I’ve got hot water bottles too…if I’ve been outside when it’s really cold I fill one up and put it on my lap to warm me and my hands
And on my bed I have a winter duvet and 3 blankets and another duvet ready just in case…plus 3 Border collies strewn around my bed and the bedroom and a hot water bottle when it’s sub zero
Electric blanket for me every time - I don’t like the feel of cold hot water bottles in the middle of the night I only prewarm the bed with the blanket though - never need anything overnight if the duvet is thick enough but if I get into a cold bed, I stay cold…
OH bought some gloves that are supposed to help Raynauds sufferers and either wears them on their own or underneath ordinary gloves when it’s cold. Whether they make a difference is debatable of course.
When we bought our house ten years ago, it came with newly (and improperly) installed heat pumps in every room. They were great for quickly heating the place up after it had been empty for several months in autumn, but since we moved here f/t and installed a ground floor log burner with a chimney and conduit to take heat to the upper two floors, we’ve hardly used the heat pumps and then it’s mainly been for their dehumidifier function in mid-summer if the the temp gets above 40° this seems more comfortable than the a/c function.
My wife’s from sub-tropical Durban and I grew up in Saddleworth a 1000 feet up on the Yorkshire Pennines, so we have very different notions of ‘cold’ weather. However, S Africa can get very cold too, I’ve known -9°C several times, yet the locals don’t really know how to dress warmly or how to keep their houses warm. There’s little or no insulation beyond Cape Town and in winter, they fling all the windows open as soon as the sun comes up, regardless of whether or not it’s shining on that side of the building, whilst if they get cold indoors, they put on woolly hats and gloves and sit on an electric oil radiator.
I can’t live like that, so in winter, we maintain what we both consider to be a warm house, where I only need to wear one shirt and Madame only needs three T shirts (and a sweater!). If she could cope with their combined weight, I’m sure she’d wear both her Aigle down parkas at once if she ventured outside in January…
It runs in my family on my maternal Scottish gran’s side and is a condition I’ve not yet found a natural remedy for….the obvious “remedy” is to keep warm but it’s not always possible when your hands and feet suddenly react to temperatures that just aren’t affecting others around you in any way….
One of my daughters gave me hand warmers that you pop in a microwave for a few seconds and then put in your pockets but if you’re out walking dogs then there’s not much opportunity to have your hands in your pockets…???
I guess we have to try different things and see what helps….
In junior school I had a polish teacher who was really kind and sympathetic and after playtime and lunchtime when there was snow and ice on the ground she would take me aside and run my hands under luke warm almost cold water…she was quite formidable in many ways but she was always kind to me in that respect….
OH is over the moon… it’s now 21c in the lounge…
I’ve opened the door beside the fireplace and the ceiling fan at the far end of the room is wafting the air gently (without making a draft), thus the warmth spreads throughout the house.
Everywhere definitely feels that bit warmer… but certainly not hot… no matter, I’m not putting any more logs on tonight… that’s it. (I’m back into stingy mode.)
Hot water bottles are now de rigueur until Spring.
Blimey, I thought hot water bottles went out with the Ark, haven’t seen one for years. I remember my grandmother used to give us those pot ones when we visited. Likewise electric blankets.
Fran feels the cold and her thinly covered bones emanate heat, the major reason I had to move to the spare bedroom years ago. I just couldn’t stand the heat and would lift the quilt my side to let cool air in. Now I keep my bedroom door closed all day to stop the heat getting in and one quilt is more than enough for me at night. Fran has 2 plus a woollen blanket. I keep it closed while in bed reading, to keep the flies out, but open it when I go to sleep and the rest of the house, without heating on, starts to cool down.