Friday, February 3, 2017

Roses and Silver and Ordinary Winter Days

 Cold weather has returned after a couple of weeks of a January thaw. Amy removed a bucket full of ashes from the living room stove and Elv cleaned them out of the stove in his study. When this cold weather hit yesterday we started having trouble getting a good bed of coals and our fires were sullen and dyspeptic. Everybody came to the same conclusion at once remembering other winters. The fires are choked with ashes. Thus our stove chores today.
 This evening the living room fireplace is wonderfully warming  and pretty, the clean glass allowing us to enjoy the dance and glow of the fire.
Lance sent a picture to the family today of what he had determined was a wolf kill. A freshly taken deer mostly eaten with many tracks all around. Elv said a trash bag had been ripped open, too. The bears are all hibernating so wolves seem to be the logical conclusion. True Wisconsin winter.
The challenges of cold weather must be met with knowledgeable acceptance of extra chores, the need for extra wraps, and more time allowed to commute to work. But the sun shone brightly on our white world and while I pumped gas this morning in 2*F degrees, I felt its wonderful warmth standing where the wind couldn't reach me. Ah, the February sunshine.
   I finished a heavy pair of mittens yesterday that had been on my needles for two years. I hadn't touched them in that long and amazingly it took me only a few minutes to finish them up even though I had to redo the one thumb till I remembered how to do it again. It wasn't procrastination so much as having too many new and exciting projects.  Cold winter days make finishing some of them possible.
    Lisl found the stash of old silver plated table ware that I had in the china cabinet when she got home from Thailand. Among the delights of being home after eight years was this find and the fun of shining it. She lined the sink with tinfoil, laid the tarnished silver ware on it, poured in hot water and sprinkled a liberal amount of soda over it. In a few seconds the silver began to show up. It was an education for me. I didn't know that real silver is actually a very soft, mellow, yellow color. It glows warmly. We both gloated over it. She wants to use it and love it and care for it. So she shall. This old silverware was wedding gifts for Elv's parents from his dad's North Dakota relatives.
    Find a way to celebrate home making and to enjoy winter in your kitchen today.
    And one more happy thing for today. I dropped in at Lisl's after work today to pick up the Bosch mixer that we both use. Instead of the mixer which she was using she handed me a fresh-from-the-oven loaf of bread. At home, Amy had prepared homemade baked beans for supper. So we had baked beans and bread for supper just like old times.
    While Amy did dishes, I rolled the leftover beans and cheese into tortillas to freeze for Elv's lunch for days to come. Winter home making at its best.
 

4 comments:

  1. The silver is beautiful, as is your photography. A touch of warmth in cold winter.

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  2. Ooooh, beans and fresh bread! With thick slices of butter on top! Comfort food. It's been years since I've had such a thing. Jenny and I dream of it together sometimes, while our men listen and gag.

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  3. Let's do that sometime when you are here and serve hamburgers to the people who would rather not eat the Graber delicacies.

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  4. Ya. I have watched you all devour this food. But no. Graber tummies are strong. That's all.

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