Just enjoying my warm fire today while it is so cold and icy outside.  My husband said he saw about 15 wrecks on the interstate on the way to work.  I think I'll stay in and make a batch of Peach Jelly for Christmas gifts today.  Off to my sons school Christmas play tonight.  Pray the roads are safe.

Playing with camera settings, this is the fireworks mode.

It finally got chilly enough here in my area of Oklahoma that we had to keep the fire going in our new woodstove all night.  I slept in the living room on the couch because my husband was a little nervous about it as we've never had a woodstove.  I woke up at 3:10 am and it was out, just coals.  But it was so toasty warm, 68 degrees.  I put another log on and soon it was burning again.  It's a brand new woodstove, and the booklet that came with it said that it will have an odor from the paint for awhile.  I'll be glad when that smell wears off.  It's kind of stinky.

With the economy getting so bad, this woodstove gives me a somewhat a sense of security.  We have used propane for the last 12 years, the cost rising more each year.  Last year alone, we paid over $2,000 to the propane company.  We still have propane as our water heater is fueled by it, and we keep our home heater set at about 55 so that if the fire does go out in the middle of the night and it gets too cold, the heater will kick on and we won't freeze to death.  Work for my husband is slowing down.  He is paid commission on what he does (he's an auto technician), and there's just not as much work as there used to be, so we're noticing some effects of the economy.  His employer just implemented a new insurance policy in which the employees insurance is no longer paid by the employer.  So, needless to say, our monthly insurance for my husband and son is going up about $160 per month.  If I were on the policy, it would be $700 a month total for the worst option they give.

Just having this woodstove helps me to feel more secure in this time of trouble in the economy.  I know that if we don't have the money to pay our electricity or propane, we will still be warm!  Not just the economy though, there have been times that we had no heat during ice storms, or power outages due to bad weather, downed lines, etc.  Now, we will be able to stay warm even during those times.  It's kind of neat how a thing as simple as a woodstove adds such a feeling of security.

While I'm thinking about it, I'm going to get a metal pan, put some water and a few cloves in it and put it on the stove top.  Hope you all have a lovely day!

Country Blessings,
Jamie

I saw a segment on the news this morning about a baby who was badly burned in a bathtub.  The baby died from further complications caused by the burns just short of her first birthday.  I have known that our water heater was too hot, but I didn't realize how hot it was.  There was a suggestion on the news segment to take your thermometer and hold it under the running hot water to test the temperature.  The water should not be hotter than 120 degrees.  If the water is over 120 degrees, you should adjust your hot water heater to show 120 degrees, or just below the medium setting.

I tested mine with my candy thermometer, and it was 160 degrees!!  I went out to my hot water heater and the only settings that it shows are very hot ------ hot.  So, I turned the knob just to see if it would go lower than hot, and it did, so I turned it to what I think would be medium.  Later this afternoon I'll do the thermometer test again and do further adjustments if necessary.

I hope this can help someone out!

Country Blessings,
Jamie

I have dial up and can't get DSL here where I'm located. I am trying to choose between 2 Satellite Internet companies and want to get some reports from those of you who use either of these companies. I've had DSL where I used to live and it was so nice. I've taken my laptop to the local wifi spot in town and it's wonderful. The two companies I'm looking into are:

Hughes Net
Wild Blue

If any of you use either of these, or have used them before, would you pretty please give me your thoughts on how good (or bad) the service was/is?

Thank you so much!
Jamie

Not only has the cost of gas gone up, but propane has gone up too.  We had our tank filled on December 6th at about $1.90 a gallon, cost us $306.00 to fill.  Had to have it filled again on January 14th and the cost was $2.25 a gallon.  It cost over $400.00 this time.  That means that our heating cost us $300.00 last month, not including the electricity that it took to run the central heater unit.  During the day, when my husband is at work and my son are in school, I've been turning the heater off, shutting all the doors in the house, and have plugged in my 2 small space heaters.  They're doing a pretty good job, and I imagine that the electric bill won't be anywhere near $300.00

I'm really excited for spring to arrive!

Country Blessings,
Jamie