Coping with the cold weather (and the high cost of propane)

Cliff's sister, the one who lived here for five years on our place, loaned us a quartz infrared portable heater.  She used it sometimes when she was living in this old house, but doesn't need it now that she lives in town in a nice, draft-free, modern house that is heated with natural gas rather than propane.  

 How on earth this thing can put out heat without ever becoming hot to the touch is beyond me, but it does.  You can put a hand against it anywhere.  Now, we've been keeping our bedroom door shut during the day, with the vents closed, for a couple of weeks.  That helped a lot.  We will probably only use this heater in the evenings, mostly, although the baby is here for a visit today, so we have it running.  

In order for it to do a really good job of heating the living room, we have done a couple of things.

We've hung sheets in the doorways!  The door on the left leads to the kitchen.  The one on the right, to the front entryway (which nobody ever uses).  This might never be approved by Better Homes and Gardens, but it will help us stretch the propane in the tank long enough, hopefully, for the prices to get back to normal.  The tank is 40% full right now.  When we're up and moving all around the house, we pull the sheets back and let the air circulate.  When we're both in the living room watching TV or reading, we close off the room and stay toasty warm, turning the thermostat in the kitchen down to 60 or less.  

  The view from the kitchen, with the sheet back.  

Iris isn't thrilled with the idea of us cutting ourselves out of her view, since she isn't allowed in the living room.  She'll get over it, and spring will be here before we know it.