February 16, 2006

• Warm Fires

  Through the years I have come to realize I am married to a unique person.  Of course we all think that, but really.  I've always said one of the reasons Mr Darling maried Mrs. Darling was because he enjoyed the intertainment she provided.  Thinking it over, maybe that's one of the reasons I married my one and only.

  
  

  A gramma has a right to tell stories of yesteryear, right? Actually this didn't happen that long ago.

  
  

  As most people know, who kinow me, that on Thanksgiving Day I always had a houseful of company. Usually his family but, sometimes both of our families would be at our place for dinner. 

  
  

  As the family knows, It seemed like every year, Thanksgiving Day was time to clean out the wood stove. (Anything from cleaning out the ashes, or cleaning out the pipe, or maybe even giving the stove a new coat of paint) Anyhow I alway wondered why? on that particular day.

  
  

  It was also the day to bring out the fireproof carpet, that was neatly stored in a box behind the piano, for such occasions.
  It was a small carpet about 18" x 24", but it was fireproof and Stan had gotton it while working for Hearth Classics, and was quite pleased with it. It was only used for special company.

  
  

  I remember one time when we had some styrofoam pieces we needed to get rid of, why not burn them?  Pop threw them in the stove.  Now we had a big old stove (a grandpa fisher)  The doors would lock tight on it.  So the foam was in the stove and the doors were locked tight.  Pop was watching carefully to see that everthing was alright. BANG, POOF, the doors blew open and out came smoke and ashes.   I could almost get upset if it wasn't soooo funny.

  
  

  In January 2002 we moved to Idaho. The special carpet then laid in front of the fireplace at all times and the box has been distroyed.

  
  

  Sometime ago we had company overnight. Before they arrived Stan headed for the fireplace to make his special company fire. Gathering just the right wood scraps he had salvaged from a building project next door, he made a nice warm fire. I was gone when the company arrived and Stan was working outside. He told the company to go on in. They went in and there on the hearth lay the remains of one of the fireplace glass doors. The white brick on the front of the fireplace was now black. Stan cannot figure out what kind of wood he used that would get sooooo hot.

  
  

  We replaced the glass portion of the door.

  
  

  A couple months ago, a friend we used to know in Estacada had found our name in a phone book, at her daughters house, near here,...so she called and wanted to stop and see us.

  
  

   
  We bustled around and put a last minute shine on the house. Stan went outside and gathered up things for a company fire, so it would be nice and warm when she came.

  
  

  About an hour before she was to arrive. Stan came in the house with some dried out puddles of paint. (Last summer he had dumped out some old paint buckets so they could dry up. they left dried? puddles of paint)

  
  

  The next thing I heard was "Honey, be carefull, there are a couple of wet drops of paint here on the carpet"

  
  

  I was busy in the hall and in the kitchen, so I figured he would clean the mess up. I was busy loading the dishwasher when he came around the corner and wondered where something was to clean the mess up. All he knew was gas and I didin't want the house to smell like gas whe the company came. Niether did I want to explode.

  
  

  I started down the hall, when he says "What's this" I looked around and on the floor was big spots of green paint. To make long story short. Pop had dropped some wet, green paint in the hall and I was busy tracking it all over the kitchen floor. GROAN
  It didn't do any good to cry or scream so I just laughed till I almost cried. WHY? Needless to say he opened the doors, brought in a rag with gas and cleaned up the paint spots. When our guest came I don't know if the house smelled like gas, was too hot, or too cold, but she stayed three hours so it must not have been too bad

  
  

  A Week or so later Robin and Nevin came for a visit. Pop of course made a nice warm fire. I was busy doing last minute things and there was an old plastic peanut butter jar that I wanted to get rid of. It had a small amount of old peanut butter in the bottom of it. Since Pop puts everything in the fireplace, the peanut butter jar went in too.  The next thing I knew... Pop was standing in front of the fireplace with a puzzeled look on his face. There on the hearth was the remains of one of the glass doors.

  
  

  Will someone tell me WHY ???

  
  

   

  • 1:39 pm
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