It’s bitterly cold now; -8ºC for the last few nights and only about 4ºC max in the daytime. The days have been beautiful, though; clear blue skies and sunshine, so it could be a lot worse. It just means the motivation to leave the kitchen fireside is remarkably difficult to find as the kitchen is the only heated room and the rest of the house is at about 3ºc.
Last night the supply to the water heater froze up, but that’s now thawed and lagged. It’s really no warmer in the grange that it is outside; it’s where I store veg and this morning the leeks were frozen!
However, Nick and Kieran have braved the cold over the last couple of days, putting up more ceiling beams in the back of the grange and plastering one wall and the ceiling in the next bedroom. As soon as the plaster’s dry, I’ll have no excuses left and will have to start decorating in there. I hope it warms up a bit by then!
The heater in the bathroom died a few days ago; nice timing! It’s currently in bits on the kitchen table; I hope they can fix it.
That’s it for now; if you’re reading this in a warm, centrally heated house, spare a warm thought for us!
I am full of empathy for you, the past 2 winters up here have been very cold & prolonged. I’m thinking of you as I sit next to my cosy woodburner (which is heating our whole house) my brother’s favourite phrase of the moment is ‘Winter draws on’, or is it ‘Winter drawers on’?!! I hope it warms up soon for you, xxx
Definitely winter drawers on! And gloves, scarf, hat and even my electrically heated socks ( an inspired present from Kieran). It’s going to get even colder tonight; down to -10, but should get less cold as the week goes on. I hope so:-)
This must be quite a shock after summer in Australia. I went out and bought an extra convector heater when my bedroom temperature dropped to 12C even with the central heating on, then I got the room carpeted and my room is a nice cosy 17C without the extra heater.
Nice to have you back. I missed your blog – it’s addictive.
Thanks, Karen; I thought the numbers of visitors to the blog would drop off while we were away, but they continued, giving us the highest monthly total so far. This month is looking even better, with up to 154 visits a day so far! I must be doing something right!
It’s forecast to get even colder tonight, down to -10C, but then is meant to warm up a bit next week; I hope so!