Our gas boiler packed up last night and whilst we knew that it was probably on its way out anyway, due the noises it was making over the last couple of weeks, we didn’t think it would grind to a halt at the coldest time of the year.

Thankfully the plumber/heating engineer who renovated our en-suite a few months ago was available to come round at lunchtime today to have a look at it. To cut a long story short we need a new boiler as our one is so old you can’t get parts for it anymore. He’s ordered a new boiler for us and will install it on Wednesday this week. We’re lucky and very grateful that he can fit us in so quickly.

So, we have a couple of days where we have to find ways to keep warm. I’m used to being cold during the working day as my office is in the conservatory; however, the rest of the family aren’t used to it. Here are some ways that we’re going to try and keep warm over the next couple of days:

1. Cleaning: Vacuuming the floors is a good way to keep warm, but I haven’t managed to convince anyone else of that yet 😉
2. Exercising: I didn’t do any exercise today but I might just get on the exercise machine tomorrow.
3. Wearing multiple layers: I had five layers of clothing on today which kept my body warm but you can’t do much about your nose when it’s cold!
4. Wearing a hat: I have woolly thermal hat that I bought last year that I haven’t had a chance to wear yet. It got some use around the house today, and it made the rest of the family laugh.
5. Wearing fingerless gloves or mittens: I ordered 2 pairs of half-finger thermal gloves same day delivery on Amazon. When they arrived this evening, only one of my daughters thought it was worth putting them on, so I wore the other pair. They kept my hands warm this evening and I could still use my computer and phone.
6. Keeping all the doors shut around the house: Every time we went in and out of the lounge today my husband said ‘close the door, close the door!’ as he had the gas fire on in there. We thought it best to keep all the doors shut in the other rooms we were using as well.
7. Cooking: Putting the oven on to cook dinner this evening helped me tolerate the coldness of the kitchen/ dining room. With my hat on and five layers of clothing I was really hot by the end of dinner.
8. A warm fire or electric heater: I have a heater that I use in the conservatory which I moved up to my daughter’s room in the evening. The fire in the lounge was lovely as well.
9. A hot bath or shower if you have an emersion heater or other means to heat up the water: We didn’t think about the electric emersion heater switch that is connected to the hot water cylinder until the plumber came round at lunchtime. This meant that the rest of the family were able to have a shower this evening and there was enough hot water for me to have a bath as well. I just didn’t fill it as much as normal.
10. Getting under a blanket or using an electric mattress protector: Blankets and spare quilts are useful when watching TV in the evening. I also have an electric mattress protector which is going to make it very tempting to stay in bed a bit later in the morning.
11. Cuddling: After playing a few games in the lounge in front of the fire this evening, we cuddled up as a family under the quilt and watched the film Music and Lyrics.

So, having no heating wasn’t all that bad, and everyone seemed happy at the end of the day.

Until next time…

Sandra