Did some raking today, which made me feel so out of shape. Now I'm enjoying a toasty 75 degrees inside because I've turned the heat off and am running my kerosene heater. We may not have too many cold nights left, so I'm trying to use up my emergency power outage kerosene stockpile.

I'm still very busy getting quotes from contractors for various projects. Attic insulation is #1 on my list. The 1st guy wanted to do the spray foam for $3900. The more I read about it, the more I didn't like it, from an environmental/health point of view. And it all boils down to the technician's expertise. They mix 2 chemicals together on site, and if they get the ratio wrong, the stuff won't cure right and you'll be breathing in the outgassing for months.

The 2nd guy wanted to do rigid board foam, which would be somewhat better because these are pre-manufacturered and less chance of something going wrong. But he wanted over $7,000!

I did more research and decided I wanted the old-fashioned blown-in cellulose, which is nontoxic, a recycled product and even repels rodents because it's treated with borax for its fire retardant properties.

I had trouble finding guys who still did the cellulose, because they can all charge much more to do the spray foam, and it is, legitimately the most energy-efficient product out there. But I'm willing to give up a few points in R value for a more eco-friendly product.

After sharing my thoughts with spray foam #1 guy, he came back to me with an estimate of about $1500 for the cellulose, which he kept trying to talk me out of when he was here, but I think he realized that instead of losing my business entirely, he may as well quote me a price on what I wanted from the start.

However, he said he'd just blow the cellulose in over my existing insulation. I know the fiber glass batts I have are filled with mouse droppings, and I don't like the idea of putting brand new insulation over mouse droppings.

So....I'm trying to get a different guy out here who would do a whole home assessment to determine points of entry and then give me a price on completely sealing the home. He's not cheap. I tried to get him out here last year, and although he didn't, he said his cheapest price is $3,000. He got great reviews on Angie's List. He's not an exterminator, and appeared to be the only guy who did what I was looking for: someone to prevent entry, not simply kill them with baits or poison, which I could do myself. He crawls around the foundation, basement, roof and it's the kind of very messy, dirty, filthy job I suppose a homeowner could try to do themselves, but I sure don't.

So, although it's hard to swallow so much $$ for an "invisible" home improvement, I'm thinking I should bite the bullet, and the thousands I would have otherwise spent on pricey spray foam insulation could be applied to the house sealing instead.

I've decided to drop out of the "Mastering Aging" program. I've been to 3 classes and really haven't learned anything new. It's all very basic stuff. This past week the topic was nutrition, and the dietitian speaker said a number of things challenged by a few people in the audience. I didn't think she was very well-informed.

Tomorrow I'll be attending a meeting on building a pollinator pathway here through town. Similar to a wildlife corridor that provides shelter and safe passage for critters, the pollinator pathway is a continuous swath of native nectar sources for endangered butterflies, like the Monarch.