Comments On Article: Put It Away The Right Way First

Grandma Donna wrote,

ALSO, Keiva has put up a new update on Jacob on the forum front page up at the top under Jacobs page.  Please keep him in prayers because he has another surgery in the next couple of days.  

I'm glad to hear that people made it through or are making it through the winter storm. I wondered how everyone had fared. I think we got about 8" of snow here in southern Missouri. The temperatures have been very bitter. It got down to -2 last night. However, tomorrow it is supposed to reach 37, and then we are forecast to have two 40-degree days before the temperatures drop into the 20s. My wood stove helped, but I realized I really need to get my furnace fixed, since I had to stay very close to the stove to stay warm. Thankfully, I didn't lose power. That made it much easier. I will spend the next three warmer days getting ready for the next blast of cold, which starts on Friday. I don't know when I will be able to get to town since I will likely need to wait for the snow to melt. However, I am well stocked up at home, so I'm good.

Stephanie, I noticed that you mentioned putting a soapstone stove in your bedroom. I wondered if you have used or been around a soapstone stove before. I just wanted to share my experience with it. My daughter had one in her house in Minnesota. Her floor plan was very open. The living room, dining room, and kitchen were all open to each other, and it was quite a large space. There was probably at least 20 - 25 feet between the soapstone stove and the kitchen. When she got that stove really going, it was about enough to drive me out of there. I was opening her kitchen window in the dead of winter in Minnesota to get some cold air. They are absolutely wonderful stoves because they retain heat for a long time, but they can also be quite overwhelming. The next day, I could still feel the heat off of it. I just wanted to share my experience in case you hadn't used one of these stoves before, as they are quite different than a traditional wood stove. I don't mean to be interfering. I just wanted to share my experience with it.

Down here in South Florida, we have been fine so far. Sunday was ridiculously warm, dare I say HOT! But, the cold is coming for us too. Saturday night we are suppose to have a low of 29 degrees!!! In SOUTH Florida!!! And 49 for a high on Sunday! We just aren’t used to this! 

It was this cold on Jan 31st 1995 too. We lived in Central Florida. I was having a baby at home with a midwife. The power went out about 4 am, so actually Feb 1 then. Too much drain on the system with everyone needing heat I guess. I remembered a trick my Mom used during an ice storm in NJ. She closed up one room and lit as many candles as she could. So, that’s what we did. I gave birth by candlelight, but it was 8:30 am. So, daylight. But, it did keep the room warm! Though this particular baby came with his own heater. He was 11 lbs!!! He is very excited to get cold weather on his birthday. I think the day of his birth may be the reason he likes cold weather. Ha! We will see how his children like it, as this will be their first experience with such weather. 

Becky Sue K -- I love advice! Thank you. :) The wood stove we are looking at is very small and has six soapstones about the size of my warming ones on each side. It's very affordable. I am so glad to hear the soapstone helps with the heat! Our plan is to put it in the main bedroom. In the event of an outage, we would move all of the furniture but the bed out and put comfortable chairs and the card table in there, making a kind of sitting room. If the stove wasn't that hot, we would have blankets, and everyone has their personal hot water bottles and soapstone. But if the stove is hot enough, we wouldn't have to worry about snuggling into blankets. I'm going to start working on getting permission to install the stove, and work on that until next winter if I have to. :)