An unexpected non-medical setback

 Well here I am sitting at my computer writing a blog on a February evening. You may ask what prompts the woolly hat. It is not style, it is thermal insulation, because when I came back after a weekend away in the coldest part of the year, I had a bit of a surprise.

At first I didn't notice what the problem was, because I had been cycling (which is a good thing) into a one degree celsius headwind (which is a bad thing), but well dressed for it (good thing again). And when I got into the house I thought how nice it was to be out of the cold and made myself a cup of tea. But as I watched the made cup I was nostalgically impressed by all the steam rising from it. It reminded me of those freezing cold student houses in the 1970s when you had ice on the inside of the window and gloves on in the kitchen as you watched your steaming, nay billowing, cuppa. 

And as my body accommodated to the indoor warmth I realised it wasn't all that impressive. In fact, when I took my hat off, it actually felt cold. I went to look at the boiler. Lights were on but the radiators were cold, as they had been for the previous five days, it turned out. So the indoor temperature was actually about 7 or 8 celsius (44 to 48 for our Fahrenheit brethren). I phoned the plumber and left a message, and considered my options. 

We have an open fire which I could light, but that would only warm the sitting room while I was in it. There was an electric blanket for the bed and I have hot water bottles, but going down for breakfast in the morning seemed a purgatory unsuited for a post stem cell transplant poor thing. So I did the obvious and phoned friends. First call was a direct hit. My lovely friends Ian and Jill did indeed have a spare room and were happy to offer it, and are just two minutes around the corner. 

I went and had a lovely supper with them and slept warm, and in the morning the plumber called before 8:00 (respect!). He came and looked at our 40-plus year-old boiler, twiddled with it for a bit and got it working again. But sadly, ten minutes after he had gone it stopped again and we both knew that it had gone for good (don't we all, eventually).

So today the carcass was extracted, the huge ventilator hole bricked up, and next week the shiny new one will arrive. And no doubt the temperature will shoot up at the same moment. And on that note, I have to relate that when I got back to the house this morning, because the outdoor temperature had crept up to 10 or 11 Celsius, I actually opened the front and back door to make the house warmer!

I will send a shirtsleeves picture after the new boiler starts its work.