And forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair. ~ Kahlil Gibran



Thursday, January 07, 2010

I just might survive this...

Well, folks, I took some of your advice about the cold thing. Some of it made me laugh (I am looking at YOU, Fr. Peter!), and some of it I had forgotten (how could I forget to put the garlic in the soup! *headsmack*). I have been through 3 boxes of tissues, and finally resorted to TP. I have consumed approximately a gallon of orange juice. I have slept upright in Mr. Barefoot's chair for two nights running. Today, I feel almost.....ALMOST like it would be worth it to survive this sinus pressure.

Right now my focus is on finding some way to moisturize the air here at Barefoot Manor. We have two vaporizers, but either my bedroom is too big and drafty or they have just started to go kaput after 3-4 years use. They just aren't putting out the steam they used to, and I really can't even tell the difference if they are on or not.

I would like to just boil pot after pot of water on the stove, but I am afraid my gas bill will be outrageous if I try that.

If we had old fashioned radiators, I would put pots of water on them to help...no such luck. :(

So now I am stuck trying to figure out what to do. Humidifiers are expensive and noisy (besides being a pain in the butt to keep full and clean). Getting a new vaporizer or two would be cheap, and I like the warm mist more than the cold. That wouldn't necessarily help in the main part of the house, though. They just aren't powerful enough to handle big rooms. I have heard of folks who hang dry their clothes inside to help with the humidity, but my laundry area is in the basement, and I have a hard time believing that the moisture would affect the air on the main level of the house. Besides which, I really don't have the space to line dry everything inside the house. Barefoot Manor is a small place, despite it's grand name.

I have resorted to taking several long hot showers a day just to breathe the steam. I am probably the cleanest person in creation right now! I am flat out of ideas folks...really. And my nose and throat are loudly demanding a solution.

Any ideas?

1 comment:

jenny said...

I bought an attachment to the dryer hose that sends the warm, wet air back into the house. My dryer is in the basement, too, and it does help a little bit. It has a flap so you can close it in the summer and the hot air goes out, or flip the flap the other way for the air to go in the house. Makes the house smell all laundry-like, mmm! We also have clothes lines in the basement, enough for one load of clothes and I use that just about every other day. It helps. Check out the hardware store for the dryer thing, we got ours from Lowes I think.

PS.. I'll be your farmville neighbor! I play, too!