege!
You are in my prayers and thoughts, Be safe and take care. ~Amelia
When I was growing up my family heated our home with a wood burning furnace. The fire box was in the basement next to the furnace. Once the fire was good and hot the furnace blower would kick on and blow hot air down the duct work. My dad would get the fire going in the morning and then the rest of us would throw wood on a few times during the day. It kept us so cozy and warm! Sometimes too warm. My dad would get carried away sometimes and load too much wood into the fire box and then we would be opening the kitchen windows because we were too hot. Our house must have been really well insulated, that and the BTU's put off by each person in the house . When you have 14 children the body heat starts to add up!
During the summer months us children would help our Dad cut, chop, haul, and stack fire wood. Many of our friends and acquaintances would have trees to clear and let my Dad know, if he wanted the wood.
After I got married I had to get used to much colder temperatures indoors during the winter months. He new husband and I would turn the furnace down to the bare minimum over night: 45°F. We had our bed piled high with comforters! I remember talking to my mom back then and nearly laughing out loud when she told me how cold their house was. She said, "It was so cold this morning, 64°F! I didn't get out of bed until Dad got the fire going."
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