Brrrrrrrrrrrr!

(Blogger keeps having trouble showing this photo but if you click on its square it'll come up big for you)

-This was the laurel in our garden, Sunday morning. It has finally gone cold here! We have no heating and we've chased up the heating guy again, hoping for a 'diagnostic visit'. It is hard to get a plumber to actually diagnose and fix a heating system these days; most of the ones we've tried look at it for all of 2 minutes, then 'prescibe' a whole new heating system for thousands of pounds.

We have bought a new cylinder, a new thermastat, washed the system through and bled radiators. We have hot water ("OH THANK GOD!!!!") but no heat.

So! we have a couple of plug-in heaters which I am carrying from room to room. We do have a fire as well, though what it has in ornament it lacks in throwing-out-heat ability, it being quite big room.

Brrrrrrrrrrr!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am wearing 2 jumpers, 2 pairs of socks and a scarf. The cold has woken up my arthritis. I envy hedgehogs their hibernation instinct.

Hope you are keeping warm!

ABC Wednesday.... D is for Dressing Gowns!

D is for Dressing Gowns ..........

Dressing Gowns (or, in the USA, I believe, 'robes',) are a little bit of affordable luxury. In fact, judging by the ones I've manhandled in department stores, the cheaper they are, the fluffier. Don't bother with expensive woolly ones. They just go bobbly anyway. They're also too heavy for suitcases. And far too posh to relax properly in, especially around morning cups of caffeine.

The one above was given to me one Christmas. After many washes, it's still as soft as.... as soft as.... OK. Let me explain something here. I have my own measure for softness. Not silk or feathers or snow. No. Something reaches the pinnacle of softness only if it reminds me of my cat's tummy....

"Figs".... named after "Figaro" in Pinnochio... beatifully innocent (so she said) of the crime of scratching this wallpaper.... Her fur was thick and soft, and she was love and friendship, and cheekiness and humour, on legs. Nearly 3 years now, and I still miss her. Snuggling down in my soft fluffy dressing gown, I think of her, her soft, warm, thick silk, and try not to consider that I'll never hold that purry warmth again.

'Ahhhh....' I sigh to my patient partner, as I stroke another fur collar/ cushion cover/ teddy bear, as we wander through Debenhams. 'Soft as Figgy's tummy' I say. He smiles, rolls his eyes to the ceiling. He knew I was going to say that.

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Each morning I get up to put out food for the birds. I make a mixture of sultanas, oats, fat and apple. -Mix it all up small in the food processor. I've tried putting it out the night before, but if it rains in the night, or if there's a heavy frost (like lately), it turns into a mushy porridge. The birds eat most of it still, but it makes a mess of the bird tables. So... early morning rises it is, come rain or snow...

-This one was taken about a year ago. Hard to believe. No snow this year.... Anyway, here I am, 6am., walking back towards the door after putting out the birds' breakfast...... This is my other Dressing Gown. I bought it from a discount store called TK Maxx. It has Elizabeth Emmanuel embroidered onto the front lapel in gold. Hmmm.... quite a posh designer, that. She was one of the ones who designed the wedding dress for Princess Diana. I have to report though, that this Dressing Gown, whatever its credentials, doesn't pass the Figgy's Tummy Test. It does have a hood, though. And has towelling inside. So, good for rushed showers and baths, cool lazy evenings eating straight out of the fridge, and feeding birds in the snow.

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For links to everyone else doing the ABC Wednesday, & instructions on how to take part, visit Mrs Nesbitt's site.

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