Thursday 27 November 2008

More Keepin' Warm


This is what happens when you've been boiling cherrystones for an hour or two.


It was a warm and sunny summer day when the farmer handed me the cherry pits I had requested with a wry "Well, I'm never doing that again." :-) I hadn't asked for them dried, just saved, but she'd gone to the trouble of kind of cleaning them and then laying them out in the sun to dry. Unfortunately all her trouble meant that I this past weekend I had to rehydrate them to get more of the gucky stuff off for them to be usable. I think I'll be brave and very nicely ask her again next year, but suggest that she just keep them in the freezer instead!


Why? I can hear you saying "but why?" (well, I can hear Mr. S., anyway ;-)

When you're playing chicken with the furnace, it's good to have a secret weapon, I think. In The Seven Year Itch, Marilyn Monroe kept her panties in the freezer to beat the heat. Well, I'm going to keep this pillow in the oven to beat the cold! Maybe not as sexy, but certainly as practical!


Here are the instructions for making a cherrystone bedwarmer, you know, in case you have that many cherry pits lying around. I boiled and rinsed mine twice and then added some more cold water rinses at the end just to get as much cherry off as I could - I'm sure it's easier with freshly pitted stones. Then they dried off in the oven at very low heat for a couple of hours. Made a little cotton pillow, filled it, sewed it up well, made a cover for it, and ta-da! guaranteed warmth.

We don't have a microwave, so I'll just pop it in a low heat oven for a while (it's covered in a felted wool cozy, and wool is very flame resistant) and that should keep our toes toasty when we dash under the chilly blankets at bedtime.


Someone's toes are already trying to snuggle in!

5 comments:

Things Hand Made said...

That is a really good idea! A good excuse to be eathing cherries next year!

Amy said...

Excellent idea - it's getting cold. Thanks!

Anonymous said...

I'm never heard of that before. Does it smell lovely?

Carissa Kemna said...

What a special way to warm your toes! I just use a hot water bottle, but I tell you if I ever come across a few cups of cherrie pits I'm going to try this! Love your blog BTW. :) Carissa

Anonymous said...

I might just have to eat hundreds of cherries next summer!