Sjoe! It’s become rather cold lately. Of course, I suppose that’s to be expected, seeing as it is now winter, but honestly, I am not a fan of the cold.
A good way to stay warm is to do some exercise. Don’t be a couch potato—go for a cycle, jog, brisk walk, hula hoop or do something else that you enjoy. It takes the sting out of winter.
There is, however, nothing worse than climbing into an ice-cold bed.
My Dad is afraid of electric blankets, he knows somebody whose house burnt down. Seriously, the entire place was raised to the ground. In fact, they were lucky to get out with their lives. So electric blankets are banned in our house.
We’ve had various forms of hot water bottles too. Those electric ones that you plug into a socket and make weird gurgly noises… but they don’t seem to last very long. We’ve had bean-filled ones that you heat up in the microwave. Erk! Those only work if the microwave is super clean. Mum had a proper rubber bottle but somehow she managed to lose the top. She searched and searched but it was gone. I think she threw it away in the bin without thinking, but I’m not brave enough to voice that thought.
We’ve now resorted to the hotties that my Grandmother used to make.
Take a bottle – any kind of bottle will do, but generally, whisky or brandy bottles work a treat because they are quite thick.
Boil the kettle. Very carefully fill the bottle with boiling water—use a funnel if you have shaky hands. If you are little, get a parental agent to do it for you. Boiling water gives one of the nastiest burns, so I’m not kidding when I say be careful! It works well if you put the bottle in the sink and fill it up.
Screw the top on tightly and… here comes the best bit… put the bottle in a long sock. My Gran used to knot the sock at the top so that the bottle could not fall out, but we don’t bother with that.
You’ll find this hot water bottle works like a bomb. If you put it into your bed an hour or so before you go to sleep the bed will be nice and warm. Easy peasy.
Stay warm peeps!
Sibo