We currently sleep on an air mattress. Not because we wish to –we have a lovely, comfortable, handmade wool mattress stored at a friend’s — but because we had no choice. The sleep loft is tiny. At 4x6x2, only a very specific mattress size would fit. So off to the camping section we went.

There are 2 glaring, inherent problems with air mattresses. Both stemming from the ‘air’ part.

1) Air is cold in winter. Therefore, one ends up laying on a bag full of frigid air. We have 3 heavy wool blankets between the mattress and ourselves, and it only just makes it bearable. On the -30° nights, it gets downright unpleasant. We most often sleep in longjohns, then pajamas, then a wool sweater, and wool socks.

2) Air goes away. Even if your mattress does not develop a leak (which most of them seem to do, sooner or later), the mattress still softens and deflates over time until your butt hits the ground underneath you. Yesterday, we were bottoming out, so in the morning, I hauled the pump up the ladder and balanced there at the top, huffing amd puffing away. Last night, we were worse off than before. So, either I didnt get the plug sealed properly, or we have a leak. Either way, if we both laid very still, there was a small amount of cushion below us. If one of us moved, the other would hit bottom. Not a very comfortable way to sleep.

I pumped it up again this morning, to the point where it goes almost hard, and double checked the seal. So, we shall see. I’ll check it later in the day.

All in all, I will be most pleased to have our lovely wool bed back soon.