Man, It’s Cold Outside!!!

Granddaughter, Madison, dressed for cold weather

This week’s cold weather snap brings many winter memories flooding back to my mind!  As I sit here at my trusty  computer, listening to the hum of the central heating unit keeping  me toasty warm–I am remembering times past when things were not so warm and toasty.

My earliest memories of winter cold were at my grandma’s house when I was in elementary school–way back in the early 1960′s. My grandparents lived in an old house, and heated with a fireplace.  If you aren’t familiar with old fireplaces, they suck out about as much heat up the chimney as they propel out into the house.  The only way to get warm with a fireplace is to stand in front of  it!  At night, when everyone is asleep, the fire goes out and the house gets COLD!  Since the house got COLD at night, grandma piled MANY quilts on the beds– so many that it was nearly impossible to turn over!!! 

My next memories are of the old rental houses that my parents lived in while I was growing up.  We used two small gas space heaters to heat with.  You had to turn on the gas, then light a match and the heater went “poof” as it lit.  I hated those things!  Space heaters gave off more heat than fireplaces, but they also gave off fumes.  My parents would turn the heaters down low at night while we were asleep, which also meant that the house got cold.  My most unfond memories are of having to wake up and get dressed for school in a cold house!

Those old rental houses were drafty, too.  When the weather got extremely cold, we would put plastic or blankets over the windows to help keep the cold air out.  Not a very pretty sight!  Rental houses had no carpeting on the floor–in those days you were lucky to get a 9×12 area rug!  I wore a lot of sweatshirts, sweaters, and fuzzy bedroom slippers.

I grew up, got married, and soon we began heating with a Buckstove, which is fan-forced, thermostatically controlled,  wood-burning heater.  My husband could get it so hot in the house that we’d have to open windows and doors!  The trick to using a Buckstove was to regulate the temperature of the house, sometimes it was hard to do.  Trying to sustain a fire all night was nearly impossible.  Yuk!  I was back to getting up in a cold house again!  We only had one 9×12 area rug, too.

Eventually, we invested in two window units that had air conditioners and heat pumps in them.  We used those units for several years, then had a regular central unit installed–about ten years ago.  Oh, and we installed carpeting in the bedrooms and the living room!  I was in heaven-on-earth at last–and it only took me 45 years to get there!!!

My husband built a new house for us just over two years ago.  We had the “latest and greatest” kind of central heating and air unit installed.  Now I am really in heaven-on-earth!  It automatically turns itself up and down once we set the control panel.  We can sleep cool at night, but no more cold house in the morning!  Who would’ve dreamed of such a thing fifty years ago?  Who cares if it’s cold outside–not me!  Do you have a cold weather memory?

Now for the Friday Valentine Giveaway…Yes, I know it’s still early for Valentine’s Day, but next weekend the month of January will be half over already!  I wanted to have plenty of time to do at least 2 Valentine Themed Giveaways.  Here’s a picture of what I am giving away this weekend.

Win this prize for yourself or a loved one

To have a chance to win a gift bag containing a Valentine dish towel, Valentine cookie cutters, a note pad, and a magnetic picture frame all you have to do is choose up to 3 numbers between 1 and 100.  If two  people choose the winning number, the FIRST one choosing it wins.  If more than 5 people participate I will let Random.org choose a winning number on Monday morning.  Whoever comes closest to the number chosen–without going over wins!  If less than 5  people participate, I will let the contest run for another week.  Happy choosing, and good luck!

Click here to see the entire Giveaway Blog Hop List….