Do you say cozy or cosy?

Dear Gwen,

We are having a real winter in West Virginia. Our driveway is at least as long as the Capron drive and it is uphill. Or down hill if you start at the lot line and work your way back to the house, which is the direction I settled on to push snow during the second snowfall. Our latest snow fall was a soft, breathless drift of snow that accumulated to about 10 inches. Weightless as it was, the snow made nice big piles on everything. Willie had a blast rummaging around in the snow. I think he smelled little furry things. He would put his nose under the snow and snowplow forward. I wonder if dogs can get an ice cream headache in the nose.

I must admit we miss the fireplace on icy cold days. Everyone in the household is looking for warmer places to rest on for a while. As you could see from the last post an activated electric blanket and the promise of multiple body heat is all the invitation that is needed for close company. I think we need a new use for the word cozy. It could be useful as a verb, as in, to cozy.

To cozy is to make soup, or to cover in an afghan, or to curl a cat around you.

Or to make tea

This tea cozy is made from a felted jacket. When I finished the felting process the pattern had softened to a fuzzy imitation of its former self. This turned into a very heavy wool piece quite capable of keeping a tea warm for a long time. It reminded me of a winter hat so I topped it with a pompom. The second cozy was made from felted wool yardage I found at the scary fabric store. I fell in love with its robin egg blue color. The inset of flowers is a type of reverse applique. I did not turn under the edges because the wool will not ravel at this point. This wool piece did not felt as compactly as the pink wool. As a result this cozy easily snugs around the tea pot. The extra stitching is free motion embroidery in regular sewing weight thread. the blanket stitch around the upper edges is for decoration only. This cozy is being shipped off as a thank you for the teapot given to me as a gift.

Or to put on socks

Don't your
socks look terrific? They fit Dad very well. He said to call them his cozy toesies.

(Dozy dog) Nice sock

Or to fill a hot water bottle

One cold night I really wanted someone to come in and run the pan of hot coals through the sheets to banish the chill. Not having that someone nor the hot coals I decided to make a cover for my hot water bottle. This is also a felted thrift store sweater. I loved the color and the cabling. It felted into a very heavy fabric, perfectly suited to holding the heat from the water bottle. The bottom of the bed was only warmer when Chloe used to sleep there.

When Dad and I lived in New York state we went winter camping as site directors at a Girl Scout camp. That night it got so cold the water froze in the room where we slept. When Dad woke up in the morning he turned over to see if I had survived the night. He laughed because he saw two noses sticking out of my sleeping bag. I had pulled the dog into my sleeping bag during the night and we were cozy.

love, Mom