Tuesday, October 25, 2016

Must Be at Least 30 Degree Below Zero


I watched a program on TV about these people who choose to live in the harsh conditions in Alaska.  I cannot see any human being WANTING to live in a place where you can freeze to death, starve to death, get killed by a bear, get gored by a moose, get killed by a tree falling on you 20 feet from your house and no one hearing your screams for help, or just plain falling off a cliff.

 And that is on a GOOD day.  Wow, can you imagine having to live in an un-insulated freezing cold cabin in the middle of a place that has no neighbors and you have to go out daily to get your food, veggies are scarce and you have to go outside in the cold to pee in the middle of the night?

The first paragraph is about Alaska, the second is where I live.

I know there is a majority of you who live in every state north of Louisiana (except Florida and Hawaii) who think I am a wuss.  I may be.  But for the last three nights it has been below 40 degrees.

O - M - G !!!!

It is freezing.  Saturday night I was fighting a migraine.  Since all my pills and vitamins were under the counter in the bathroom, they all were lost in the floodwaters. I just have not gotten around to thinking of what was in there and now is lost.  There was no where to get more pills quickly, so I rode it out.

I fell asleep in the camper bed while Frank was watching the LSU game. ii woke up about 12:30 am, freezing.  Everything you move in the camper it echoes through the space like you are Godzilla shuffling through Tokyo. I found my only jacket, my sweatsuit zip up.  I thought the hoodie would keep my head and neck warm.  Maybe.

My feet were so cold.  I was so cold.  I realized i needed to pee.  Once back in the camper I was chilled to the bone with cold.  I had two quilts, but they were small lap quilts.  I needed to find were my larger quilts were.

Sunday at Carrie's house, she gave me two quilts I had gifted to them over the years.  And Sunday night at dinner with Paula and Glen, she brought 5 of my quilts that had been living at her house.

This is how my bed gets made now. This is the raw, cold inhospitable bed in the camper I sleep in.  No dogs, although I did think that the dogs might be the answer to my freezing cold nights.  Frank has his own bunk in the "bunkhouse" section of the camper since he acts out his dreams by kicking and punching the villains (and me).  So  here is where he generally sleeps.  He is not cold so don't worry about him and feel sad for him.  He is perfectly fine.  Chloe sleeps  on the flood and he puts his hand on her and pets her all night.  Did I get the same love and affection?




Layer one, Carrie's LSU quilt.  I made this for her when she graduated from LSU.  It has a bunch of LSU t-shirts and one from Runnels High School.  The center is a large block I found on Quilter's Cache, can't remember the name of  it right now.  I tuck half of this quilt in the foot of the bed.




Layer two.  This is a kit I found at one of River City Auctions.  I got it for cheap and it was all cut out already.  All I had to do was to put it together.  It is a full size quilt and is a good base for all the rest of the pile.









Layer three.  This is a Loon Quilt I made for Andrew when was still dating Carrie.  It is a large lap quilt.









Layer four.  This was a Mystery Quilt Project I headed for River City a few years back.  I made two of these for myself!  Snowflakes, I really like these colors, blues are cool........but this is another warm layer on the bed.









Layer five - This is the South  Seas Batik I made.  I love this quilt!  It fell victim to McGee and has a pretty good large fist size hole in it.  You can see the corner of the pillow case sticking out of it.







Layer six - this is the huge star I made at retreat about two years ago.  It is a good sized quilt that covers everything else.  But that is not all......keep going.








Layer seven - Finally, a final layer.

this is one of the first quilts I made when I started quilting again in earnest after I sold the company.  It is a Double Irish Chain that has a layer of flannel as batting rather than traditional batting.

I quilted it with a 55 year old Kenmore sewing machine that was busy dying a painful death.  The internals were worn and unfixable and just wanting to die.  There are so many skipped stitches and blank spaces and painful areas with the quilting falling apart.

And that is how I get warm at night.............here in Louisiana!

6 comments:

  1. surprisingly cold there. I lived in Edmonton Alberta Canada, and lived through minus 40 deg farenheit. cold. I loved living there too and it's colder than some places in Alaska.

    Cole taught me to cover my nose when cold. Breathing in warmed air will warm you quickly. Now when I go for a cold day's walk, I make sure to cover my nose and breathe in warmed air.Sometimes I cup hands over my nose for a few breaths to warm up.
    Don't hyperventilate!!! Get Oxygen!! but covering your nose with a wool openly knitted scarf for instance might help.
    warmer weather is on it's way, I heard it was warm out west, and we get their temps a few days later, so you might too.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I personally love to sleep in the cold. I have family and friends that think sleeping in a room less than 75 degrees is torture. When my hubby and I travel up north for leaf peeping, I usually opt not to turn on the heaters at his nieces homes and sleep in temperatures near those you are experiencing, but the biggest difference is that I do it by choice. Anytime something is forced on you it becomes less than enjoyable, and I am so sorry it is happening. This step is another on your path but this one stinks. BTW get your medication. Toughing it out when you are in extreme pain is just foolish. I have done it and it creates stress and makes everything worse. Please take care of yourself.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Best thing I can suggest to help get warm is put on a hat. (That comes from Boy Scout camping hints 101 - DH was a scoutmaster for years, I was a Den Mother in Cub Scouts and then a merit badge counselor in the troop, and both boys made it through the Eagle rank and beyond). The hat I like best for cold nights is a wicking cool-max type much like a cyclists skullcap. Looks kind of silly but my feet don't freeze. And for the record, I do not think you are a wuss.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I sleep best with at least 5 quilt layers- tonight I have 6 - the key is to have the biggest in the 3rd or 4th layer to tuck in good. Otherwise the whole weighted mess will slide off. Once it's right though - ahhh! So comfy! Sweet dreams and socks! You must get thick soft socks

    ReplyDelete
  5. I hope you will be finally warm! I haven't turned the heat on in the house yet. I like a cold room, but I did turn the electric blanket on just to take the chill off the sheets. It was in the upper 40's and I still cracked a window open. I had to turn the electric blanket off because I got too hot. I can imagine it doesn't get all that cold in LA so these temps have to be hard on everyone. A good pair of wool socks would be a good investment. Maybe that is what I should have sent you rather than a wall hanging. But I have to say thanks for the quilt show! A beautiful and diverse group of quilts!

    ReplyDelete
  6. I agree with you - a camper hasn't got much insulation - and at 40F, that's like sleeping outside. Wear socks to bed, that helps me.

    ReplyDelete

I love to hear from friends! Thanks for leaving a message!