If not, it is always best to have dumped the grate the night before if coal is used, and to have laid the fire ready for lighting.

In the morning brush off all ashes, and wipe or blacken the stove.

Strong, thick gloves, and a neat box for brushes, blacking, &c., will make this a much less disagreeable operation than it sounds.

Rinse out the tea-kettle, fill it with fresh water, and put over to boil.

Then remove the ashes, and, if coal is used, sift them, as cinders can be burned a large part of the time where only a moderate fire is desired.
The table can be set, and the dining or sitting room swept, or merely brushed up and dusted, in the intervals of getting breakfast.