The question every Minnesotan asks themselves in the fall, To turn the furnae on or not to turn the furnace on. “When do we turn on the furnace?” Our house is always on the cooler side not because we have an older farm house but I like things cooler. Nathan does not like things cooler, one of the many “discussions” we have in our household. Its too cold. Its too hot. I would rather wear socks and a sweatshirt then turn the furnace on. Usually in the fall it becomes cool at night but warm enough during the day to warm the house up again. There is a saying in Minnesota about how you can just turn the oven on or start baking. Doing this will warm up the house enough to just take the chill out. Yes, “Just take the chill out.” is a real thing and everyone in Minnesota knows what that means. It does work. I have been baking a lot of squash and eggplant the last couple of days. As a child I remember in the fall my mom would turn the oven on and open the oven door a crack while we ate breakfast and waited for the bus. Yes, I did that this morning, I turned the oven on to take the chill out of the kitchen.
This last week it has been rainy, wet and cold and chilly. I keep thinking it will warm up again so we won’t have to turn the furnace on. I have this irrational theory of when we turn the furnace on we will have the furnace on until spring. We will never turn it off. I call this theory irrational because I have no problem turning the air conditioner on in the late spring months to take the stuffiness out of the air. Waiting out the cold I do the same thing with winter clothes and bibs. I refuse to put them on until I absolutely can’t take the cold anymore. Because again I know they will always be put on until spring once you put them on.
This evening I decided it was time to turn the furnace on. I had made soup all day, baked squash and eggplant in the oven. The chill never left the house. I even had wool socks on. I finally caved. It was time to turn the furnace on. When I mentioned to Nate that I think I was ready to turn the furnace on. He blankly looked at me. I again said if he could go and check on it to turn it on. He replied, “It’s on. I have been turning the furnace on when you are not here and turning it off when you are here.”
Vivan helping bake Squash
Raising a Farmer 
Haha! Love it! We’ve had the cold and rain here in NW also, gave in and turned the furnace on two nights ago.