Baby it's cold outside

Winter seems to have moved in early this year and I am not happy about that.

Normally we get a few light snows but it stays warm enough that they melt and it's still nice enough to want to work outdoors.

Want being the key word.

I certainly recall early snows that would accumulate up over the knees. Even then it wasn't this cold. Or, am I just getting soft in my old age...

My joints in my fingers ache. My knees ache. My right hip is almost too much to take.

I recall days of hanging siding in a snowstorm that closed the state and local governments down. I can remember having to break ice and sweep snow from scaffolding while working to be able to keep working. I know of a time we had to sweep snow as we laid shingles on a roof.

I have fond memories of taking hikes in the snow. Cross country skiing. Coaxing the kids out and building snowmen and women. Digging tunnels in the snow. Sled riding, toboggan riding, laughing and playing in the cold as if it didn't exist.

Now it seems all I want to do when the cold comes is hibernate indoors.

So what does one do when they refuse to wonder out into the icy chill?

For me over the weekend it was reading recipes for many kinds of stuffed mushrooms.

I like stuffed mushrooms, so it just made sense to me to play with them and come up with ones I could call my own.

Well I had to make a trip out in the cold so I could pick up a few things I didn't have and some I don't normally keep around here.

Even trying to handle the steering wheel was painful for my aging fingers, but I toughed it out recalling days before power steering and wondering how that would feel on old fingers that have been abused over many years.

Remembering some vehicles that blew no more than tepid air when the heater was blasting. Thinking how many times I had to scrape ice from the inside of windshields just to be able to see the road while driving. Even remembering the time a side window got broken and I had to drive with snow falling and high wind blowing just to get home to the garage so I could work on it.

It never seemed rough back then. Matter of fact there were many laughs while doing those things. Times of looking for reasons to venture out in the cold in search of adventures to thrill the mind.

Now! I'm looking for any excuse NOT to venture into the cold and snow.

Heck I'm even beginning to think about starting a pick up and delivery service for groceries and stuff and hiring people just so I can have someone to do that for me while I sit at home and languish in the heat from the furnace and wood burner.

So here I am, dreaming of a green Christmas and seriously thinking about just driving south past all my usual haunts and not stopping until I get to some place with a warm climate where people don't know what a winter coat even looks like.

Anyway, I tried three of my ideas. Sausage stuffed, Cheese and spinach stuffed and beef and spinach stuffed mushrooms. I even invited my daughter and the grandkids over to sample them. My son was already here, I swear he smells me cooking from 20 miles away and always shows up when there's something tasty to eat.

Well they all liked my latest treats. I was the only one slightly dissatisfied with them. So I'll keep on playing experimenting and perfecting them and then I'll post them here for your opinion.

What do you do during nasty cold weather to keep your smile shining?