Brrrr...

Winter has arrived! (Now just remind me why I was complaining about balmy temperatures a few weeks ago?)The children have been thrilled by a few flutterings of snow - and run outside to sled down the mudhill. (it's the Eastern Shore - we take any sledding opportunity we can get. This was a pile of dirt.)

The woodstove is running nonstop - and the woodpile decreasing at an alarming rate. After our first winter here we invested in a new woodstove that uses soapstone to retain the heat. Love this thing - you can almost always get a fire started from just a pale ember. On the down-side - it's VERY efficient - so very little heat goes up the stove pipe. Unfortunately, our house (built 1900) was designed to bleed off the heat from the chimney to warm the 2nd level. Doesn't work so well, anymore. Ah well. At least I no longer worry about the chimney getting too hot and starting a fire. (one worry down, 9764 to go)

Living in an old house is.....different. I used packing tape to cover some cracks in the living room floorboards to deter the wind. At one point, the mice and I were on a first-name basis. And whenever the temperature falls below 20 degrees, the walls disappear. Seriously. There's no way to get warm. I usually grab the kids and head for a friend's house until the artic gale disappears.

And yet, I love our house. It's a work in progress. I love the fire-engine red 4 oven AGA that fits exactly into the spot once occupied by the wood-fired cookstove. (I found a used AGA - British cookstove - in our nearest town just as we bought this house. It was fate.) I love the old houses in our village, and the differences between them. I love that our kids can run free outside, and be safe. I thoroughly enjoy our neighbors. I like NOT having a rush hour.

Just remind me of all this, the next time the temperature drops and I start searching the web for a warmer geographic location!