Monday 31 January 2011

ENOUGH ALREADY!

I'm cold! Cold to my bones.   I'm wearing thick leggings, socks and my forever Uggs and above the waist three layers,consisting of thermal vest, Cashmere polo and a huge red, yellow and blue Penguin double/double thick knit that I dug out from the bottom drawer and which  made only the briefest of appearances last year.
     This has been the coldest winter in eighty years and I will not be surprised - when the people who spend their lives working out these things - tell us that it has also been the grey-est.  So low and grey have been the clouds, and so full of nasty freezing rain, that the fire doesn't draw, filling the room with smoke and fumes - obliging us to open a window - rather negating the point of a fire. En plus de ca my resident Frog always leaves a door open after he has exited into the kitchen [where the wall fire is only turned on when we are in it] or when, as he seems to do every five minutes, asks the dog if he wants to 'chase le chat? ' not a euphemism , Milou definitely does have a hate of next doors midnight black cat, the chief suspect killer of the dead birds we find occasionally. Or perhaps Milou might want to 'pipi?' or simply have a bark at anyone who dares to walk on the pavement on the other side of the hedge. For whatever reason, JP will open the door from the sitting room and hold it gaping wide  as he opens the door into the freezing garden to let the dog out [he probably was simply asking, in his canine way, for his supper, or a scratch, or perhaps was thinking 'Why are you here?']
      The point is that it is he, JP, guardian of the purse, who seldom feels the cold, who surreptitiously turns off the radiators the moment a ray of sunshine pierces the gloom, who curses every time he has to clear out the dead ash, cut the wood, replenish the log basket and bring in the coal -he it is who leaves bloody doors open - letting out the heat which is costing an arm and a leg to slightly [it is a big space] warm  up the room.
      Of course I complain, or else I shiver dramatically and sigh, moving him to drape a blanket over me, wrap another scarf around my neck, or, more likely, simply tell me to get up and move about...though not in those exact words.

      Now I am a 'have it today and damn tomorrow' kind of girl, er, woman.  This cold spell cannot last much longer, can it? So we will be over budget on heating this winter...so what? We will save on something else, his cheese, for instance or the French bread that costs an arm and a leg.  He counters with 'Your cigs?'
    
      Impasse! 


      I swear that if, when warmer weather finally does arrive,  I will not once complain about the heat, nor will I ever moan again about the wretched fly, the one that I cannot catch, that buzzes around the room the entire summer, mocking me.

25 comments:

  1. Has it ever been cold these past few days! My in-laws from Northern Canada have been here this weekend. Even they complained, so you know its gotta be cold. Hope JP warms ya a bit, and keep bundling up like the Michelin man, it seems to help at times :)

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  2. I am so with you on this one - even the poor mutt is suffering, since I refuse to be blown about on the beach for him. Hubby has his bi-weekly jaunt in London from today - HOORAH! - I can have the heating on full pelt without one nag in sight (wink). Methinks our marriage would serve better with him banished over the winter months..

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  3. "He counters with 'Your cigs?'

    Impasse!"

    Your posts always warm my heart. Thank you for the smile on a cold (Canadian) day.

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  4. Here in the states, in the south it's supposed to be warm in the winter. A mild 50 degrees F. We have had one of the coldest winters on record. It's still no end in sight. We sit with blankets, fleece and wait and wait for warm weather. The heat bill may leave us homeless though.

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  5. It's true - even us Canadians are complaining about the cold. Poor Milou wouldn't be able to 'chase le chat' here as all cats wisely choose to stay indoors when it gets this cold.

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  6. Moannie...we visited Reculver one day this weekend and the cold was just biting...I could not believe just how icy it felt..we jumped straight back into the car just to get warm!
    I agree with you that I would rather be warm now and worry about the bills later...and why do men throw doors wide open and not keep the heat in???

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  7. Here in my corner of the UK, I gotta say at least it ain't windy.

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  8. It has been the weirdest winter I can remember, Moannie. Here in the Boston area of the states, we've had some 60 inches of snow already. The average, for an entire winter, is somewhere near 42 or 43, as I recall. And we have another 20 inches forecast over the next couple of days, and another two months of winter to go. If someone told me we're entering a new ice age, I'd be inclined to agree.

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  9. Ah, c'est la vie, Moannie. C'etait la meme chose avec mon pere. (Did I say that right?) I remember him telling all of us to put on an extra sweater.
    Now I find myself telling my children that same thing! Although, I have been known to mess with the dial every now and then.
    And ditto on Suldog's post. Crazy, crazy here! Global warming?

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  10. I sympathise. It is cold here but not terribly so although, for some reason, my two cats feel the need to have every door in the house open - they don't want to be in any other room, but as soon as I close the door they start scratching at it. Frustrating.

    Wishing you warm days and sunny skies.

