47 of 50

This year has been one of parallels to my younger self, not all of them have been particularly pleasant e.g. the aggression of Russia in Ukraine compared to the Cold War of my childhood, but others have been a little more whimsical.

As a kid the majority of the heating in our house came from an open fire in the winter, on which logs and coal were the main sources of fuel. Although it was pretty good at heating the whole house there were parts it didn’t reach. This included our beds. For these we had plenty of blankets and quilts and when things got really cold there was the humble hot water bottle. These were later replaced by central heating where bedrooms were heated and supplemental heating wasn’t required.

As an adult I don’t think I’ve owned a hot water bottle until now. With the rising cost of energy we’ve made a concerted effort to use less energy including turning our heating down / off. To make up for this we’ve gone back to using hot water bottles at night, purchasing them at the little village hardware store for around £5 each.

In the last week temperatures have dropped, we reached -6°C on a couple of nights and rarely got above 4°C during the day, but there’s something quite comforting having a sack of warmth on or next to your feet, and which stays warm for most of the night.

I can’t help but marvel at how a rubber bladder of hot water can keep you warm in the way it does and I had completely forgotten this. I do remember from my childhood the rubber failing on occasion and waking in the night to find yourself a little damp, but so far this hasn’t happened to us and as our bottles are relatively new hopefully won’t anytime soon.

Sometimes the old solutions are still the best.

Thanks for reading.