T Stands for Winter Weather

 Hi everyone. Happy third T for 2022.

I hope everyone is storm free right now and not shivering from temperatures that are too cold.

Here in New Hampshire, January this year is not anywhere  as mild as it was last year.  This morning I woke up to some expected snow. We received about 7 inches.

You can see it on the steps at the bottom of the photo. And the view out my kitchen window was just as dreary. (Of course, it's not like it was snowing on one side of the house and not the other. Smile)

By shortly after 9 AM the snow turned to ice and then quickly over to rain. I went out to shovel before the snow turned to cement.  Boy did I get wet. 

Besides the (weather)  we received last night into today, we've been having some cold temperatures. This past weekend the mornings were both in the negative numbers (degrees Fahrenheit), making it a quiet weekend with the woodstove going. The woodstove had gone out over night on Saturday, and Sunday morning you found me in 2 fleece shirts along with my bathrobe and a hat until the house somewhat warmed up a bit. (This is because we discovered our thermostat had died, and since we had been running the woodstove for a couple of days, we hadn't noticed it wasn't working. All fixed now!)

To amuse ourselves, my husband and I started a puzzle I'd given him for Christmas. I also made some blondies (brown sugar brownies with nuts and chocolate chips-but I've forgotten to take a photo of them) as well as some sourdough English muffins.  (recipe here for the English muffins: King Arthur Sourdough English Muffins)

Our woodstove is in our dining/kitchen area, so when it's this cold, I tend to hang out on that side of the house. Instead of wood we burn the "bricks" you see in the packages on the floor. They are called bio-bricks and are made of compacted sawdust. I like how they aren't full of bugs like wood can be, and since they are packaged, they are easier to carry upstairs to our woodstove. They must be stored inside, so we have them stacked in our garage, meaning we don't have to go outside and fill a wheelbarrow with wood when we have a woodstove fire. That is nice when it is icy or when there is a lot of snow on the ground. Plus no creosote, a product you get burning wood and needs to be annually cleaned out of the chimney to keep you from getting a chimney fire.

The negative part is they don't burn as long as a nice oak log wood, but they save cutting trees down just for firewood. 

And since it is T day, where we share our drink related stories over at Bleubeard's and Elizabeth's blog, let me show you one of the treats I received in my Christmas stocking this year.

You put heated milk in your mug and stir the stick until it melts.  I am not patient so I put the stick in and then heat my mug of milk in the microwave. 

And I also have a new mug.

When my daughter was home on her shopping with mom vacation a couple of weeks ago, we went into a homewares store. There were several carts of major markdowns, most of which were holiday left overs. Low and behind on a cart I saw this mug which spoke to me. And it was only $2.99, so I bought it. It is big and fairly heavy too.

Even though I've already shared a couple of drink related photos, let me tie together much of this post with some hot coco made with those Trader Joe's chocolate sticks in my new mug. I'll also  include a toasted homemade English muffin, my Sunday morning breakfast next to the woodstove.

On a side note, 6 people I know came down with Omicron in the last 2 weeks. Luckily they were all fully vaccinated and only had minor cold like symptoms.  Please stay safe and wear your  masks if you go out (N95 or KN95 even better) so help decrease any risks of catching Omicron.

Stay safe, stay warm, and have a great T day and week ahead. 

Thanks so much for visiting my blog.