It's a bit chilly in here right now . . .

Well, we are having furnace problems. To be specific, when we got up Thursday morning and went downstairs, we thought it seemed a little chilly. Our thermostat was set at 69 degrees, but it was only 64. Bob fiddled around with it, but he could never make the furnace kick on, although the fan was working fine. We were leaving to go to White Sulphur Springs for the OCF Veterans' Day Retreat, so we just turned it off and forgot about it. (We had a wonderful weekend, by the way. It was a great group of people, and it was so much fun.) When we drove in last night, the house was a chilly 54 degrees. Fortunately our upstairs furnace works, so we were fine for sleeping. It got down to about 22 degrees outside last night, so we left our faucets dribbling. We were afraid the pipes might freeze! This morning we are all bundled up, and we brought our little bathroom space heater down. The boys had oatmeal for breakfast, and with the little heater pointing towards the table, it took the chill off the air, so it wasn't uncomfortable. I think we're going to go somewhere this morning though--I'm declaring a school holiday! Isn't that what public schools do when they have furnace malfunctions? : ) Our next-door neighbor came over and looked at the furnace last night, and he and Bob have figured out what the problem is. The electronic ignition thing is broken. Bob has removed it, but he can't find a replacement part. They don't sell furnace parts at Home Depot, if you can imagine! So we'll either order it online and be without heat for a couple more days or try to find it around here. He's calling some places today to see if he can find the part.

So, to count our blessings, we're thankful that this happened in mid-November, instead of February, when it would really be cold outside. It's sunny today with a high of 58, and we have lots of south-facing windows, so our kitchen and family room will heat up from the sun's radiant heat. And we do have that second furnace, so it's nice and toasty upstairs. In the meantime, we can pretend we live in a drafty medieval castle!

Claire