Though it is considerably easier dealing with cold snowy weather in this lovely warm and cosy little house compared to living in a one-hundred-year-old drafty hole with single-glazed ill-fitting french windows and no heating in the kitchen, it is still nippy at times. Plus, I try and keep the heating off as much as is humanly possible. So it's lucky that I have a couple of really toasty thrifted wooly items to keep me warm.
There's my £2.50 charity shop crocheted shawl which is lovely for keeping my shoulders and upper back warm in the house - though the fringing has developed a dreadlock-type finish . It even doubled as an ultra-warm Baboushka-style headgear on Friday when I had to go out and it was snowing heavily. I may have looked a trifle daft but at least I arrived at my Mum's warm and dry. Unfortunately, Lily (Mum's highly nervous cat) took an instant dislike to my shawl and refused to stay in the same room with it!! No idea what the problem was but I've had to leave it at home ever since.
I've also got a really really thick (possibly hand-knitted) polo-neck jumper which I rarely wear but which is one of those items that are invaluable when it's uber cold. I can't remember exactly how much I paid for it (maybe a fiver) but it was definitely a charity shop find. It does make me a look a little like the Michelin man when I'm wearing it but, hey ho, who wants to look chic when the temperature is below freezing!!
Thank you for all your replies about local recycling 'laws'. I may be a bit of a geek but I find the whole subject of recycling quite fascinating and it's amazing how much difference there is between various local authorities and, indeed, between different countries. I know when I first moved to Essex, I spent some considerable time haranguing the local council about their lack of wheelie bins (all those black sacks ending up in landfill is quite horrifying,) and the shocking lack of kerbside recycling schemes. Thankfully, that all changed during the time I lived there though we never did get a wheelie bin for household waste.
What a beautiful shawl and useful too.
Posted by: fiona | 01/22/2013 at 05:18 PM
Your comment about Lily did make me laugh - cats are great entertainment value, aren't they? We were watching the David Attenborough Africa programme last night, which featured some rather raucous birds. Ron, one of our cats, jumped off the sofa, and sat directly in front of the TV, staring hard at the birds. Every time the young ones tweeted, he ran behind the TV cabinet to try and find it!
Posted by: Caroline | 01/23/2013 at 08:22 AM
That shawl is gorgeous. I can understand Lily's fear though, ours are terrified when Jon wears a hat! x
Posted by: Vix | 01/25/2013 at 02:46 PM