Warm in the Cold

Spot is fine in the cold, he snuggles into the hay when he wants.  And the alpacas have that heavy coat of alpaca fiber to keep them toasty warm.

I, however, am not made for this cold.

But I have found a few tricks to keeping warm.  And best yet, most of these things I have found without having to pay major bucks to a fancy outdoor specialty store.  I know some people will swear by how warm certain products are, and that's great if that is what works for them.  But I have always wanted to be more frugal and believe it's possible.

The biggest trick I have is interweaving layers.  This is absolutely essential.

For example, I start with my regular attire ~ athletic socks and running pants:

The big issue here is that there is a gap between the socks and pants.  This is where the cold will target.

So, I put a layer over that gap.  Here is a thermal sock, over my regular sock, with my running pants tucked in = gap closed:

Since gaps are the weakest point, I have another layer covering this gap, my farm pants:

A say farm pants because these really aren't snow pants.  I know they sell very warm snow coveralls in farm stores or outdoor specialty shops.  But the honest truth is that when I get busy doing chores, I warm up, and those real snow pants would be too warm for me.  These pants are a pair of nylon (they seem to be water proof) pants that are big on me, so they fit over my regular pair of pants.  These pants are perfect!  They keep out water and wind and provide some warmth, but I don't get too hot.

I top off this layering with boots:

I do the same type of laying around my waist (shirt, then pants, then put my farm pants over my pants and tuck in my shirt, the jacket).

And I do the same type of layering on my head.  If it's warm out, nothing goes on my head.  If it's cool, I wear a wind breaker with hood and I put that on.  If it's colder I wear a stocking cap.  Colder yet = stocking cap and hood. 

The best part about layering is that I can adjust it to the temperature outside.  Because just as important as being warm, it is important not to sweat.  If you sweat out there in the cold once you cool off from the sweat you will be cold and there is no warming up from that damp cold.  So if I feel like I am getting too warm, I stripe off a layer :)