The chilling truth

Once upon a snowy winter in the Oude Haven (2010, this was)

Last weekend, I posted about the rain on my roof, and I think someone up there must have heard me and decided to teach me a lesson. If you're listening...yes you up there... I promise never to complain again...well, not for a week or so anyway!

The thing is during this past week, the rain dried up, the skies cleared (this I did like) and the temperature plummeted (that's the part I wasn't so keen on). For several days in a row, it dropped down to minus something ridiculous, which meant that even though well-insulated and heated, my barge never made it above chilly overnight and only to sort-of-warm during the day.

As chance would have it, I spent an afternoon at home on board last Wednesday. The fact that it was only at the sort-of-warm stage, which was not enough for me to sit in comfort, prompted me to embark on a few jobs. They were all small tasks - what the Dutch would call 'klusjes' (the 'j' sounding like a 'y') - that I'd been intending to do for a while and never quite got round to. But wanting to be active to get warm was a pretty good incentive to get on with them.

First, I hung a couple of pictures on the side panels above my new storage unit. I've been meaning to do this for a few months and am so pleased because they make such a difference to the homeliness of that part of the barge.

Then I fixed a small movement sensitive strip light by the entrance hatch. It's one of these led-light thingies and works on batteries. It also means that when it's dark and I want to get in the barge or get up in the night, the light will come on without my having to fumble around and break a few bits of myself in the process. Actually I also have one of those wind-up lights, but I still have to grope around to find it before I can turn it on. Now, with my amazing new wonder leds, I won't have to worry - one wave of my magic hand and said small strip light will spring into action.

Lastly, I screwed a small latch onto the inside of the entrance hatch. Again, this is something I've been meaning to do forever as without it, the only way I've been able to lock myself in at night has been by looping an old dog lead through the handle and tying it to the coat rack...effective, but not very efficient - or easy to explain to the insurance inspector when he checks my safety and security measures (erm, see, it works like this, Jan). But...all I have to do now is flick the latch open and out I can go. Jan (or Joe Blogs as he would be in English) will see it and nod his approval.

So, by the time I'd done all these things I was toasty warm, the more so because the old diesel stove had started to make more impact on the frosty atmosphere.  This of course proves the chilling truth that if you want to get things done, you have to ask a chilly person. After all, busy hands make ice walk (as they don't say in China)... sorry...

For Carol: Snow on the hatches...

What do you do to keep warm at home when the outside temperature makes outdoor activities less than attractive?