I was thinking about my dad, and how he called that particular album his "fruitcake baking tape." It started as a coincidence that we played it a couple of years in a row as we were baking fruitcakes, and eventually it became a tradition. I must remember that when I'm baking fruitcakes this fall.
By the way, I finally cut up and started eating my store bought fruitcake. It's good, but the homemade ones are definitely better. I should just stick with those from here on out.
In other news, thank you to everyone who offered advice on starting fires without smoking up the whole house. This is what I use to start mine, and they work well.
It's when I start adding wood that the smoking starts. It's like it all swirls around in the wood stove and won't go up the chimney. One of my friends suggested lighting a small bit of newspaper and putting it up the chimney to draw the smoke up that way. If I can find some newspaper, I'll try that. It's actually kind of hard to find newspaper these days. My town doesn't even have a daily paper any more. I think they put one out once or twice a week, but I usually just look at their website or Facebook page for the local news. I don't think they even do the coupon circulars -- at least, I can't remember the last time I got one.
One thing I'll need to remember that I think will help is to put the wood further in. Into the stove, I mean. This is the one I have, and as you can see, it opens from the side.
It makes it hard sometimes to put those big old heavy pieces of wood into it, so I tend to pile it up right inside the door. I guess the smoke finds that going out the door instead of up the chimney is the path of least resistance.
I keep saying that if I can ever get my act together enough to get my house remodeled, I'm definitely going to go with a stove that's a) more aesthetically pleasing, and b) opens in the front. I suppose I could just get the stove replaced, but I might as well get it all done at once.
By the way, that little pot on top is filled with water to add a bit of humidity to the house. It gets so dry in the winter time, and I find that a little steam helps a bit. At least, I don't get shocked as much when I have a simmer pot going. Sometimes I'll put cinnamon sticks or whole cloves into the water, but I didn't this time. It's just plain water.
While I was lighting the fire, I went ahead and cleaned up all of the leaves, twigs, and bits of bark that had collected under my little wood rack, and that's my one claim to fame for the day.
Anyway, while I had the fire going, I decided to clean out my file cabinet and burn old stuff. That's something I do every now and then, but apparently not often enough, because I found receipts dating back to 2018.
In the middle of doing that, my younger brother texted me and asked if I would send him a copy of my DD-214. He's wanting to make a shadow box of our family's military history, and I didn't want to discourage him, but I'm thinking, "Box? With our family, he'll need an 18 wheeler!" We have ancestors that fought all the way back in the American Revolution. Heck, three of the four of us kids all served.
So, that sent me on a quest to find my DD-214, which I did and sent him a copy. I also found Cody's Italian birth certificate, and a few other things I'd forgotten about. Then I sorted through a few old owner's manuals -- some for things I don't even have any more -- and got rid of a bunch of them. I was thinking that I really needed to toss them all, because you can find all of that stuff online these days.
I was thinking the same thing about my receipts and stuff, that I don't need to keep any of it because it's all online, but I did. I kept everything dated 2023 or newer.
That was about all I accomplished today, other than finishing this hat while listening to my second lecture in my classical music course.
Yarn: Red Heart Super Saver Bitty Stripe
Colorway: Rainbow
Pattern: Basic Beanie
Needles: US 8 / 5 mm
I cast on another square for the sampler afghan, but it's just a couple of rows, so there's no point in taking a photo until it gets a little bigger.
I guess that's it for today. I have tomorrow off for the holiday, so I'm going to finish watching this ball game, the probably go on to bed.
Good night, all.
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