Well, the weather outside is frightful...

...but the fire is so delightful! We are hunkered down and suffering from a bad case of cabin fever. Today's high (yes, the HIGH temperature) was -2 as in two degrees BELOW zero with a wind chill -25 to -30. The overnight low is supposed to be actually -20 with a wind chill of (get this) -40. Wow. Feels like Siberia.

The Playhouse in My Back Yard

All ten kids have been inside all day. I can't complain, though. My Finnish in-laws will remind me of my husband's childhood. They bundled him up and sent him out anyway. I don't think my kids are quite that hardy. And we lack woolen balaclavas. They don't seem as necessary when you can't see the Northern lights from your bedroom. So we made cinnamon rolls, cocoa and pea soup.

But in other places life goes on. So this is for Patty. Because Patty, whom I don't know in person, had asked for some tips, here are ten baby steps from the PR lady of the Weston A. Price Foundation. 

And if you live anywhere balmy, you know, where the temps are breaking even with freezing, catch some rays for me. Today I'm just catching heat for the closed rec centers.