Search Results for: blog keeping warm with blankets

Washing Blankets

Washing blankets and quilts can be an interesting exercise. Many washing machines are not designed to take more than one blanket at a time so washing blankets and quilts can be a time consuming process, especially if you or your spouse is one of those people who is a blanket snuggler and likes two or three blankets on top of them at night. The blanket situation is not such a major hassle in our house. For starters, I have a large washing machine. Secondly, we rarely have a blanket on the bed. In winter we will have a quilt on … Continue reading →

Keeping Pets Warm in Cold Weather

We’ve been having an “arctic blast” here in the Pacific Northwest… and boy has it been COLD! I worry about keeping my dogs warm when we’re out walking — I bundle up with coat, hat, and gloves, but they’re out there in just their fur. My dogs Moose and Lally tolerate wearing clothes reasonably well. So if I were to buy them coats to wear, I think they would be willing to wear them. But booties to protect their feet? No way. A hat to protect their ears? Doubtful. So what can you do to protect your pets from the … Continue reading →

Staying Warm (and Why It’s Important!)

Winter “officially” starts on December 21st for the Northern Hemisphere… but it’s cold right now here in the Pacific Northwest. With the economy the way it is at the moment, it might be tempting to try to keep energy bills lower by keeping the house cooler than you might normally like it. Here are some tips to help you keep warm if you’ve got the thermostat set low. Number one: Check doors for drafts. If you can see daylight around your door, then the cold air can get in. Think about weather stripping or a draft stopper to help keep … Continue reading →

Keeping Baby Warm

My daughter is four. Every night after she goes to sleep, she thrashes around in bed. She kicks her covers off. Some time in the middle of the night, I throw the covers over her again because she is searching for them – she’s cold. Keeping moderately warm helps her sleep better. I love my covers. I can’t imagine going to bed without them – they help me feel safe and snug. I believe that they help my daughter feel the same way, but she also dislikes the feeling of the covers because they get in the way of her … Continue reading →

Home Blog Month in Review: October

As I sit here looking out my window at the backyard, the birds are hovering in the pine tree against a strong wind and steady rain. The temperature is chilly today, and the calendar reminds me that we have left October behind. October 1st Buy a Home for $1.75 It seems that the housing crisis has made some interesting news lately. Home Month in Review: September 2008 Has the weather turned cooler now that September has passed? Pretty soon, it will be time to get that heat turned back on! Meanwhile, check out all of the articles that were posted … Continue reading →

Keeping Warm with Blankets

Using blankets is a very frugal strategy. The cost savings over many years makes blankets earn their keep many times over. Think of it this way: each layer of blankets that you add to your bed at night saves you many dollar a year in your heating cost. The weather is certainly getting crisp here. After having temperatures in the high eighties in the beginning of last week, we have plummeted down to the fifties and sixties. The sudden shift makes us all feel really cold. Although we toughed it out for a few days, my husband finally turned on … Continue reading →

Prepping for a Hurricane on a Budget

If you are in the path of Hurricane Sandy, the Frankenstorm as many are calling it, then hopefully you are safe and secure and well prepared. My home is right in the path of the storm, and we are just a few minutes away from landfall of this historic hurricane. I’ll keeping writing as long as I have power or until the time that I have to take further action. The wind is definitely picking up to scary proportions. While we aren’t too concerned about flooding of our home, except for maybe some water in the basement, we are concerned … Continue reading →

Do You Really Need to Deep Clean?

Not your pores; your house. It seems everywhere I go these days someone or something is reminding me to deep clean my house in time for spring. For some reason, the season of new beginnings heralds the arrival of gratings reminders that it is time to get on my knees and scrub the dirty bathroom floors that I have neglected since Thanksgiving. Spring cleaning—BAH! HUMBUG! Sadly, there are quite a number of cleaning projects on my list. However, housekeeping is not only about removing dirt and grime from countertops and toilet seats. There are many other aspects to keeping a … Continue reading →

Christmas Eve 2010

6am: I woke up a little earlier than normal (actually I got out of bed earlier than normal) in order to take a quick shower and start a fire in our fireplace before anyone else was awake. I’m now comfortable sitting in my living room trying to organize my desk and the work I have to do in order to attempt to avoid it for a period of time. While today is just the “day before” Christmas it carries with it a special kind of feeling of excitement. I just heard the buzzer go off on my cup of tea … Continue reading →

Good Intentions

Have you ever had a plan to be nice to your kids completely backfire? That’s been the story of my life this morning. My baby came down with a nasty cold a few days ago, and she’s been pretty miserable. I’ve been doing whatever I can to make her more comfortable: I give her lots of warm baths, run the humidifier, scratch her back, and do lots of baby massage. She normally sleeps in her crib. She always napped with me as a newborn, but once she hit about 6 months old, she made the transfer to mostly napping alone. … Continue reading →