Is It Still Cold Where You Are? Get An Envi Heater Panel

We live in a 100 year old house and the landlord isn't exactly into upkeep and insulating; as a result, we have to do a lot of draft protection installations and work with small space heaters running while we are awake. To make matters worse, the room hubby and I sleep in is in the basement. Technically, it's what you'd call a "finished basement", but the heating ducts apparently do not know that and, in all honesty, we suffer with a bedroom temperature of less than 40 degrees during these 40-below Fargo, North Dakota, winters. (I have recorded a temp of 34 in that room!)

Sure, we use a heated mattress pad, have several blankets under an uber-thick comforter, and keep the door closed to trap our body heat inside the room. And those things do make the bed warm, eventually. But those tricks do nothing for the actual temperature in the room itself. At night, you walk on that cold (though carpeted) floor to turn the heated mattress pad on, then get undressed in that cold room and put on a frigid sleep shirt before diving between the still-not-warm sheets. You wake up in the morning, strip yourself of the warm bedding, and shudder in the cold air. You walk on that cold floor to get cold clothing out of the drawer and, at my age, try not to pee while doing so.

Obviously, I was excited when the folks at eheat.com contacted me about reviewing one of their electric panel heaters. But hubby was skeptical... Understandably, he didn't want to put out another fire in his underpants. But the Envi High-Efficiency Whole Room Plug-In Electric Panel Heater is not your typical space heater.

These 100% pure convection electric heating units are slim, safe, soundless, efficient, economical, easy to install -- and they are made in America.

What does that all mean?

First of all, the set up. The Envi heater is easy to instal. Hubby loved how the box was a hanging guide -- as in the box itself was a template of where the screws would go on the wall! Amazingly easy!

It's slim design, means it is not only unobtrusive in terms of decor, but safely out of the way from family and pets. And should someone touch it, the Envi remains cool to the touch.

Since there's no fan, there's no added noise to your house. No more turning the TV up louder and louder to accommodate all the household noise. Light sleepers will appreciate the no-noise factor (and small light that dims as well). Since it's that fan that really adds to the wattage in heaters, no fan means less wattage and lower bills.In fact, it takes less wattage to run the Envi than it does our mattress pad heater!

The low wattage used makes these heaters is economical, yes; but more than that, they are safe to use as they are not likely to overload outlets. Envi heaters also have an enhanced thermal cut-off, which means if the unit's air vents are blocked, the heater quickly shuts down. Because we can leave the Envi on 24-7, with no worries of fires, we sleep tight -- and warm -- now. (Not to mention just entering the room has greatly improved!)

It is rather remarkable that with such a low wattage that they are so effective. Our bedroom temperature increased by 15 degrees (or more on nights not so severely cold!) and that is huge in terms of living quality.

Whether you want to go green, or just want to save some money, I highly recommend the Envi heaters for warming up your house -- or other space. (Once the weather becomes more Spring like here, we plan on taking our Envi heater to the house we are restoring so that we can create a warm-up spot and start working earlier!)

Disclaimer: You should know by now that receiving review products doesn't mean anything other than the fact that I will give an honest review. I have given negative reviews of items I have received because they were, in my opinion, bad or even horrible. My recommendation of this heater is based on nothing but the use of it and not the fact that it was given to me for review.

Get Those Babies Ready For Spring!

I don't blog much about babies; it's been years since I've had any, and my advice all seems old hat. But when I spot a product line that I wish was around back in the day I was lugging babies & toting toddlers, I have to mention it.

Cozy Cover is a Minnesota company offering some great new items that make taking baby out and about easier and safer. First, there are nifty (and cozy) covers that go over infant carriers. The original designs are for warmth, but, just in time for Spring, there are new arrivals for protecting baby from sunlight, rain, and bugs.

Perhaps most exciting are the other products designed to make life with a baby a less clunky, more portable, affair.

The On-The-Go Changing Pad is a much smaller version of the old diaper bag. Along with the necessary diaper changing pad, there are expandable pockets for diapers, creams and wipes, and a zippered pocket for keys keys, I.D. card, and the like. The Velcro handle allows for it to be attached to stroller etc., which means less weight on your shoulders.

The Portable Easy Seat means no more packing up the highchair -- or hoping one is available at the restaurant. Simply unfold the Portable Easy Seat from it's matching carrying bag, and convert any chair with a back into a safe place for baby to sit. The 5 point safety harness and adjustable back keeps baby secure.

