Cold.

This is the thermometer on my bedside table:

This photo was taken just before the central heating went OFF!!

A word of advice - old houses may seem romantic and enticing, they usually are. But be prepared for winter. No loft insulation, no cavity walls, a blocked over cellar. Heat escapes everywhere. Our living room has had the fire burning since 6am....it now 15.7C.

The kitchen is showing 13.3C....with the cooker on.

But good news too - we have a new laptop! Yay!!
Ours was slowly dying for months, was in the pc hospital for treatment but needed a hard drive transplant to give it new life. We've had it for a good few years and it was only a pretty basic one when we got it but it did for us. We decided not to go with the new hard drive as it was working again but it was never the same. Slow, reluctant to multi task, spluttering away, refusing to do anything that demanded a change in it's programming, becoming older and grumpier. And then it was so run down that it caught a virus. A very nasty one. One that made every part of it's workings sick, except for it's ability to stay in touch with all it's counterparts across the world. It didn't want to share any info with those counterparts though, and reluctanly allowed the sending of photo's and words after several hours of thinking about it. So we sent it off to a friend who confirmed that it needed urgent treatment, and possibly may never work again. Fortunately, despite it's grumpiness, it remained loyal and considerate and kept going long enough to share with us every photo stored in it's memory, before finally spluttering it's last.....for now. Hopefully it will be back and willing to do a little around the house again soon. But in the meantime we have a replacement. John has a gadget loving friend who had a laptop he wasn't happy with. He lost his own laptop in a house robbery 5 months ago but luckily was insured well and so was able to buy a replacement. He rushed into the purchase though and 3 months down the line decided tolook for another. What good timing! There's nothing wrong with the one he had, but he's a man, and a gadget lover, as I said. And he doesn't like to think there are better than his. We don't mind though ;)
So the deal was done, we have a 4 month old WORKING laptop for half the price it originally cost. It's great. Although it uses Windows 7, which means I need to get used to it a little. And best of all, the friend is happy to wait until after christmas for the cash, how kind is that?
So I'm cold, but I'm happy.

-x-