WHAT is going on with this crazy weather pattern?!

For those of you in the path of the latest ice storm sweeping

across the South East - stay indoors and stay warm. 

Did I tell you that my mother's parents were farmers?  In their farm house was the requisite fireplace but there was also a sparky little pot belly stove that fascinated me as a child.

When visiting my grandparents in the winter months we'd huddle around the stove and take turns 'feeding' it kindling and wood.  Various pairs of gloves and mittens would be placed on the stove to thaw out after the outdoor chores were done and I still remember the smell of drying wool.

While I wouldn't want to go back to the days of standing in front of the little stove and rotate warming our front sides and then our backsides, I definitely love the charm of those little stoves.

Country Living

Not only was the stove a source of heat,
it also provided a cooking surface.

Like with most consumables, the more
affluent purchased more ornate stoves:

Antique Navigator

This beauty was manufactured by the Scranton Stove Works:

An industrial pot belly stove was a
staple in most one room school houses.

Modern cabins are starting to incorporate
new stoves with the old design:

Northline Express

Source

In 1966, George Atherton of Hartford, KY, created a

solution to a problem that most of us would agree with:

If you don't need it for the heat, old pot
belly stoves make charming planters:

Mehitable Day

Three Sisters' Sanctuary
I think that the main reason pot belly stoves aren't more
collectible is that they're just so dang heavy and hard to move.

Stay warm, friends.