Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Get Out The Covers

In the old days when Old Man Winter arrived with his freezing temperatures and snow, it was time to get out the covers.

It was time to open the trunks and the closets and dig out the quilts, comforters, blankets and spreads.


I think I got this red one at a thrift store for around a dollar. I'll keep it out and add it to our bed covers, then maybe my husband will turn the thermostat down a little.



I remember when I was a child our beds were covered with a lot of quilts and blankets. I'd snuggle under them and pull them up under my chin and keep warm during the night. I remember once when I was all covered up, I looked down toward the foot of my bed and I saw a big black spider sitting on the top of the quilt, staring at me. I don't remember what I did, I couldn't hardly jump out, because I was in the top of a set of bunk beds. . . but, I probably screamed for Mom or Dad. I hate spiders, maybe that's when my phobia started.

If you didn't have a fireplace it was time for you to get out your gas space heaters and turn them on.

We're lucky, it's a lot warmer in our houses today. There's no sleeping upstairs with snow blowing in through the rafters on you. Most of us have insulation between the walls and we don't have to trudge to the outhouse through the drifts of snow!

So, if you can, dig out the covers and snuggle up til Spring arrives.

Do you have any cold winter memories to share?

14 comments:

  1. Your post reminds me of staying at my Grandma's house. The beds were piled high with quilts because the stove in the living room was turned way down. You're right, you couldn't jump out because you were so weighted down on the covers. I remember ice on the windows it was so cold.
    This past week has been so cold and I've done a lot of complaining about being cold. After reading and commenting I think I should remember what my Grandparents went through all the time. :)

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  2. I remember sleeping under all those piles of quilts! Now, with the light weight comforters, they seem to heavy to sleep under!

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  3. Hi there and Happy New Year from Houston, TX! I love you snow and snuggly blanket story. We don't have a lot of cold weather here in South Texas but we are expecting to have below freezing temperature for several day in a row....WOOHOO!
    W. Virgnia is a beautiful state. I usually visit friends in Huntington/Proctorville once a year. I didn't go this year for Christmas and missed out on a lot of snow. :(

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  4. Janet, I can remember sleeping under so many covers that you could barely turn over, I also remember getting up in the morning and the water bucket being froze over. We only had a small fireplace to heat four rooms with no insulation. My dad would "bank" up the fire at night so it wouldnt go out and it didn't put out any heat.

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  5. Janet,
    Better keep that red one out, really like that. Yes the farm I grew up on, well you got your clothes and ran down stairs to get dressed in the winter. freezzing up stairs.
    Nancy Jo

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  6. Sounds like you grew up like we did..my mom crocheted some and I helped her make this big afghan, I would sleep under it in winter cause our house got cold at night,anyway my brother had a friend to come over and he needed a cover for the night,so he got my afghan,I like to of froze to death that night so I got my afghan back the next day...loved your post...

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  7. The house I grew up in was a "company house" in southern WV. Single pane windows, no insulation, and only a Warm Morning heater to keep the house warm. All of the blankets were wool, and all of the beds also had quilts. How I hated to have to get up at night to go to the bathroom! My mother was up first each day to start the Warm Morning, but it was up to the children to be sure the coal was brought in from the coal house at the back of the yard. I remember my turn falling on a day when the snow was up to my knees and I had to make 2 trips because I couldn't carry a whole scuttle full. I also remember the hot chocolate that helped warm me up after that trek!

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  8. I remember being under the heavy weight of blankets and quilts, and I remember feeling safe. Great post!! Stay warm:)

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  9. what a warm blog with warmer memories. I remember when we were children and we did not have heating in our apartment, but had a heater in the back room where we all sat and kept warm. We did not have much, but had all we need..which was each other. We really don't need much to be happy do we? a warm blanket, a hot cup of tea, warm socks.. Stay warm and cozy.

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  10. We only had heat in our living room where we lived when I was real young. We burned coal mostly I remember. Then later we had the little gas space heaters. We stayed warm in bed, cause we had like 3 or 4 to a bed and lots of covers. I liked sleeping at my grandmothers. She had a pot belly stove right in the middle of the bedroom/livingroom. I remember the cold trips to the outhouse.

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  11. Nice post, Sis. I remember lots of covers. I remember the old green wool army blankets that Daddy brought back from the army. I remember trying to scratch the ice off the windows so we could see outside. Things sure are different today with central heat..
    I don't use many covers at all.

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  12. Our big old house was cold! No heat upstairs except what came up through the floor grates. I remember huddling by the big gas heater downstairs and getting dressed there--the side facing the stove would be warn but the other side would be freezing!

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  13. Awe the memories of yester-year. I mostly remember all the warm heavy blankets. When it was time to get up.... who wanted to put their poor little tootsie down on that hard wood floor. Not me!! Nor did I want to crawl out of my warm toasty spot. Thanks for bringing back some fun memories. I also wanted to say your bird photos are fantastic!
    M

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  14. Janet-we've been getting out extra blankets for all the beds. I loved this post-and reading everyone's comments too : )

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