Friday Favorite: The Wood Stove
“Snow was falling and winter had come; the season of fire. Candles and hearth fire, that lovely, leaping paradox, that destruction contained but never tamed, held at a safe distance to warm and enchant, but always still, with that small sense of danger.”
Diana Gabaldon in A Breath of Snow and Ashes (Outlander)
As I read this passage I was sitting in front of the wood burner surrounded by cats. It was very early in the morning, the house was cold when I first woke up. After starting a fire and doing a few other things, I sat myself down with my back to the stove and started reading.
We just got a new wood stove. The old one wasn’t quite big enough to heat the entire house when it’s in the single digits outside. We have a wood fired furnace we use when it’s super cold, but we prefer using the wood stove instead. The stove was also old and starting to fall apart. More about this particular stove later, until then, I’ll be warming my toes in front of it.
Have you ever lived with wood heat?
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Crafting Winter Warmth
I’ve been needing a new winter hat, so I finally settled on a pattern and whipped on up. Crochet is such a wonderful creative outlet. I love that you can quickly make something useful and beautiful!
This is the ‘Divine’ hat (you can find the free pattern here on Ravelry). I used Manos del Uruguay wool yarn in’Spirulina’ color to match a cowl I made last winter. It was a quick and easy project, only taking an hour or so. I may be making these for gifts next Christmas!
What are you crafting this winter?
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O Christmas Tree
We always get our little Christmas tree the Sunday after we get back from our trip to Ohio for Thanksgiving. We no longer need to head to a Christmas tree farm, we just cut a tree from one of the many on our property.
This year it’s the best one yet, tall enough to reach the ceiling, skinny enough to not take up the entire living room, and full enough to look nice.
I added the usual decorations of a few cut glass bulbs, glass teardrops, and two strands of C7 lights on a dimmer switch similar to this one, it’s perfection in my book!
Do you have a tree in your home? Is it a real tree?
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2016 Calendar
After a few people reminded me, I finally got the 2016 Chiot’s Run Calendar on Lulu. Here are a few of the photos that grace the months this year:
If you’re interested in supporting the blog, head on over an buy a calendar for yourself or for a gift. I get a few dollars from the sale of each calendar to help cover blog expenses.
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Cookies!!!
Every year, when I come back to Ohio to celebrate Thanksgiving and Christmas, we make cookies with the nieces & nephew. This year was no exception. Yesterday, we made a few and we’ll be making more today.
I don’t make Christmas cookies at home, with only two of us they don’t get eaten up before we get sick of them. It’s great to make them with the kids, we make bunches, give them to neighbors and eat them with abandon. By the time we leave, I’ve had my fill of cookies. Gingerbread men are my favorite, this is my recipe if you’d like to give it a try. There’s a reason I don’t make these at home, I simply can’t quite eating them.
What’s your favorite cookie during the holiday season?
