A Bit of Warmth...

  I am one of those weird folks who does not mind using whatever I find to remedy a situation.  It is not in my nature to run buy whatever is needed.  I usually can find a substitute for any given missing element to a problem.  It all goes back to having a bit of ingenuity and being able to survive without outside help if the need arises.  I figure what Pop taught me so many years ago still rings true today.  If something is broken...fix it.  If something needs doing...do it.  If something is needed...get it.  Nope...no buying back on the farm.  We used the brains instead of spending hard earned money.  

  This morning was downright chilly.  The skies were still grey and a slight drizzly rain fell from the sky.  With the north wind blowing a gale, the Little Bayou House was cooling down quickly.  Son had split a lot of wood for the cast iron wood stoves but I had a different idea of what to burn.  Earlier when I had the old dog out, I noticed that thousands of hickory nuts had fallen under the tree on the east side of the house.  Yep!  I was going to burn hickory nuts!  This is nothing new for me, however, as I have been doing it for years in the old stoves.  The nuts put out a lot of heat, burn long and smell great!  It was the memory of all three that had me scooting out in the misty morn to gather a five gallon bucket of the nuts.  That would last me all day and well into the night.

  The burning of hickory nuts would probably not be the smartest idea in an open fireplace as they do occasionally explode and send shards about the place but the cast iron wood stove is completely enclosed so let them pop away!  Once the fire was started and the nuts caught, the slow burn started and the Little Bayou House warmed and smelled nicely!  That, my friends, is thinking!  Pop would be proud.