that's true, and it can also be reused afterwards, which makes it more handy ;)

I think ours is usual in making the rooms warmer next to it (the interior walls are brick, but if you put your hand on the wall you can feel the warmth!)

Although this amount of snow is probably no way near what you'd get, we had a little wintry scene this morning: Trouble is, drivers over here aren't used to snow, so they don't even think to put grit on the hill before trying to drive off o.O

Oh, that looks really pretty. :D I went for a long walk today, and it was beautiful in the snow. Somehow I don't think the magic is fully captures in pics.. but I tried. ;)

now that's "proper" snow! It looks really really pretty, although I bet it's cold!!

About -2c today so fairly cold. Was snowing a bit for some of the walk too. ;)

that's definitely cold! Was there any breeze making it feel chillier as well? I do love walks when it's snowing though ;)

believe me, it was expensive enough lmao. But she's mostly sorted out now so that's a positive. I haven't really done much more with her training to be honest but she's fairly good--the biggest exception is when she's around other people and then all hell breaks loose o.0 haha a surprise cupboard XD or Fibber Mcgee https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9FGC68YcwM

yes she's healthy other than her skin issue, which we are working on.
Well, Mels loves the people but then starts getting anxious with the waiting and all.

Both snow and a breeze for my walk today, so a bit cold. But no a problem since I had dressed well. ;)

Poor Mels, I am glad she is healthy other than the skin issues.

that's a striking HA today! :D It cost a ridiculous amount just for a little hamster years ago, so I can imagine what annual shots for a dog would cost! But I guess at least they're done for now, and that should stop her getting any nasty (even more expensive) illnesses ;) Mum found the tinsel in the end - it was wrapped around one of Dad's coats in the cupboard (don't ask how that happened, I think it was those vampires that lived in my wardrobe :P)

that always helps if you're wearing something nice and warm! I've got to head into town this week (nasty dentist appointment), so I'm going to have to get my hefty coat & warm gloves and hat out from my wardrobe! Last time I was in town, it was quite warm, so I'm not feeling overly organised with that! It looks like a card arrived today (thank you!) - but I'm saving that for tomorrow to open (I recognised the sticker on the envelope!) :D

Sounds like you are going to need your warmest clothes. Hopefully you can find everything without too much trouble. ;)

Sounds like it is the card I sent you. I figured that sticker was perfect for you. ;)

You can open it anytime you like of course. :)

yeah Mum said it was feeling a lot colder than the temperature gauge was saying, and I think the wind chill tomorrow is meant to be stronger :K I found the gloves and hat (I made a peaked hat from sweatshirt fabric a while ago, so that should keep my head warm and also help blot out any lights too), so that just leaves finding the right coat and digging out my wintery boots from the cupboard under the stairs (I want to make sure I have decent tread on my shoes!)

Whoa that's a sparkly card! Was that one you've diamond painted? :D

I'm mega stressed right now, scrambling to get all the gifts finished that need to be posted! In fact I've been making placemats and table runners all morning and this afternoon it was groceries for Christmas but we had children carolers come round at 7 and when they left we'd discovered that the door to my room where one of the cats was shut in so they wouldn't frolic outside whilst the door was open, was blocked by the cat tower that shifted in front of it and wedged. Nothing we did budged it so I wound up having to break a hole in the door.... totally random right? 0.0 okay lol now I've got to go back to cross stitching like a demon because I've got a lot of backstitching left before this gift that's taken me 6 months is done....AHHHHHHHHH!!!

whoa that's a busy day! And sod's law that the cat tower managed to block the door (I reckon the cats must have moved it so they didn't get disturbed 😇) But were the carollers any good? ;)

Hopefully the backstitching wasn't too terrible (that's my almost favourite part of cross stitch, because then you know you've almost finished ;))

Bah, today stinks so far :K Woke up to find the heating (and hot water) has failed. So at the moment we've got the backup portable radiator in the living room (it's not really big enough to heat the room, but it's better than nothing), and I've dug out those sweatshirt jogging bottoms that I made a few years ago, for walks to town in the winter, to make sure I don't get too cold! Mum's planning on borrowing Grandad's portable radiators as well (as we don't know yet how long it'll be before the heating bloke can come, or what will need replacing). We have a backup electric system for the hot water (more pricey to run, but at least there's a backup!), which I'm grateful for! ....and of course I have that dentist appointment around midday as well :K

[edit] And now I don't have that dentist appointment today at all - they rang while I was having breakfast, and cancelled the appointment as the dental nurse tested positive for covid this morning. So now my extractions are booked for the week after Christmas .

Heating bloke can come "late afternoon" but I dunno if it's something he can fix, or if it'll need a new boiler (which would obviously take a lot longer to sort).

I can understand being stressed with everything, but try to take a breather. You are a crafting ninja. I have faith you can get everything done. :squishes: Sorry you ended up having to make a hole in the door, but sounds like it was the only option right then.

Sounds like a stressful day for you as well. :hugs: At least your warm clothes will be ready for when you do get to see the dentist. Did they tell you how long it would be to wait? I reckon that is one of those things you just want to be done with. I hope things work out with the heating as well.

that's true - the new dentist appointment is the week after Christmas (I've asked Mum to not tell me the exact date yet!) so I guess at least it'll still be done this year ;) But certainly I couldn't have handled the heating and the dentist in the same day - just the heating is enough for me to try and get my head around! I guess that's one advantage to not having a pet budgie at the moment, as that would be even harder to make sure the budgie was kept warm (the cage always lived at the bottom of the stairs, and at the moment that's way too cold even for a pot plant to be!)

