Winter is just around the corner. This poses a bit of a problem for two people who live in a barely insulated log cabin with a poor excuse for a heating system. Last Friday night the temperature dropped to about 35 degrees Farenheit outside. Well, it was probably just as cold inside the house if not colder. See our little cabin has this magical way of preserving the cold instead of keeping it out. It can be nice and sunny and warm outside but as soon as you step through the door you feel the drop in temperature.
On this particular night--even while wearing 3 layers of clothing, thick socks, a hood, and two blankets--I could not get warm. It was the worst night's sleep I have had since living here. I woke up about 5 times during the night curled up in the fetal position. But nothing could help me get warm. You can imagine how grumpy I was the next morning.
Thankfully we had people come to our rescue. My roommate's aunt and uncle who live 5 minutes away came over for brunch that day. They are very knowledgeable and gave us many tips on how to winterize this place, keep warm, and maximize what we have.
They switched on the fuse that allows the electric heaters in our rooms to work, helped light the pilot that gets the propane heat going, and advised us to put up plastic on the porch windows (this creates a greenhouse effect that would capture the sunlight creating warmth that can be let into the house, absorbed, and then let off at night when the temperature cools down). You can imagine how relieved I was after their visit. Knowing we will survive the winter ahead takes away a lot of the stress I was holding on to.
That afternoon I went out and bought 2 more blankets for my bed and cranked up the heat. It was a wonderfully warm sleep!
Then of course, these past few days the temp has been in the 50s and 60s so that the heat and blankets have been completely unnecessary. The universe would play such a trick on me. Oh well, at least now we are prepared.
Until next time...
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