Roughing It

Simply dreadful weather today. Raining most of the day though not too cold. Then the fog set in. It was bad in the afternoon and worse yet as the day dragged on. It's a real pea-souper out there right now.

I'm coming up with ways of dealing with a cold house with no hot water. I've been boiling water to wash up with. I use a big stainless steel bowl to hold my water in and mug to ladle it out with. Just like you see in those cowboy movies where they've got a big ceramic bowl and jug. I've discovered the lower ground floor is a lot warmer than the ground floor. We have a gas fireplace on each level but the room with fireplace on the ground floor is huge and the heat from the fire dissipates quickly. The fireplace on the lower ground floor is in the dining room. It's a smaller room and I can close it off partially with a door and draw the curtains across the windows. So, I've basically been living on the lower ground floor. It's got everything I need except a bed. And I'll do just as I did last night -- pile on the covers, grab the kitty and nuzzle under. After a while it gets warm under the covers and I'm able to get some good sleep.

I need to get to bed now too. Tomorrow we have a bird outing. By we I mean the Harrogate RSPB Local Group. But I wonder how in the world we'll be able to see any birds if this fog persists.