Judith Moran

Rez Zircon   As we as living animals who are mostly water - and breathe and sweat - in my opinion cotton is not a good insulator at all.  But you may have another opinion. Go for it. Wear that cotton during winter.  I will take a light silk layer of underwear and a thicker wool sweater every time in winter whether I'm in my house or outside on a boat. I leave the cotton for playing tennis in summer.

I agree thinsulate is a great material for keeping warm.  And so is down. And both expensive. And I've never had any luck finding those two in a thrift store.But I have with wool sweaters and blankets and the original poster is on a strict budget. Thus my suggestions for wool.

The original poster said she is wearing four layers. So something seems wrong with the design of her fabrics. This situation does not sound desirable to me.

The kids at my school wear just t-shirts of cotton or light synthetic fabrics during winter. Sometimes they even wear shorts, during winter.  In my opinion we as a culture have become dependent on relying on piped in gas or burnt fuel to heat our buildings rather than keeping our bodies warm with appropriate fabrics. My 2 cents.

Hey Bill Downes - the original poster said they walked around in 4 layers of clothes.  That is why my suggestion is to get some good (as cheap as possible at a thrift store) wool. Hearing that this person is wearing 4 layers led me to believe that they might not know how effective wool is at keeping one warm. Or not know that thrift stores often offer wool blankets and sweaters. Buying winter gear at REI is expensive. Buying from a thrift store isn't. One layer of thick wool clothing is much much better than 4 layers of cotton. The original poster only mentioned wool socks. Great. But get a thick wool sweater and wool or silk long underwear - top and bottom and only 2 layers is necessary (the underwear and then top layer). I'm speaking from experience. Here in Colorado, I wear silk and wool and keep my thermostat set in the low 60's F.   When I was young I lived for a while up in Nome Alaska about 90 miles south of the Arctic Circle. I learned from the people indigenous to the area and didn't wear cotton for 9 months of the year. But most Americans only wear cotton or polyester which is not sufficient to stay warm in winter...I work at a school and see kids come to school in the flimsiest of clothing in winter. We as a culture in my opinion have lost knowledge about understanding how important wool (and silk) can be to stay warm.  4 layers (in my experience) is not necessary for life in a chilly house (original poster said her thermostat set for 62 F which is 16 - 17 C). What is necessary is good quality wool clothes and bedding. I suggest nothing that I don't also do myself. I save a lot of money wearing wool and I stay warm. I'm quite happy doing this. It is not an inconvenience or below me. I suggest wearing wool out of caring not callousness.  I wear wool because it is good design. It lasts a long time and when it gets holes in it I use it to stuff pillows or as a last step put it in the compost. #LoveWool  #SheepAreOurFriends #RegenerativeHeating #StayWarmWithWool

Wool makes for the warmest blankets. I've sometimes found wool blankets at thrift stores for a good price. After I wash them in warm they get felted and shrink some but they're still usable both as blankets as well as rugs. You might even be able to find a wool sweater at the thrift store. Look for the size or two larger than you wear and wash in gentle and cool water and even if it shrinks a little (as it probably will) it will still fit.  It is much easier (and cheaper) to warm your body than to heat a room. And if you have any pets - cats or dogs - either sleep with them in the bed or if not then at least have them in the same room.  You could also place a wool blanket underneath your sheets so you're enveloped in wool.
Good luck.

Portable washing machines are only at most 65 lbs and some styles have wheels. If I buy one without wheels I'll certainly put it on wheels.  I have porch which has an overhang and is open on two sides so it shouldn't be too much trouble to wheel it under the porch after I'm finished using it.

In my specific situation the portable washing machine is the way to go.  In a former house I used the laundry drum system to pipe greywater from my ground  floor laundry room out to the landscape and that worked well. But there is no place in present home to place a laundry on the ground floor.

No I can't use my current one because the washing machine is in the basement and even if I got a powerful pump to pump the water up to the yard the location of the washer in the basement is adjacent to the driveway - the one place I don't need greywater.... In my specific case, a portable washing machine seems easiest choice.

Unfortunately when many U.S. houses were built, washers were placed in the basement. This might make sense in that the noise of machine doesn't disturb family living on first floor. But as population ages it is difficult for older people to haul wash up and down stairs. And this set-up makes greywater from the machine difficult or impossible.

I'm thinking about getting a portable washing machine that I can hook up to a garden hose and drain the resulting greywater onto mulched yard.

Anyone doing this? Any recommendations for washing machines? Consumer Reports (my go-to source for recommendations) hasn't reviewed portable washing machines.

thanks!

Thank you Ken. I appreciate the input.

I'm in Denver, CO (zone 5) and I have located the warmest spot in my yard to plant a Chicago Hardy Fig. I'd like advice on wrapping it for the winter.

I grew the fig fine in a pot the last 2 years - wintering it in an unheated garage. But it has grown too big for my pots. The tree is about 3 ft tall right now. I'd like to get it in the ground this Fall.

Figs are known to have super hardy and long roots. Should I be concerned planting it too close to my house? It will be at least 10 feet from my foundation. Probably more like 12 or 14 ft.  That should be far enough not to have the roots do any damage to the foundation right?

The Geoff Lawton PDC DVDs have sold so they are no longer available. thanks, Judith

Anyone want to purchase my set of Geoff Lawton PDC DVDs? 24 discs in all. Only one of the dvd cases has been opened though I may open a second one soon. $300 OBO. I had a good experience watching the PDC on-line but I don't need the actual DVDs and wanted to pass along the opportunity to someone else to learn from Lawton through his PDC. I've just listed the dvds on Ebay with photos. In September I purchased a small house and .4 acre property in Denver and am starting to develop a permaculture inspired urban homestead so the funds from the sale of the DVDs would go to good use - purchasing currants and goumi and raspberries and maybe even a Chicago hardy fig - Judith PS: Like everyone else in the PDC, I was required to sign an agreement with Geoff Lawton that I wouldn't copy the DVDs. I verified with his company that I could sell the DVDs and was assured I could sell the DVDs, I just couldn't copy them. I have not copied them and would expect any purchaser of these DVDs not to copy them either.