Winterizing

Houses as old as mine (built in 1894) often did not have any heat ducted to the upstairs. There would be registers in the floor to allow warmth from downstairs to rise. At some point, a furnace was put in the attic, so I have two. Until the swamp cooler was winterized, I couldn't fire up the attic furnace because it's tied in to the same ductwork.

Here's where having two ladders comes in handy. I can climb one to haul the other up to the deck without trying to navigate through the house with it.
I needed to get up there to change the filter. You can see the old and new filters above. Yech. I sprang for the super-duper filter because it's pretty dusty here.

I keep the upstairs thermostat at 58, so it doesn't have to run very often. There's enough residual heat coming up the stairwell and I have lots of quilts. Tonight I'll need them; it's supposed to get down to 25. Brrrr!

I kept the kitchen warm today with a little supplemental heat from the oven – making another batch of roasted tomatoes:
I really liked the ones from the muffin tins in the last batch, so I used two tins this time.

Whipped up a batch of creamed chard, too. Sautee shallots in olive oil and butter, add the chard and cook until it's wilted, then add some heavy cream and let it cook until the cream thickens, stirring frequently.
Serve it with pasta or as a side dish. Yum.

Hope you're staying warm, too!