Warming around the stove

Captian Malcolm Campbell Motor Racing Driver at Home with His Wife, c.1930


As soon as we set the heating challenge, the temperature dropped and we felt a slight chill walking around. No snow here but in other parts of the country there have been snowdrifts and flooding.

The wood burner works fine and keeps the room very cosy. When we leave the room, we feel the cold and do not hang around in the rooms that do not have any heating.

A small observation has been that we are not accustomed to being all in one room. There are small disagreements between people as to who controls what in the space and we are not yet pulling together as a team. Being together in a room for more than 30 mins at a time with 3 children is alien to them as well as us. We have become accustomed to each having our own space and each doing in that space what we want.

I am aware that the chair I use often in the room is now occupied by someone else and that the noise levels have increased. I am realising how much we each love our own individual space around us and yet being warm creates a need to be together. Escapes are planned : we could go to the pub and have a drink while we enjoy other's company and catch up on local news. Older children seem to wish to either stay cold in their room or visit friends who ' have heating' as they find the room stifling.

The chairs are not meant to be sat on for very long and I long to bring in a wing armchair, very much like a scene out of the 1930's, where someone will read a book, someone will knit, listen to the radio and others will quietly do an activity or go to bed.

We are not at that stage. We are currently trying to adjust to uneven temperatures around the house and uneven tempers within individuals.

I am investigating warm clothing.

Off to make a nice cup of hot chocolate for everyone and warm up the hot water bottles.