 

Cozy Cover products are also available at Amazon -- which is especially great for Prime members!

(If you are not a member of Amazon Prime, get a free trial here.)

The Damn Ants

Prologue: We had a bad ant problem in the downstairs bathroom this summer so I went all Caddy Shack on their asses.

Today I go out onto the front porch & discover a little red squirrel trying to feast on one of the plastic ant traps I'd left near the door. He's as adorable & innocent as a Disney squirrel, turning the toxic thing & chewing on it, unaware of what he does...

Crooning, "Oh no, honey, that's no good for you..." I walk towards him trying to get him to drop it. He does drop it but scrambles to recover the fumbled danger and scampers up the backside of a tree.

In my bare feet I carefully step (to avoid any dog poo left by careless dog walkers in our neighborhood) and continue to scare him into scampering so fast he'll drop the poisonous plastic square.

Circling the tree, I hear him scratching & scrambling his way up & away. I continue my chatter, staring up into the tree, shading my eyes from the bits of sharp pointy sunlight that shatters through the leaves.

And that's when I notice that the neighbor across the street is noticing me, the crazy lady, alone & looking up talking to the sky. Or maybe the tree. Either way, she's embarrassed for me & scuttles away. Much like the squirrel. Only my "crazy" likely won't be as toxic to my neighbor as the ant trap will be for the squirrel.

I now await the death of the little red squirrel.

Look at what the ants have made me do.

Magic

When I was in grade school, I used to walk to & from school through a woods -- my magical woods.

I knew every tree, fallen and standing; how to read every dappled patch of sunlight for both time and weather; what every animal and bird cry meant, as well as how to follow their tracks and stand back far and quiet enough to avoid upsetting them so I could watch. All the self-taught knowledge of a girl who spent her time there. (Yes, this woods also contains the creek I wrote about.)

Every day spent in those woods was magical, but one day, I stumbled into something I'd never seen before or since. None of the nature books I lugged home on my horse/bike had even prepared me to conceive of such a thing -- not that book reading ever could. Not even photos or video can, really.

I must have about 7 or 8, and wandering about as usual in the woods. I turned down a path, heading for a spot to just sit in when suddenly I was in a flurry of orange & black fluttering petal-wings which caressed and kissed...

Monarch butterflies.

They were not panicked, startled or thrashing; they were welcoming.

Hundreds of them, swirling about in the air. And hundreds more covering the trees and brush, like a living, breathing wall, before me.

I don't know how long I stood there. Each minute was as long as eternity -- and yet not long enough.

I don't recall wondering what it was, what it meant or what the monarchs might be doing; I just remember being filled with a sense of awe -- and blessed to be part of whatever the celebration was. And I knew it was a celebration. They told me so.

I don't think I've ever felt so foreign yet accepted as that afternoon under the dancing, snowing, flutter-falling butterflies.

Later I learned this was part of the great monarch migration. While that knowledge made sense, it neither diminished the spectacle I had been graciously allowed to witness, nor added to it. It simply was, and I had been, for whatever reason, allowed to have the communion, the experience.

I don't recall ever speaking to anyone of it. I'm not sure why not... Perhaps it was equal parts keeping a secret gift that had been given to my heart & the fact that no one really wanted to hear the loner-girl's (continual) stories about the woods.

But I've never forgotten that feeling -- though I'd gladly have it again, just to be sure it has not faded over time.

So reading that Butterflies Are On The Brink, that the intense deforestation in Mexico could ruin the mysterious & marvelous 3,000-mile migration of the monarch butterfly, my heart is saddened today.

"To lose something like this migration is to diminish all of us," said Chip Taylor, KU professor of ecology and evolutionary biology. "It's so truly spectacular, one of the awe-inspiring phenomena that nature presents to us. There is no way to describe the sight of 25 million monarchs per acre -- or the sensation of standing in a snowstorm of orange as the butterflies cascade off the fir trees."

Twenty-five million? Even having seen my hundreds (possibly thousands -- who could or would stop to count?), I cannot really imagine it...

At the link you can see more images; but I swear to you, they do not do the monarchs justice.

Today, my wish for you is to be able to witness such a thing.

My wish for the world is that the monarch survive so that our children & future generations may too.