I have come to believe that the cold doesn't really leave your bones during New England winters. Sure, it's possible have a toasty warm moment by the fire every now and again, but oh, that moment when one must walk away from the wood stove can be dreadful! The chill that lingers in this old farmhouse creeps right back through fire-warmed clothes ever so quickly.
Yes, around here right now, wool socks and long johns are a way of life. And they do help. But one thing that we've come to love the most is the tried and true tea kettle and all of that glorious hot water! (Oh, and warm popcorn!)
We have noticed as we've gathered in new friend's homes to share hospitality is that there is always "watah on" and tea bags are a-plenty. At first I thought maybe New Englanders drink a lot of tea as a holdover from all of that British heritage, and maybe that is partly true. But now, I'm leaning more toward my theory that the water is on simply to warm these folk's bones!
No matter the reason, we're quite happy with our new habit of taking tea....and taking it often. (And hot chocolate in some of our cases...that counts, too!) Forget turning up the thermostat and burning that precious, expensive oil. Let the wood stove rest to help spread out our thinning piles of firewood.
Just give us our tea!
