Miscellaneous

I was somewhat surprised, this morning, by two things: 1) HH and I had each had a good night's sleep, and 2) the radio station to which I "listen" all night (it helps me ignore my tinnitus and HH can't hear it) announced that it was snowing in Wichita. Surely enough, upon arising, I found that the world had developed a white blanket - and that big, fat snowflakes were (and are) still falling. Just yesterday I had heard a report about how, on average our temperatures are rising but that the occurrence of freeze-thaw cycles was increasing. The white blanket, once again, made it easier to see clumps of daffodils and narcissi.

A few years ago, I planted rings of daffodil bulbs around our newly planted pink-flowering dogwood trees, one ring of which is shown in the next photo.

Solution to a pressing domestic problem (possible TMI warning)

For the past 30 years, HH and I have followed the examples of our two sets of parents by maintaining separate bedrooms. No, we don't hate one another, but we are practical people. HH suffers from being cold nearly all of the time and I suffer from being too warm most of the time - in addition to which, we are both fitful sleepers who may gasp or snore. Separate bedrooms work and we've always known where to find one another in case of a low-hanky/panky warning light's illuminating.

But...things change. With that in mind, every few years I've given HH the option of sharing a bedroom. The answer had always been "No, thanks." until last Fall. Last Fall, mindful of HH's changing states of mind brought on by progression of his dementia, I asked again. He replied that it would "comfort" him to have the closeness. So I started spending my nights in his bedroom. What to do about the hot/cold difference? I sewed one of HH's heavy cotton/wool flannel sheets to one of my cotton broadcloth sheets, with the seam running down the centerline of each. The next photo demonstrates the placement of the sheets on the bed. As placed on the bed, HH has one layer of my sheet and two layers of his sheet over him while I have but the single layer of my sheet.

Depending upon the temperature, there is usually (at 72 degrees F in the bedroom) a light quilt atop the sheet that is shown. As the weather warmed up (it was 77 degrees F in the bedroom night-before-last), I sewed two of my sheets together in a similar fashion. With the newer sheet, HH has three layers of sheet while, again, I have a single layer.

This is a good compromise. I am usually a tad too warm, but not so warm as to be daunting, and HH is not freezing. (In my own bedroom, usually at 68 degrees F during the winter, I slept under but one sheet most of the time - two, when the temperature dipped a few degrees.)

Comments

[bogie]

What a great idea for dealing with various comfort zones. I tend to be cold when I sleep - or actually when I don't sleep. If I'm the tiniest bit cold, I may doze on and off, but never actually reach a real sleep. I absolutely cannot have a cold nose. I can, however, sleep with cool feet as long as the rest of me is warm.

Anyone that says 68* (or colder) is the best temp for sleeping is full of hooey as far as I'm concerned. I sleep well even while sweating as long as I can keep my feet a bit cooler. BUT, if my feet get hot, I'm miserable. Thus, I may be covered up with thick blankets (even in summer) but sticking my feet out at the same time.

[Liz Hinds]

What a great compromise! Husband has always been the hotter one but now his medication has cooled him down a bit.

[Cop Car]

Bogie--I got a chuckle, envisioning your feet sticking out.

Liz--It must be an unwritten law that those of us who are always hot marry those who are always cold. Yin and yang.