Thanks for all the suggestions for a question I posted awhile back on hot to keep warm in a water bed without the heater on....we ended up getting an eggcrate mattress and thick thick flanned sheets and have been toasty ever since....and electric bill down $15 a month,too. Having a wool comforter helps but inexpensive wool blankets still readily available from the surplus catalogs like Sportsmans Guide or Brigadmasters; highly recommend having a stash in the closet.

-- mutti (mutti66@hotmail.com), November 23, 1999

Answers

mutti,

Thanks for the flashback! When I was a kid, I practically lived at my best friend's house, and her mom & grandma used to make patch blanket covers. They were warm and snuggly. Remember on laundry day, there'd be a pile of army blankets, waiting for their patch covers to come back clean & fresh.

Really easy, too, even if you don't have time to make a patchwork cover:

Take two sheets, size relative to size of blanket that'll go inside (we always used a size larger than the bed; a twin bed got 'full' blankets, etc.)

Just run a seam around three edges, like making a big pillow case. I remember that some of them had ribbons sewn inside to tie the blanket in place, but they also just used diaper pins, too.

Mrs. best-friend's mom said it was great because she didn't have to put top sheets on the beds, 'cause the blankets came with them!

I'd forgotten all about those blankets...

-- Arewyn (isitth@latealready.com), November 23, 1999.

Double up a blanket (even a fairly light one) so it covers just your feet, and put it on the bed under another blanket or under the coverlet. That way it stays in place. Having your feet warm makes a terrific difference in how warm you feel in bed.

-- bw (home@puget.sound), November 23, 1999.

"night caps" probably make a difference too, since so much heat escapes from your head...."Mamma in her kerchief and I in my cap".... don't forget bedsocks

-- marsh (armstrng@sisqtel.net), November 23, 1999.

The very best way to keep warm in bed is.....

Snuggle up to your honey and intertwine!

-- freddie (freddie@thefreeloader.com), November 23, 1999.

In the arctic, the dogs are welcome on cold nights. I highly recommend the Samoyed, as a breed with hypoallergenic fur, a pleasing disposition, and a coat he will share with his family. They are also wonderful dogs for children. Originally used in Siberia for herding reindeen, and as sled dogs.

A team of Sams will keep you warm on the coldest night. :-)

feelin' warm just thinking of it.

gene

-- gene (ekbaker@essex1.com), November 23, 1999.

When I was a kid we spent a winter in our mountain cabin which was heated only by a coal/wood stove. We all had flat river-washed rocks that we kept in the oven as long as Mother wasn't using it for food, and each night we'd take them out, wrap them in towels, and put them down at the bottom of the bed (inside the sheets). You could do the same with bricks, pavers, what-have-you.

Having your feet toasty when you first go to bed is a big help! And if you're sleeping in a particularly cold room, you can always have two sets of stones/bricks/etc. so you can get a warm one in the middle of the night if necessary. The most important thing about using these "hot rocks," as we all irreverently called them, is to be sure they're wrapped well, or you'll burn your tootsies.

I'm planning to start doing this again once it gets cold here - we've had very few sub-freezing nights so far, to my amazement.

-- peg (peg@futureandahope.com), November 24, 1999.

No problem in this house. Chubby Hubby is like sleeping next to a wood stove with the damper wide open. He is also a "net producer" of gas. So I guess we have gas heat????? LOL

Taz

-- Taz (Tassie123@aol.com), November 24, 1999.