Blowing Hot Air

It's in the upper 40's, windy, very fallish. In fact, it's cold.  Now, now, don't get all 'Are you kidding, just wait' on me, I've lived through 36 upper-midwest winters and I know what the real deal is.  But don't try to tell me that when your alarm goes off in the morning, in the dark, that it's anything close to easy to get out of your nice, warm, snuggly bed.
It's cold, ain' it?  You get the point.

Our heat is currently set to kick on at 62 degrees.  That's not a typo, let me repeat...sixty-two degrees.  YA, we're cheap.   That's all it comes down to.  But don't be alarmed, we handle it very well.

We've got this great wood-burning stove and a large supply of firewood (these trees just drop dead at our feet!), so we've got the stove fired up quite a bit.  Along with the electric blanket and down comforters, we're good.  In fact, when I go to other people's houses who are all 'nothing lower than a perfectly temperature controlled 72 degrees all year long', I absolutely die.  I'm sweating.  Hey look, that's me!

All this cold weather is actually VERY good for family togetherness.  Dog and cats, too.  Everybody piles on.

The other night, I woke up to use the bathroom and found myself so sweat-soaked I started to fear early menopause.  I returned to bed and laid down between my two little people, under the heated blanked, dog between my legs, and landlocked into not being able to expose my feet.  My feet are my thermostats, you see.  So when my shorties revolt and insist on bracketing me at night, my poor feet are trapped and the resulting overheating of this body is nothing short of a hazard.  How it is that I haven't shorted out that electric blanket with my hot body by now is a mystery.  Oh...and I sweat a lot, too.

The point is....wait, what is the point?

Do I tell you all the things you can do to conserve energy?  Turn down the thermostat at night, turn it down when you're at work, turn it down in general...?  Use weatherstripping, patch holes, get better insulation.  Make your home more energy efficient!  Well duh, this stuff is pretty common knowledge, kind of like turning off a light when you leave a room.  You don't need me to tell you this stuff.

Do we discuss how to keep your kids out of your bed?  Honestly I don't mind it that much as long as it's not all the time, nor do I as a parent really know how.  When the kids have a nightmare and come running in at 2 am, I feel bad for them that they're scared, but I also relish the snuggling and comforting and bonding.  As long as I can keep my feet liberated, that is.

So what do I prattle on about?  How about togetherness.  That's not a question.  What better way to inspire some snuggling than to turn down the thermostat and break out the blankets?  This certainly isn't a new concept, though it may be one that people don't typically think of.  Hmmm...snuggling and a lower electric bill?  Something for everyone!  Let's put that in the warm fuzzies category, right next to 'How many babies are born 9 months after cold weather sets in?'. 

There you have it people, more words of wisdom from your green friend.  Now go turn down the thermostat, get out the hot cocoa, get your blankie and a good movie and snuggle with the kids, then put them to bed. Then snuggle with the spouse, boyfriend, girlfriend, whoever you want to snuggle with and turn yourself into something right out of a Donna Summer song.  Who needs heat when you've got each other!!

Your Garbage is My Pleasure

To my husband's irritation and annoyment, I am a big fan of Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.  My insistence on recycling every scrap of recyclable anything is a common recipient of 'the eye roll' and 'the exasperated sigh'.  Where we live we have those huge garbage and recycling cans, and everything goes into the one huge can that then gets emptied once a week.  Unfortunately, our recycling only gets emptied once every OTHER week.  Not cool for the obsessive recycler.  We had to have a second giant recycle can delivered, lest I throw away something recyclable and not be able to sleep at night.

An even bigger source of husband irritation and annoyment than my obsessive recycling is my love of all things reused or repurposed.  There is no end to the ways things can be used for something other than their original intended purpose!  A trowel for a coat hanger, a hay fork for a trellis, a piss-pot for a compost bucket, a yoke for a curtain rod.  These things all might sound absurd to you, but to me...they are bliss.  If they do sound absurd to you, damn you!, you are not alone.  My husband would heartily concur.  He calls my treasures 'junk'.  How dare he!  Only I am allowed to call it junk.

My most recent acquisition is this beautiful old cement wash basin.  I saw it posted on my local Freecycle and couldn't resist.  Told the husband about it and what I wanted to do, and he played along pretty well until we got there...and saw how monstrously huge this thing is.  These poor people had this 500 lb monstrosity taking up valuable real estate in their basement.  I mean, how the heck do you move something like that?  Back in the day they probably had to build the house around this thing, it's so huge.  And, I must add...gorgeous.

Double basin, steel lined, amazingly patinaed cement. 

Husband is giving me the 'run, quick!' eye, but I hardly notice as I am deep in thought about the potential of this behemoth.  This thing is going to be the best. Flower. Box. Ever.  The homeowner even brilliantly pointed out that each side has its own little drain, so drainage for a planting wouldn't be a problem at all.  If my husband could shoot daggers out of his eyes....

Naturally it couldn't be moved that day, we needed much more muscle involved.  The homeowner's pick-up, a couple of borrowed mercenaries, a smashed finger and a dirty jacket later, and it is in my yard in all its aged gargantuan glory.  And it will be glorious.  Mark my words. 

For some reason, my reasonable husband seems to be under the impression that my new cement friend will 'junk up' the yard.  Huh?  I think not.  Let's be realistic here...this is an old farmhouse, not some McMansion with $20,000 landscaping.  An old cement wash-basin as a flower box fits right in, next to the hay fork, tractor seat, hand-push lawnmower, and don't forget the old hand-made swingset!  It's all about vision, and that's something I've got and he doesn't. His vision is clouded by trips to the curb and navigating through a crowded garage. 

I mean, hello!!  Did I mention I am REUSING this item?  Keeping it out of a landfill, like the good little green girl I am.  It's not just my personal vintage style, it's my personal philosophy!