Today’s high is suppose to be 6 degrees. Down in the valley, subtract at least 3 to 5 more. The winds will be wicked, so they are predicting windchills of -20 to -30. It is one of those days the oil furnace would suck the tank dry. But fortunately for me, my boss is letting me work at home so I can use wood, which will save me a lot of money.

While chuck was home, he showed me how to switch from wood to oil. These are my handy instructions nailed to a post in the basement.

To the right is a photo of our oil burning furnace. I start by turning this furnace off.

Here is the magic switch to change from oil to wood. After I flip this switch, I go into action.

To the right is the wood burning furnace. There are a few steps to getting this baby up and running but it is really pretty simple.

You start by opening this little door and cleaning out the ashes from a previous fire.

After I go outside and dump these ashes, I’m ready to build a fire. Unfortunately, I wasn’t too diligent in gathering kindling this past weekend. I forgot this chore. I think I was too busy working on the puzzle.

Before I begin with the flame, I need to reroute the water to wood burning furnace. Our house is heated with hot water base board heat. So this involves shutting off the water going to the oil furnace and opening the pipes going to the wood burner.

Since I don’t have a lot of kindling, I gathered what I could find to start a fire. I’m short on eggs, but not on egg cartons. I realize they are pretty good fire starters.

I came back about 10 minutes later and the fire was well under way. Yeah! In a little bit, I will turn up the furnace and keep the house nice and warm.

I have two wood piles by the furnace.

I will keep tabs and see how much wood I go through today.

Stay warm everyone! Off to work.

For the past year and a half, Duke and I have gone on a morning walk. It started in August 2010 when the temperatures would reach the 100 degree mark and it was too hot for Duke to go outside. So I thought walking before the sun came up was a good alternative. It became a habit he fell in love with and now I can’t go without. These days that walk begins at 4 am.

What? Is the response I usually get. But I leave the house for work around 5:45 to catch the state van in downtown Mount Horeb. Taking the van saves me money on gas and parking. But it requires some seriously early morning energy.

This morning was a bit painful. It is by far the coldest morning I have felt this winter season. The temperature in Mount Horeb is zero, but the temps down in the valley fall below that. I need to get a battery for our outdoor thermometer.

Walking in the cold isn’t as bad as it sounds if you dress properly. I wasn’t prepared. I wore my big down parka, hat and gloves. I had on my flannel lined jeans and winter boots, but I needed my coveralls. My legs were freezing. I went into a mindful meditative state of walk, walk, walk, walk. Duke had on his jacket and his brain was saying run, run, run, run.

The moon was so bright it cast shadows. The starts were bright too, but looking up towards the sky was colder than looking down. The snow squeaked under the boots.

Tomorrow it will be colder. Tomorrow I will wear my coveralls for the first time this winter.

We finally had our first real snowfall. It was a sunny Saturday and Aaron and I headed out to play.

With tractor in hand, we tackled whatever hill we could find.

He had a great time and spent about 1.5 hours outside even though it was a bit chilly.

Throwing sticks into the river is always a good time.

Aaron decided to make all of the puzzles he got for Christmas.

And he did it!

Here’s Aaron sporting his new monkey hat.

Still catching up with Papa’s visit. Playing the piano was one of the many things they did together.

It won’t be long and this will be his.

One of our favorite things to do with Aaron is a trip to the Big Woods. Lucky for us, it is a favorite place of his as well. Our first stop was dropping “boats” into the water—hickory nut shells split open and shaped like old fashioned sailboats.

Amazing what six months of growth can do. Aaron did not require anyone to carry him. Even after a long day of play prior to our walk in the woods.

He also insisted, “I can do it myself,” when walking across the bridges.

Log walking—an old favorite game.

More water to play in.

There was lots of mountain climbing.

When the our walk was over and we were heading back to the car, Aaron reported, “that was really cool.” And it was.

Santa brought Chuck a new toy for Christmas, which he was sharing with Aaron.

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At first Aaron was hesitant to even touch the toy.

Slowly he tried to figure it out.

Papa showed him all sorts of cool tricks.

Eventually he warmed up to the idea of this object spinning on his arm.

It was quite the fascinating toy!