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  11. I have switched from the internal combustion engine of my menopausal body to the refrigerator chilliness of the post menopause! So I know what you mean when you're trying to find that happy medium. My toes are always cold and I'm forever draping myself with the lap robe, but I just know that once summer hits, I'll be dragging out the fans and making sure all the screens are tightly fitted. Stay warm under that robe and drink lots of hot toddies! :D

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  12. I am also wrapped like a cocoon in layers of clothes .... making me look bigger than ever.
    The winter seems long because it started so early. However, for me, last winter seemed the coldest I ever experienced ( because chemo made me feel very cold.) This year it has been more bearable. The skies seem forever grey and dismal. Surely Spring cannot be that far away?

    Why is it that everyone in our house leaves the doors open all the time? My favourite expression is.... *Shut the door* (They don't even get a please!) Why do they do it?
    Maggie X

    Nuts in May

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  13. Loved your post! I'm truly sorry that you are cold, Moannie, but I had to laugh at how you described the causes for your discomfort. Right now, it's not bitterly cold where I live, and I hope it doesn't get that way. Not so in other parts of the U.S. I am soooo glad that I live in the South.. at least I am glad until Summer gets here!

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  14. Moannie, I feel your pain! Mine turns the heat down to 67 (that's 19 on your side of the pond) "because we're using the lights more often during these shorter days, so the electric bill will balance out." Then he heads into the garage -- the unheated garage mind you -- to grab something "real quick," but inevitably ends up fiddling and tinkering with innumerable objects while the door stands wide open. And when I complain he harumphs and tells me to put on another layer!

    I, however, will never promise not to complain about the heat on very hot days in the summer. Come July, everyone would call me out for making promises I can't keep. ;)

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  15. I can't abide a cold house. I would sooner notch the heating up and go out less often. I have friends who set their thermostat at 18 degrees Centigrade, or had friends; I don't visit them any more, not unless it's summer anyway.

    I too look forward to the inconvenience of a fly in a beer garden, irresistably attracted to my fizzing pint of cider. It's a price worth paying for the sun.

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  16. Oh dear ... I'm afraid it is the other way round in this house. It might be my age, of course, but OH often keeps the house FAR too hot for me, prompting me to move to the guest bedroom where I can have the window open! LOL!

    I do hope you manage to get warm and keep warm. It is definitely not good for you to get chilled. One or two ideas (having experience with a cold spouse as I do), buy a pair of microwaveable slippers - they work really well. And buy fleece. A microfleece blanket really is far warmer than the old-fashioned type, and a loose fleece over the top of your other clothes will keep the warmth in like (almost) nothing else! And one of my own best buys for cold weather is a long-woolled sheepskin scarf. Lightweight and usually far too warm for me, it really does work magic!

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  17. Bet you look a treat wearing all those passion killers!!! LOL
    Seriously - grrrr! - it is blooming awful and I want to hibernate!! I do remember the 1963 winter which seemed very cold but now I am an ancient Eddie (LOL) I feel the cold more. Yes the central heating bill will be severe but so what for now!!
    I think you are right about us always complaining about the weather. My Mum used to say to my dad,
    "As a rule a man's a fool
    When it's hot he wants it cool,
    When it's cool he wants it hot!
    He's always wanting what is not!"

    or course he got his own back by saying:
    "Man wants little here below
    He isn't hard to please
    But woman bless her little heart
    Wants everything she sees!"

    LOL
    Nice post
    How is the hip in these cold conditions?

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  18. It's been a cold one here too.. not much snow (yet.. we're supposed to get dumped on in a couple of days) but frigid, so I feel for you. Try to keep warm.

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  19. How about wrapping up in an electric blanket? Would be nice if they were battery operated. Then it couldn't get unplugged. Hoping for your warmth.

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  20. It is Tuesday and the high here in central Texas is supposed to be 17. Sunday, it was sunny and 75. People were barbecueing. I don't know which is worse....constant cold, or going back and forth. You can never get adjusted to one or the other because neither lasts long. And I bet you will complain about that fly! I always say the same thing...but when the temprature soars over 100, the complaints start barrelling out of my mouth.

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  21. i'll swap you - we are averaging 38 deg over here at the moment!

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  22. I just started a blog not too long ago, and I have to say, you sound lovely! Maybe it's because I am biased...I have something of an undying love affair with Brits. But I thoroughly enjoy what you write!

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  23. I just started my blog @ www.dreamgirlbooks.blogspot.com and have read your blogs and I'm always inspired. I'm also hoping just like you inspire people with your surrealism that my followers are also inspred by my written pages. Thx

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  24. i don't usually complain about the cold and normally just get another sweater or blanket. but when the hubby keeps the thermostat in the bedroom at 50F i do crank it up long enough to bathe for the day without fear of frostbite. hard to bathe with an extra sweater and i'm NOT walking naked and wet into a mere 50F!

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