About Me

My photo
Within the confines of this blog, you will find bits and pieces of the life and times of myself, my family and friend dear and near., far and wide, few and far between. You will find bits and pieces of my world, tho small to some, but huge to me. You will find everything from 'soup to nuts',; recipes, hobbies,crafts, gardenings,loves of my life, GrandLoves-a-Plenty, and even my pets... Sooo, if you can handle family life, enjoy the tour of my 'Stuffings'.

Monday, February 7, 2011

Warm Home, Pain and Rewards

There is no doubt in my mind, that all good things come at a price.
When the coals are hot,
we throw hardwood in the wood stove to keep the house at a consistent 70-72 degrees. It's a wonderful heat but a dirty one and today, a mean one. There are prices to pay for keeping my fanny from freezing in our sometimes, bitter, winters. In the quest for the warmth from this glowing fire, I got bit this morning.
See that ' nasty ' at the end of the tweezers. It is true that the tiniest sliver is the worse kind. They are devils in disguise, difficult to extract when dug straight down, and deep.
Why must they hurt me so?
My only relief this morning, was freshly dried raisins from the grapes we left sit in the dry air for the past week. There is nothing sweeter or more palate pleasing, than fresh raisins on your morning oatmeal. Yum! Besides, they made me forget about self pity over a puny little finger booboo. Ohh, the perils of our heat source.

Now I'm waiting...waiting for another pink sunrise. That will take the
' ouch ' out of the day. Besides, I have tons of housework to do, as I'm deep into spring cleaning....like Grams used to say, " Use it, or loose it, but don't abuse it." Gotta keep my bod busy so I don't lock up my joints.

Life is so good., and I am so grateful to have the opportunity to enjoy it.

Thanks for coming by, and
BlessYourHeart

20 comments:

TexWisGirl said...

Too funny. Sorry you suffered such 'trauma' but if I were a piece of hardwood, I'd bite back if I was about to be tossed in the flame too. :)

Anonymous said...

Dar, like I always say lately "life is too short to worry about the small stuff"

I'm glad you got the sliver out, you sure don't want them to fester to long.

I grew up with burning wood for heat and miss it considerably. Maybe one of these days I will put in a wood stove.

Whitetail Woods Blog / Deer Hunting and Blackpowder Shooting at it’s best.

Sunny said...

I'm with you there on the slivers. They hurt!! But well worth the warmth from the wood heat.

Now, that fresh raisin idea is a great one! Not much I haven't tried or done before but that is a new one to me. I'll have to try that.

Spring is coming.... hang in there!

Betsy Banks Adams said...

Hi Dar, Sorry about the splinter... Hope you got it. Those things can HURT like crazy!!!! BUT--having a warm fire helps...

George is our fire person here --and he wears gloves constantly when moving wood from one place to the next...

Did you sleep last night after that big game???

Hugs,
Betsy

jack69 said...

From the girl who drags, cuts and splits wood.
From the girl who falls flights of stairs. From the girl who smacks tigers and ties their tails together. From the girl who has this big SUPER BOWL party and whose TEAM even wins, I hear a whine about a sliver???LOL

But I am glad your fanny stays warm for Bill's sake. AND I AM SO SORRY ABOUT THAT DANGED LITTLE SLIVER!!!

But we love you to pieces!!!! And hope you are ALL BETTER soon.

Now straighten up!!! LOL

jack69 said...

BTW, I like the pictures, your camera does some great close ups and the distance shot. The fire looks WARM!

Love ya!!

Darla said...

I have an asparagus fern thorn in my finger, been there for a week...HURTS! Wear some gloves....:)

Buttons Thoughts said...

Hello Dar I burn wood too and have had to remove plenty of slivers fun fun. I love you sunset photo.Pink is nice. I have never thought of drying grapes for raisins it is so simple just never thought of it. I will definitely try it now. B

Cicero Sings said...

Restocked my woodpile in the garage today (for my handy supply), took my gloves off, picked up one piece, and got a danged splinter! Eyesight isn't so good anymore to find the little suckers either ... sort of feel ones way with the tweezers! My empathy!

Anonymous said...

Pink sunrise clouds...very nice! Sorry about the splinter...glad it's out. I used to get them under my fingernails when I was loading wood in our wood stove. Do you dry your grapes outside, in the oven or do you have an electric dehydrator? Thank you for showing this...I eat lots of fruit now and it might be nice thing to have a dehydrator...store bought is so expensive!

imac said...

Enjoyable post my friend.

Fred Alton said...

Dar, I would endure a splinter now and then for the great warmth that wood heat produces. But like you, Frances says it's dirty and inconvenient to deal with - therefore we use natural gas.

Can I dry "store-bought" grapes and make raisins? I'd love to try that. Do love them on my cereal.

Dar said...

about the raisins...I air dry mine on a paper plate on top of the counter. Depending on the weather, if it's a damper few days, it takes longer, but the ones you see pictured dried about a 12 days...a dehydrator would be a nice addition to my wish list, but not sure I'd do them in a microwave. They will burst, of course they could be pierced first with a knife.
Fred, YES, I use the store bought grapes. They make plump, juicy, very delicious raisins for your pleasure. Most folks throw out shriveled grapes but they are already halfway to raisins. Enjoy the fruit of your labor.
BlessYourHearts

Kritter Keeper at Farm Tails said...

hi dar, thank you so much for your kind comment on farm tails. your sunsets are so pretty and serene. i hate slivers. so very painful! take care and stay warm!

Kellie said...

Glad to hear you are feeling better Dar!

And YES that was a great game yesterday! I absolutely loved it!!

I'm going to have to try some of those dried grapes, they look delish!

Cher' Shots said...

Oh Boo Hoo sister - Mel pulled a part of her picnic table out from under my thumb nail once that was a triangle about the width of a dime that went down to a point that met the quick of the nail ~ that my dear was a sliver!! lol
Our neighbor in Alaska walked over and said "Cheryl, can you get a sliver out for me? I said sure ... he pulled up his shirt sleeve and there was a chunk of wood about 6 inches long imbedded in the meat of his forearm. We took him to the hospital and it required surgery! LOL
'love & hugs from afar'

Anonymous said...

My husband comes home from work frequently with a splinter in his hand. The splinters he gets are not from wood; they are metal. He needs a magnifying glass sometimes to see the splinter so that he can remove it.

I think I better get my "bod busy so I don't lock up my joints". I have been sitting long enough. I'll catch up on other blog posts after I get some things done around the house!

JDS said...

I like that last picture, with the darkish sky and all the bare branches and the silhouetted evergreen. It captures the feel of winter very well.

~mel said...

Seriously! Do you remember the slab of hardwood I had to dig out of Cheryl? Now that was a sliver!! I think you should protest and refuse to throw wood on the fire anymore. In a few months Bill will be retired and he can do it for you:) ... haha... I haven't picked on you in a long time. I'm glad you got the big bad splinter out though! They are pretty pesky when you get them.

~mel said...

me again ...
I didn't even notice Cher's comment until after I posted mine. Now that's funny. Only your sisters who love you can pick on you like we do!