Sunday, October 10, 2010

Hearth and Home - Our Fireplace

At long last autumn seems to have come to Colorado.  This weekend brought our first true taste of fall with cooler temperatures and rain.  Saturday was still relatively sunny but today has been nothing but clouds and drizzle.

The weather today certainly matched my spirits.  So it was a perfect day to do pretty much nothing.  As part of the general mood of the day we turned the fireplace on for only the second time of the season.  Our home has 2 different fireplaces.  The first is a gas burning fireplace that is located in the family room.  The second is a wood burning stove that is located in the basement.

The fireplace in the family room is like a magnet for us in the cold weather of autumn, winter and spring.  It is kind of like a bears den as we tend to hibernate in the family room throughout much of the cold weather.  Having the fireplace turned on allows me to keep the rest of the house at a cooler temperature.  I hate sleeping in heat so I can keep the thermostat several degrees cooler by running the fireplace. 

(The glow of the fire light dancing around the family room.)

Everyone likes to curl up in front of the fireplace.  Right in front of it we keep a dog bed for Lex.  Though Lex likes to lay there when Bailey was alive that was his place and very rarely could Lex get any time on that bed.  Nowadays Lex and Zack share it.  Zack likes to lie on the dog bed in front of the fireplace and read books.  I normally don't get down on the floor and lie on the dog bed unless I am petting or playing with Lex.  But I like to lie on one of the couches and just watch the dance of the flames.

(Lex on his "throne" in front of the fireplace.)

The wood burning stove in the basement is also a big attraction for us.  When I am working from home I go back and forth between the kitchen table and my office in the basement.  During the winter when I work in my office I will be sure to have a fire burning in the stove.  It keeps the basement warm and gives a special glow to the entire basement.  I really like being down there late at night with the fire burning.  The flicker of the flames reflecting on the ceiling is captivating.

I will admit it was always much nicer to be able to share these fireplaces when Shelly was here with us.  But that isn't possible now.  So I will take the enjoyment that I can from them and try and remember the good times we had.

Not much else to say for the day.  There was literally no way I could motivate myself to do anything today.  So I sat or lay around pretty much the whole day.  Zack was busy doing a second draft of his social studies assignment and we did get up to playing a game of Harry Potter cards.  We have played this one before but this was the first time we really followed the rules.  He ended up beating me handily - imagine that!

We hope everyone has had a great weekend.

Thanks and peace to all! ~J.

1 comment:

electric fireplace inserts said...

I have also enjoyed same moment such flames dance . You are right that Wood burning also attract toward. I think that Your dog enjoy the warmer blowing.