Jay Angler

David Wieland wrote:...I didn't know my attitude and practice regarding showers was so unusual. I normally shower to get clean and have a hot shower only rarely when I'm trying to ease muscle ache.

We're all different David! I have a larger than average surface area to volume ratio, and do not tolerate cold at all. If my feet get cold, they can take hours to warm up again.

People talk about living in houses where 50 - 55F is the normal temperature, and if they're cold, they add a sweater. If it's 60 - 65F, I've already got a vest and a sweater on. Many people don't understand just how poorly I'm able to regulate my temperature, and I totally understand the OP's difficulty with showers. I would have been shivering uncontrollably long enough that I would have worried people.

I have never tried a sauna. I suspect I would be able to get my core temperature up enough that I would at least attempt the "rolling in snow" part, but no guarantee I would ever try a second time if I reacted badly. I have to live with the body I was born in, and there are many ways in which it is a wonderful body to have. Be thankful for they one you were given, and hopefully this thread will give you some insight into how other people differ through no fault of their own.

Theodorin Maczynski wrote: I could see raised beds working well with portable coverings that can be deployed on clear nights, I guess before July.

Ideally, you'd build a frame/trellis over the beds, so that throwing a sheet or tarp over the plants would be quick and easy, and you wouldn't have to worry about plants being injured getting the cover on and off.

It would also allow you to put multiple jugs of hot water under the cover between the plants. Even if the water cooled off, it will freeze before the plants because of the salts and sugars in the plant leaves. That might give one more layer of protection.

I was told about 40 years ago by a fellow in the climate business, that the climate was becoming less stable and that the result would be larger storms and less predictable highs and lows outside what we've accepted as normal. I know of people in my area whose grandparents told of certain lakes freezing enough for skating, but that would be considered a weather outlier now. Essentially "climate chaos". Planting more varieties that tolerate slightly different extremes, saving seed so that you can plant seeds that are learning to adapt to your specific ecosystem, and mapping and creating your own micro climates will all help. A quick example, one friend grows her tomatoes in deep plant pots and fills the bottom of the pots with fresh chicken bedding, puts topsoil on top, and them plants the baby tomato. The decomposing chicken shit seems to give the tomato roots that little bit of warmth they need to be successful.

source

Why did the pancake get arrested?

For flipping out.

Ellen Lewis wrote:Plus, how do you deal with the clammy shower curtain blowing over and sticking to you?

If it's a metal bathtub as a base, magnets do the trick. If not, I'd put some sort of string at the bottom with plastic clothespins on it and pin the bottom.

Tom Connolly wrote:  I want to set up a system that will yield fruits and veggies 365 days a year, at about the same rate.  

There are more factors than just "cold" that is going to affect yields. The big factor in the Pacific North West is that there's not just "less" sun, but what little sun there is, is dispersed and reduced further by cloud cover. That means you will need more greenhouse glazing in the shoulder seasons than sunnier locations, and major lighting for the 3 darkest months - Nov. Dec, and January - if you want new growth and fruit to ripen.

I tried growing lettuce in my large south window in Dec one year, with grow lights to supplement the day length and it sat there and did nothing. I have been told by people trying the Coleman method, that his veggies don't actually "grow" much in the winter, they just hold what growth they made in the fall. So greens that can do that (kale and Swiss chard for 2 examples) can be picked as you need them, but they won't do much if any growing of new leaves. Some varieties of lettuce hold in the cold well, but some don't.

I am not sure what fruit will hold and ripen in the cold season.

Are you in an ecosystem where a good cold room can be built? There is very little work in storing veggies in damp sand or sawdust until they're needed. Different veggies need different conditions, but squash, potatoes, apples, etc can provide food, while a small greenhouse can provide a bit of variety.

If you post similar information on multiple threads, it is likely to annoy fellow users and get caught by our spam filters.

Post

Try looking under industrial flooring, sports flooring, or outdoor playground flooring. Unfortunately, it seems to only come 4 ft wide, unlike most kitchen flooring.

https://www.flooringinc.com/shop/rubber-flooring/rubber-rolls.html
https://www.flooringinc.com/shop/outdoor-flooring/playground-flooring.html

Not sure if you can find any you would feel looks good in an entranceway, but if you're putting carpet over parts of it, that will help a lot.

Tiffaney Dex wrote:What would you recommend around the entry, besides having a small rug, Jay?

First off, I would consider what size area I need to cover. Our "official front entrance" is only 8 ft by a little less than 4 feet and has stairs going up and down from it. I would use some sort of sheet flooring  - no joints to fail, easy to clean, and no place for water to sneak down. I would choose something aimed at commercial or other high traffic place (church/school etc).

I wouldn't sweat the "permieness" for such a small area, so long as it was genuinely long lived, such as some of the 'rubber' flooring that has the benefits of being a little shock resistance and non-slip.

The small rugs would be things like cotton rag rugs (which I have made myself, so I can choose the colour and pattern). These won't last as long, but are easy to replace. Here I would try to go natural fibers so they can be composted when they start to wear out.

For most of my house, if I was redoing or building, I would be aim for natural fibers and materials for floor coverings, but a hall that's going to get continuous wet, muddy boots on it, so long as the product was long lasting, I'd be prepared to compromise. Since the owners put wall-to-wall carpeting in my existing front hall, (we had 1 week to find and buy a house, as hubby was being transferred), we rarely use it. Everyone comes in the garage door where we put coat hooks all along the wall. It's ugly and uninviting, but Hubby has no interest in interior decore and I am choosing my battles.