Sunday, May 4, 2008

The weight of the world

I am musing over the delicate balance there is in getting the blanket/doona situation right during Autumn and Spring. (That would be Fall and Spring to the Northern Americans)

This morning I woke and I was quite warm, in fact too warm, which was very different to the night before when I was really cold. I love the days of Autumn and Spring - they are cold and warm all at once, there is a crispness in the day promising so much. Nights are just too confusing......How many blankets? How many doonas? Socks? Winter pyjamas or summer?

Summer is very easy. It is warm so a sheet and maybe a blanket/doona depending on the overnight temperature.

Winter is taken care of although after reading this you might think I might need to reassess the situation.

I wear my warm pyjamas and have two doonas on the bed and if it is remarkably cold I will even put a blanket on the bed. I might even wear the beautiful woolen socks to bed as well! All this weight on top of me seems to pin me into my bed and I have no choice but sleep!

The cat loves Winter. She can be found under both doonas, between doonas, between the blanket and doona or, if it is not so cold for her fur-lined princess body, firmly fitted on top of the doona in the bottom corner.

I have toyed with the idea of buying a decent winter weight doona. I look at the doonas and then think " NO! I manage with the two". Then I get home and wrestle the two doonas into the cover. I have tried having ties on the corners of the doonas so I can tie them together and then tie them into the doona cover.

I have tried having the doonas in separate covers on top of each other on top of me but then you have the nightly battle of the escaping doona. There is the question of which doona will escape tonight - the top one or the bottom one? You can't buy that sort of excitement anywhere!

I KNOW I should buy a new doona that is worth it's weight in gold but I just haven't got round to it. There is the whole process of research - how many blankets do I need? Will I go wool, down, microfibre? My head hurts thinking through those questions already.

Some of you may even ask the question why not an electric blanket? Personally I don't believe in them. "Tut -tut" I hear from many of you. Yes, I know there is the idea of getting into a pre-warmed bed and snuggling into the warmth and feeling toasty BUT it is something I can't bring myself to purchase. I have an irrational fear that I will leave it on and burn down the house. I already triple check that I have put the iron away properly lets not bring in another heating device. Then there is the idea that you might dehydrate yourself over night if you kept the electric blanket on.....there are reports written about this!

The double doona system stemmed from the time that I moved from my mothers house, where we had central heating and I was constantly warm with one doona, to a house in Tasmania (Launceston to be exact) which had no real heating that I could cope with. The warmest place in the house was bed and then I discovered the many joys of the multiple doona. Nights got so cold (often well below zero degrees Celsius!) that I would consider it nothing to have a hat on my head so that I was warm all over. In the mornings I would wake and look out the window to see the ice forming around the outside sill and I would bound back to my double doona fortress to fight out the battle with the cold. (or should that be skate...)

I have no chance of having a mate share my sleeping space with me with multiple doonas on the go. I don't think any other reasonable person would cope with the weight. It takes a special focus. You are almost suffocated if you lie on your back, as the weight crushes your ribcage. I have become an amazing side sleeper.

I remember discussing this situation with friends of mine. They thought, as most of you probably will, that I was nuts having all that weight on me when I was sleeping. I explained my 'reasons' but they were still unimpressed and mumbled words such as "crazy", "idiotic" and even "certifiable". The female pointed out that the heat generated by another body in the bed would probably take away the need for the two doona system. She suggested that I should expend my energy on finding a "live bed warmer" as opposed to fighting the two doona system.

Maybe after all these years I might need to heed her advice. She will be pleased. I might let her know that I am CONSIDERING changing my ways.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I brought a woollen doona at an eco show I went to about 2 years. It is two doonas that can be zipped together for winter or used separately in summer. I love it!
Also it is not really heavy, so you don't have that weight pressing down on you when you sleep. Did I mention that I loved it?

Anonymous said...

I agree regarding Electric Blankets, i just don't like the idea of sleeping on 240v, let alone the fact that you should through them out after maximum 2years, all the moving about creats a kink, then a hot spot, then a fire. Maybe a possability is using the good ol' flanelette sheets with one doona?

Foo

Anonymous said...

Excuse my slip Throw not through

foo

River said...

The trick with two doonas is to lie on one while the other covers you. It's like making yourself a bed nest. Warm from above and below is perfect for sleeping.