Looking at the instruction manual, the heating might just need to be reset.... but we don't want to try that ourselves, in case it messes something else up (as we don't know why it suddenly failed this morning)

[edit] The heating engineer came, and discovered that the fan has seized up - he's taken the fan out, so the regular hot water system works again, but he's either going to come back tomorrow (if he has a fan in stock) or Monday (if he has to order one in). But we've borrowed Grandad's portable radiator so Mum & Dad's room now has some heat in it (it was 14C in there earlier o.O)

That is not too long to wait. Is it just a check up or do you have any issues that needs to be fixed?

I am glad the heating system works again. 14c is way to cold to be sleeping in. Brrr! I have even resorted to having a blanket under my duvet and wearing socks to bed (which I never done before). I guess I freeze easier than used to? Mum reckon it is because of my weight loss.. which makes sense.

I've got two teeth that need to be removed (I thought it would just be the broken tooth, but the dentist decided that my wisdom tooth next to it ought to come out at the same time), so really I just want it over and done with now! I just hope that the dentist doesn't do too much socialising over Christmas, as I don't want him (or his dental nurse) to test positive before this rearranged appointment!

Heating engineer has literally just turned up now (with the replacement fan - I hope he's brought the right one ;)) so I'm hopeful that we can get the heating back on before tonight! The living room was 12C first thing this morning, so I put a sleeveless fleece on under my hoodie laughs

And yeah, losing weight can make you feel the cold a bit more than you used to ;)

UPDATE: finally got all the sewing finished and all wrapped up. I had to give up on finishing the cross stitch in time, there was just too much of the back stitching left and it's very complicated. I have two pages left now though so I'm hoping to send it at the end of the year. Anyway, the heating went off overnight. We called the heating people and he noticed the circuit breaker had been triggered. He flipped it back and it sparked and ignited for a brief moment. There are scorch marks on the cover. couple of wires were melted. Since he doesn't do much with electrics, he called an electrian for us. That man arrived at 4.15 today and fixed the problem. Apparently someone crossed an alumium wire with a copper wire and it was not a matter of it there would be a problem, but when. We are extremely grateful that there was no fire! He sorted it out and checked the other wires. Not exactly a stress free day we were hoping for. But it's a blessing that this happened because the chances of a fire were extremely high. Scary for sure and we are all a bit freaked out about it.

Paddy: lol I don't think Annie was the culprit, she doesn't like being alone and the other cats were sleeping in the master bedroom and dad's office. She was in my room. We simply shut the doors... had we known, she would've joined Maya and Mario. Annie started crying and trying to get out. Then I think I scared her with the hammer and axe so she went and hid under my bed. Poor thing had to be coaxed out but she's recovered from the trauma.

I've been on the back stitching for like 3 weeks now. It was initially 6 six pages with 8 total sections--I am now down to two remaining sections. It is extremely complicated though so that is slowing me down.

You pushed your luck with the heating to us :P J/k. was he able to fix it? ugh that's a bummer as I know you wanted to get it over with, especially with all the nerves. But I guess it's good that the nurse can't give you covid to boot.

Pinkpanther Nah this ninja couldn't accomplish it in time. But she celebrates Three Kings day on 6 January so I'm hoping to send this gift then. What possessed me to do such a labour intensive gift I don't know.

I can understand just wanting to be done with it already. Hopefully they will stay healthy. I don't even know how many people are testing positive for covid anymore, as the news has stopped talking about it all together. It is all the stupid high prices of electricity and other things plus the war in Ukraine.

Did he end up bringing the right replacement fan? 12c is pretty cold. I have been freezing when it was about 18c when I have woken up. o-o Maybe that is just me. lol

I like the idea of gifting it for the Three Kings Day. Gives you more time to finish it. Good job getting the sewing done. I am so glad there was no fire, that does sound scary. o-o

exactly :) thanks. Right? it was freaky for sure. But everything turned out well :)

You've got a long way through that cross stitch though - I've not even come back to my one that was more than a page long 😊

Eep on the heating and those wires, but I'm surprised it wasn't picked up on an inspection before you bought the house, given that would've been a problem when the previous owners were there? Hopefully it wasn't too cold though, and the cats & Melody weren't too chilly (as I doubt the cats will willingly wear a jumper :P).

How's Annie doing now?

He came out on Thursday afternoon to check it (and was able to get the gas hot water boiler working again), then came back late on Friday with the fan to get the heating sorted. It was a pretty cold night with no heating - Mum & Dad's room was down to 57F Friday morning, and the living room was 53.... I'm just pleased we didn't have a pet to try and keep warm!

yeah they've stopped regular testing over here (although clearly the dental surgery are still testing regularly), so there's no real news on accurate numbers of who tests positive. And there's hardly anyone wearing masks anymore either.

Thankfully he brought the right one, so we've got heat again :) I like my room to be about 18C when I wake up, but it also depends on how many layers are on the bed (and for some reason, my mattress seems to retain the warmth more than the old one used to o.O).