Lucy is the Boss of Me

On Tuesday morning, Lucy cozied up to the warm spot that remained when I left the bed and then she promptly went to sleep.  I didn’t wake her to make my bed because I’m not a monster.  When I got home, I went upstairs to change and make my bed.  This is what I found. 

Needless to say, my bed remained unmade.  Lucy gets what Lucy wants.

Blueberry Hill

I have a preference for soft sheets; really soft sheets.  There are two ways to achieve the level of comfort I desire.  Method 1 is to buy sheets with a thread count in excess of 400.  This results in immediate softness (yeah!) but sheets with a high thread count are often not especially durable and they are pricey.  Method 2 is to purchase a quality percale sheet, usually one with a 250 thread count.  After a year or two of frequent use and washing, the sheets will soften up nicely.  Method 2 requires patience. 

Last Spring, I bought some blueberry print percale sheets from LL Bean.  They were not cheap and at 250 thread count, they weren’t immediately soft, but I knew that with time they would be heavenly.  I also knew that the softening would come upon me gradually, but I am a patient woman.  I change my sheets every Sunday, a habit I learned from my mom.  This week it’s the turn of the blueberry sheets.  I’m a woman of a certain age and so the middle of the night finds me needing to use the bathroom.  Last night, when I crawled back into my nest, I realized that the blueberry sheets are getting soft.  I’m going to call that a happy victory.

Warm Weather Quilt

We’ve reached that glorious point of Spring, when I can sleep with the windows wide open while I tuck under my soft quilt and look forward to waking up to the sounds of birds chirping.  The nights no longer require my heavy down comforter so it’s been packed away for the season, replaced by the warm weather quilt.

This season passes so quickly that I embrace every day with its lovely blooms and mild breezes.  That’s happy!

Spring Bedding

The arrival of March always signals the transition to Spring for me.  Invariably, the weather doesn’t cooperate with these fantasies but I pay it no mind and busily engage in my happy Spring traditions.  Among these is the swap from my Winter duvet to something more welcoming of the coming blooms.

I’m not a complete idiot and I know that the cold will linger (it was 9 degrees last night!) so the heavy down comforter is still tucked inside.  But it somehow feels more like Spring when I sleep under the ferns.

That’s happy!

Feathering My Nest

I love bedding…..cozy quilts, soft sheets, warm down comforters and pretty duvets make my heart sing.  I like variety in my bedding choices and I add or subtract options as the weather outside demands.  In the past week, the weather has turned colder, especially at night, and the forecast calls for nighttime temperatures in the teens by the middle of next week.

Time for the down comforter.

The last few nights have found me tucked under my down comforter and duvet, warm and cozy in my nest.  I love the feel of the heavy covers and the way the bed gradually warms thanks to the combination of down and body warmth.  I’ve slept deeply, snug against the cold, and well-rested come the morning.  

Thanks to some recent well-done NPR stories on homelessness in America, I’m aware that I am privileged enough to take the blessing of comfortable cozy bed for granted.  Each night as I slip into my nest, I am grateful that I have this safe and snug bed and home to enjoy.  

Fall Quilt

With the arrival of September, I swapped out my Summer quilt for a taste of Fall in the form of this quilt.

A few weeks ago, I added a blanket to ward off the chill on cold evenings.  I love to tuck under this heavy quilt and sleep with the window open.  In my mind, open windows and quality bedding is one of the greatest pleasures of life.  They make me smile and that’s happy indeed.

Summer Quilt

It’s been a really lovely Spring around here, with nights cool enough to warrant keeping a down comforter on the bed a little later than usual, largely because I am the sort of person who like to sleep with my windows wide open to the evening chill.  I do this so that I can snuggle under the covers as I sleep and hear the birds chirping when I awake.  But nights are pretty steadily in the 50s now and so a few weeks ago, I switched my Spring duvet for my Summer quilt.

I’ve had this quilt for nearly 15 years.  It’s soft and just heavy enough to rest close around me during cool evenings.  When the Summer air conditioning season arrives to stay, the quilt will feel cool as I slip into the bed at night, but it will ward off the chill of the a/c.  This quilt says Summer to me and I couldn’t be more pleased to welcome all that the season brings, including a little extra time under the soft covers.

Visions of Spring

It’s a well-established fact that I love bedding and enjoy a seasonal change of my quilts and duvets.  I think we should blame my childhood, when my bed had a set of trellis-patterned floral sheets.  I remember the print and how much I enjoyed following the pattern with with a race car, up and down the rows on the sheets.  I loved those sheets and their arrival on my bed always made me happy.  I don’t play with race cars anymore, but I do enjoy a change of bedding.

Spring Break occasioned the changeover of my closet (more on that later) and if Spring clothes were in the wind then I wanted Spring bedding as well.  In an uncharacteristic display of practicality, I realize that though I long for Spring’s green and warmth, what I actually have is longer days that are still quite cold and often below freezing in the evening.  So the down comforter must stay.    But I have a fern-printed duvet to provide the longed-for green.

The duvet is warm.  So I’ll tuck into a warm, Spring-like bed in the evening.  That’s happy!

On Bedding: An Occasional Celebration

The backstory: I love bedding - sheets, quilts, duvets, and pillows make my heart sing.  Living in a climate with defined seasons is an excuse to add and subtract different kinds of bedding to my nest.   This year, I plan to take pictures of the different seasons of bedding I use to feather my nest.

For Winter, I like a down comforter with a cheery and warm duvet.  I have a flannel duvet and down quilt if crazy cold settles in, but for most of the cold season, this red duvet cover keeps me warm.

That’s happy!

You Made Your Bed, Now Lie in It

My parents are coming to town on Wednesday.  My multi-staired home is not a good fit for my dad, who has difficulty walking.  While my mother and I were sorting out a plan to obtain a daybed for the downstairs study so dad could avoid the stairs, dad pressed send on his own and had a box spring and twin mattress shipped to my house.  So it was that I spent a few hours last Saturday afternoon putting together a box spring.

And then unwrapping a mattress.

There is now a day bed in the study.  Bedding was collected from the closets; sheets and a cushy mattress pad were acquired.

The study is a lovely room with French doors and a load of windows.  It's chilly in the Winter but come the open-window season, it's a nice room.  I am currently daydreaming of obtaining a bunch more pillows and enjoying breezy afternoons spent reading in this corner of the study.  Of course, the jury is out on whether this bed is at all comfortable.  I expect that dad will provide his assessment after a few nights spent in his new rack.

Talk about sleeping in a bed of your own making……