Everything sublime is as difficult as it is rare. Baruch Spinoza

Friday, January 16, 2009

Battened Down & Buttoned Up

Winter is nature's way of saying, "Up yours."  
Robert Byrne

I said I was going to do this, but didn't; until yesterday. Sustained subzero temperatures finally got me to put the plastic up over the entrance to the largely unused great room. I have the vents half-opened in there, so it won't be too cold, but the main reason for closing it off is to keep the heat IN the kitchen. That vast, vaulted space swallowed the heat from the kitchen with a loud sucking noise. Yesterday morning it was 49 degrees in the kitchen, although the thermostat was set at 63 overnight. This morning it was 60 degrees in the kitchen. Hurrah!

Who' d of thought it would come to this!

5 comments:

Britwife said...

What a great idea! It reminds me of our house in White Bear (when I was little). My mom would plastic off the livingroom when the power would go out - and then we'd snuggle by the fireplace to keep warm.
Hey, it's working. That's what counts. This is the first year that I put up window plastic in this house. I don't know if it's working or not - but I figure every little bit helps.

Sandra said...

It is working. That room is 1600 sq. ft. of vaultedness (how do you like that word!), so it's a vast hole that eats heat. I should have started this years ago.

Ashley Dumas said...

We used to plastic our windows and it does cut down on wasted heat. Your plastic off the living room is brilliant. Heat rises you know : ) : ) Hope you are staying nice and warm!

Bye for now,

Ash

Thanks for the encouragement over at my place, I am going to need it. Oscar brought home fresh french bread, goat cheese and Jabuticaba Jelly for breakfast. *Sigh* I don't think my plan to eat a banana is going to work out so well : ) : )

Sandra said...

It has made a huge difference. Why lose heat in a space you don't use.

Ashley. I think you look great and I don't like to see women agonizing over their weight so much ( I did it too, when I also didn't need to) but I know it's useless to say "you look great', so I will encourage you. But I do think if you have gained some inches, toning will help more than dieting. I could not resist the french loaf and cheese, I know that!

Ashley Dumas said...

I hear you Sandra. I don't want to beat myself up about the weight issue. In fact I am pretty ok with my current weight / size etc... My biggest concern right now is my wardrobe! : ) I will have to buy new pants for work and the pants I have a VERY hard time finding pants that work for me in Brazil. I think I am too tall or something. Anyways, the pants are all size 6 and I am probably more like a size 8 right now. I can squeeze into size 6 jeans but dress pants NO.

I did not resist the bread and cheese but I did go for a salad at lunch and skipped the special treat from the bakery later on in the day. Not too bad.

I hope to salvage my clothes more than anything: ) "Losing weight' is a secondary concern..