Cold Winter Blows my Way!

North winds are indeed blowing and we are even going to have snow in central California! I am so grateful for modern plumbing and heating. The furnace has just come on as I began to type this and I have cozy space heaters along with fleece throws wrapped all around me. The space heaters take the place of fireplaces, which our ancestors would have had in every room. The new electric blanket is a very good one and a cozy fleece blanket in itself. I have that to look forward to shortly.

I just finished watching an American Girl movie on Hallmark. I am always fascinated by period pieces, how everyone dressed, walked and talked in other times and the interior of houses. How they lived, warding off the elements in somewhat different ways, has intrigued me.

One thing that they don't show is the long underwear. I can remember my Mama's descriptions of that and think that we could save considerable energy if we would not save our "long John's" and "long Jane's" for outdoor recreational activity, but bring them in and wear them regularly. After all we don't have to break ice on the water barrel, boil water and squeeze the clothes through a wringer to have clean laundry. Those machines worked well today too and earned their keep in my house.

I am knitting hats for myself, so that I will have more than one and wearing a hat in the house saves a good bit of money for it allows me to turn the heat back substantially.

In my Chicago days I learned to wear two pairs of socks in winter. That may be some of the best knowledge that I took away from the experience. A warm head and warm feet help a great deal.

So while I do not cherish this cold spell, I am grateful for my blessings and trying to tell myself that it will be more like Christmas if it is cold.

Giving Thanks

On this day before Thanksgiving I am reflecting on my blessings. Today is a cold day, colder than the preceding ones with a touch of winter in the air and in the chill from the floor under my feet.

I am grateful for

The furnace which is doing its best to warm my house.

Wool socks. A trick I learned from a friend the first year that I was a graduate student in Chicago ("and the weather today is cold, 10 degrees colder by the lake"). Wear two pairs of socks. Make sure that at least one of them is wool. It is better if they both are wool. This makes a difference inside too, especially if you are sedentary. A hat helps too, so I wear a knitted hat indoors even when I am sleeping. The goal is not only to spend less on heat, but to leave a smaller footprint on the earth. It really does make a difference, for I can set the thermostat two degrees lower than I would need to otherwise.

Space heaters. They help heat one room at a time so that I don't have to heat the whole house for just me as I move through the day from room to room.

Back yard garbage service. A service of my local garbage company. They come in, take out the cans, and bring them back in empty. A service for disabled and elderly people. My doctor was only too happy to write the note signing me up for this service. As I write this, I hear them outside coming and going for today is our recycle day as well.

My friend who brought Thanksgiving dinner early as lunch yesterday. Yummy food and beautiful fellowship. Thank you, F.

The eggnog, which I actually kept in the fridge since last Friday. That is also something to be thankful for. That I didn't just slurp it up over the weekend and have nothing left with which to celebrate! Gratitude for patience maybe?

The companies that deliver packages as I anticipate more goodies for my small business. Some should come today.

Computer technology! I am not a geek, but the number of hours I spend on this thing is amazing.
How many more things will I think of before tomorrow? I will try to keep track and post more.