Warm radiators and furnace

Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Its winter on the farm.

  The Old Farmer stokes up the coal furnace in the basement.

The is a twice a day job. You shovel out the ashes in the bottom,

Then shake a  grate handle on front of furnace. The cinders and smaller coals

fall through and the hot bigger coals remain on top of the grate.

By the next shift any hot coals that fell through are burned out and safe to shovel out again.

Then in goes a couple big shovels full of new coal.

 In the fall the Old Farmer had let any air pockets out of the radiators

with the radiator key. This was called bleeding the system. Sometimes

during the winter this process was repeated if there was an air block

and the hot water wasn't circulating.

Hot water would circulate through the radiators and they were toasty warm.

There was nothing like coming in the house from the cold and sitting
by a radiator and warming up with a cup of cocoa.
They were also a great place to dry our snowsuits and boots!

 

I remember being home from school sick in the winter.

The Old Farmer's Wife would bundle me up in a blanket

on a chair by the radiator in the kitchen. Then was she could

do her work and keep an eye on me. 

And the Old Farmer's would go outside the big windows and build

a huge snowman using bushel baskets full of snow.