What a funny day! After getting up and getting some orders ready to drop at the post office, I thought I told Jessy I was going to go to town to get some plastic for the screen porch and some inside windows, but I guess I didn’t or she didn’t remember. Because Steve came out, their Dad, and I was gone, so they decided to go grab lunch and get some plastic for the screen porch! Haha… we all had the same idea.
I’m not a huge fan of plastic. I mean, well, of course we all use it day in and day out. But I try to stay away from doing everything with plastic and all. And watch the bags I get at stores, all that jazz. But I will admit, one thing that plastic is really good at is plastic sheeting. And blocking out the cold. Inexpensively.
The bunnies are out in our screen porch, which is nicely sheltered, but when the wind blows, it’s a little too chilly in there. And being called WIndhaven… well, we get a lot of wind for sure. And since we want it to be a haven… well, plastic sheeting by the roll was a great way to cut some of that force down and make the area a lot more cozy. I had gotten started and they all pulled up, laughing, because they had ANOTHER roll and the same idea!
SInce I had already begun to cut my roll, we decided it would be best to use their roll to stop up all the drafts from the poultry barn into the pony barn. I’ll have to take a picture of it all in there tomorrow or Monday. It’s hard to explain, but basically, the air was gusting through the long poultry barn, it’s 50 feet long and 20 feet wide. And RIGHT into Cody’s bedroom. There’s a wall between the two, but it’s got big openings and a doorway and well, it’s windy. So Maggie and Steve set to work to enclose the whole wall and wow… does it make a HUGE difference in Cody’s barn. He still has two openings so don’t worry about us taping him all in! But that wall of heavy sheeting really does cut the wind considerably.
We did two of three walls in the screen porch, to cut the draft, but left the back wall open for another week or so, since we like to sit in the swing and watch out back in the evenings. We are due for a good week of sunshine and highs in the 60’s and low 70’s, so I think it will be okay for a week or so. But just the two walls, wow, big difference. Since we did in the east and west walls and the south is the mudroom, that is were most of our winds blow from. The bunnies will love that.
We also measured out the chicken barn door replacement plan… one of the doors is rotting away, so we’re going to make a new beautiful door, with a little chicken door in it and a window to let in some thermal heat on cold winter days. That’s probably next week…
Inside, Jessy and I found the worst offenders in the leak department and got to work sealing them up with a window film kit. Best $12 we have spent all week. We got 4 window sealed up and wow… what a difference.
I woke up this morning with frost on the inside of my bedroom window and let me tell you, that is cold. We have our corn stove but we have to do a few more things before we can hook it all up. Need to put down a little fire board and some tiles on the floor and around the back area, just to be safe. It says you don’t need that, but that for peace of mind, it’s a great idea. We should have that done by Wednesday, that is the plan. Can’t wait to see how the corn stove works and all. It’s rated for 1500 square feet and it’s suppose to be a nice clean and easy fuel to burn. Right now we are using a kerosene heater during the day and evenings to heat the core of the house and we have three small electric heaters in bedrooms and office. We don’t use the kerosene at night, just a little too scary. Too many people have unpleasant stories about them. It kicks out the jams, though, and is a great way to stay warm…. we had our first frost last night, so it’s getting chilly for sure.
We got all our sleeping bags out of storage last Friday and everyone opened up one and laid in over top of our blankets last night to stay warm. It was truly chilly! I had Jack and Luna and Evee in bed with me. No mousies. Now that my window is sealed up though, I think that tonight will be MUCH different!
You know, it’s tolerable in here. And feels good to have socks and slippers on, and warm woolen shirts over tshirts. It’s all about layering and just warming up the areas you are in. We have a couple curtains over the big openings to the parlor and the big office and that really traps the heat in the living room. Our wonderful neighbors happened to have a big older TV in their garage, and they gave it to us! It’s a little weird because it’s showing stuff a bit redder than you might like, but it’s a wonderful thing. It will get us by for sure. I know, we’re weird. We haven’t had a real tv for about a year now. The girls have a small one for their video games. But not a “family” TV. And we don’t have cable, that kind of thing. We do have Netflix and then we have nice big monitors on two computers, so that’s how we get most of our entertainment.
But I’ve been itching to sit on our lovely comfy couch and watch big movies and knit, with an afghan over my lap and a kitty snuggled beside me. Maybe even play some video games with the girls. That is what cold weather nights are for. I do have a little personal DVD player, but 5 inch screens leave a little to be desired sometimes. So this lovely gift that frees up some garage space for them, is a wonderful thing for us!
Well, that being said, I think I am going to go and watch a DVD and get some more knitting done! I ALMOST have a little afghan throw done and I just finished my first pair of hobbit socks a few nights ago. Maggie is making some chocolate chip cookies and tomorrow we’re going to get our little bunny boy! Yahoo!!!
Thanks Plastic! For making our home a little more cozy!!!
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