Saturday 27 February 2010

A bigger bed

Spent last night all alone in my goddaughter's huge house in Archway, North London. She is now living full-time in Vancouver and the house has been sold, but she gave me a key and also said that if I wanted it, I could have her kingsize bed with Tempur mattress.

Now, for the last three years I have been sleeping in a hard, lumpy single bed which Mr G has had for years. My goddaughter's bed looked like a vast ocean. I pulled back the duvet, feeling as if I had just drunk Alice's shrinking potion and crept in. It was like sinking into firm quicksand as the memory foam gave beneath every pressure point. Extend a heel, feel it sink. Turn over, and feel the sand/foam tip and squidge and mould. It was very weird. In fact, I almost felt seasick. Slightly queasy, anyway, though that could have been the result of Cafe Rouge's pan fried Dover Sole, grilled courgettes and half a bottle of wine. Oh, and another glass at the pub afterwards, with my friend who had a special offer coupon entitling us to a free bottle of vino with our meal.

One thing I quickly noticed was that, caught in the mattress's soft embrace (or trapped in the quicksand), I didn't toss and turn as I normally did. I was still awake at gone 2 am due to a noisy party down the street, but I did nod off eventually, and when I awoke, it was to find that - miracle! - I had no back ache or neck ache.

Now I have to decide whether to have the enormous bed, or let my goddaughter's parents have it, as they want it too. Really, I should give it to them. Two of them, both tall, and a six foot six bed. That's a good match. Whereas there is only one of me and I'm five foot four. Also, big beds require big bedrooms, which will affect my property search and rule out the fab flat in Highgate with the small bedroom. I would probably be better off keeping my double bed (which is in storage along with the rest of my life) and buying the same mattress, but in double bed size. On the other hand, Tempur mattresses cost over £1000 and I could have this one for free...
Oh, what shall I do?

6 comments:

Perovskia said...

Very tricky, indeed. If you felt like giving it to them, you could buy a memory foam mattress topper for yours. Or, if you decide to keep it (cause you deserve it, naturally), then, well, decision making done :) And happy sleeps for you :)

Jackie Sayle said...

Take the bed. You deserve some good sleep!

joanne fox said...

A good night's sleep is priceless. Everything in the daytime works much better when you've slept properly.

hydra said...

Thanks, everyone, for your good advice. It is a tricky decision. Keeping it feels selfish, but giving it away is an expensive option. I have a memory foam mattress topper now but it doesn't seem to make much difference.

Perovskia said...

It feels selfish because we feel guilty doing things/taking care of ourselves. Do it.

Jackie Sayle said...

Ditto what Perovskia just said.