It snowed!

Not quite the blizzards and snow drifts of the US, or even north England and Scotland, but it snowed here overnight:

A few more flurries before breakfast but by 10am it had all but disappeared.  Never mind, it has snowed.

So what's been happening here, snow aside?  Yesterday we had a radiator installed in the bedroom/conversion and all connected up to the existing heating system.  It makes sense, short-term and long-term - it really has been like a fridge in that room since Christmas.  All the radiators are fitted with thermostatic valves so we can turn the temperatures down in individual rooms and only heat the rooms we use.  This morning, however, we did have the luxury of the heating on most of the morning (well, it was snowing ;)  ) and it was lovely to have the warmth.  N made an interesting observation a couple of days ago; he commented on the fact that in the winter, many people go on holiday to sunny destinations to get away from the cold, but instead of spending maybe £1/2000 going abroad, for perhaps £100 on the fuel bill they could simply have the heating on more at home.  It's certainly a thought.

The work in the spare bedroom was an opportunity for us to have another sort-out of odds and ends in the garage store, and we have recycled a load of bottles, and found new homes for electric cables.  Another two storage boxes have been emptied and I may be able to use them to tidy up the chaos in the sewing room.  We had a box of spare light bulbs and in the process of sorting through them we discovered that three of them didn't even work so they have now been disposed of.  It may be slow progress, and only a little at a time, but it all helps.

In between all of this, I did manage to do the Monday cleaning chores.  

This was the state of the vacuum head - threads all twisted round the roller, dust in every nook and cranny, and on the black cogs (top centre in the picture above) you can just about make out a tack that had managed to embed itself in the plastic.   It must have been hoovered up during all the renovations last year - I had wondered what the odd noise was!  Now it's all been thoroughly cleaned out, it all works a treat.

We've been feeling the benefits of the new quilt on our bed; goodness, it makes such a difference on these cold nights.  I had planned to start machine quilting it this week but I think that's unlikely now, plans seem to be 'fluid' just at the moment and I am adopting a flexible approach to each day.  Yes, I like to have some organisation to my days, but nothing so rigid that it can't adapt and change as needed.  Things still get done, just not necessarily when I thought they would.  

We're still working our way through the freezer, although there isn't too much left now, and N came up with a 'leftovers' meal this evening, using up some bits in the fridge.  Very tasty it was, too.  Nothing goes to waste here and N's talents in the kitchen save us pounds.  A lot of it is having the confidence of knowing what ingredients go together and of creating something out of whatever is available in the cupboard, fridge and freezer and not relying on convenience foods.  Our meals may not have gourmet names created by celebrity chefs, but they are tasty, nutritious, filling and made from scratch using fresh food wherever possible.  I am thankful every day that my lovely other half not only enjoys cooking, but keeps us so well fed.