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As a Minnesota farm(ish) girl, I'm well versed in the art of how to keep warm. When fall rolls around, it's time to button up and start the unavoidable descent into colder weather. I mean, we all know winter is coming... Cold temperatures can lead to extra expense if you're bumping the thermostat up every time the outside mercury drops, so here are a few of the things we do to keep warm here at Clucky Dickens Farm before we even touch our thermostat. (Don't want to read all the words? This blog post is also a podcast—just press the triangle play button on the little black bar at the top of this post!) Keep warm and layer up! Dressing in layers isn't just for outside activities. This works for inside the house, too. Layers work because they help to trap air and insulate you better. I don't have any shame in admitting that sometimes I've got a pair of yoga pants on under my jeans. And maybe like, a tank top, a long sleeve shirt, a t-shirt, and a sweatshirt on top. Maybe I should try some fleece-lined yoga pants? And y'all know they make fleece-lined jeans, right? Warm and toasty is the name of my game. Pile it on! Tuck those layers in. What I will not admit to you, however, is how old I was before I actually learned that tucking in my bottom layer would help to keep me warmer. Oh, sure. It makes total sense now...total sense. Cover your dang feet and your head! If you're walking around the house barefoot and complaining you're cold...just stop. Stop right now. Cover your feet with wool socks like maybe these or these or these and a nice pair of slippers (these keep my feet warm). Heat escapes fastest through your extremities, so make sure those puppies are snug! Wear a stocking cap if you're cold—even when you're sleeping. Remember "Ma in her kerchief and I in my cap"? Y'all, that wasn't for fashion. Keep yo' heads warm. Keep yo' feet warm. Carry on. Drink something warm. Coffee. Tea. Hot Cocoa. Cider. Russian Tea. Even a mug of hot water will do the trick. Liquid warms your insides and the mug warms your hands. Score! (This is the same reason that soup and stew is such a favorite menu item in the fall and winter!) Go outside and come back in. When the temps recently started to drop, my husband and I were out for a couple hours working around the farm. When we came back in, my husband commented how bloody hot it was in the house. Now, we both knew that's only because we'd both been working outside, but isn't it amazing that our feeling about the temperature is relative? A house set at 64 seems cold, until you go outside and work where it's 30. Then 64 seems really cozy. Get moving and keep warm! This is grade school stuff and we all know this—when your blood is pumpin' you're warmer. The problem is that in the winter, we want to go into hibernation mode and we move less. Make use of the ten minute tidy and move around your house quickly picking things up. Or do a hardcore scrubbing of the bathroom using mostly elbow grease to finish the job. It's amazing how much warmer we can feel when we're workin' hard! Eat. Listen. I know you want to be gorgeous and fit into your size-whatever-jeans, but trust me when I tell you this: the time that the temps start to drop is not the time to start restricting calories. Your body is able to deal with colder temps much easier if it is properly fueled. That means eating enough food and drinking enough water. Take care of your body so it can take care of you! Bake. The same reason you don't want to make bread, pies, cookies, or roast vegetables in the summer is the same reason you should do it when the temps outside turn chilly. I don't consider the constant running of the oven to be wasteful because what's coming out of it is stuff we're going to use anyway (even if I bake it and it goes into the freezer for later). Some of my favorite things to bake when the temps turn cold: Homemade Hamburger Buns Honey Wheat Bread