Un día frío.

Yes, I know in the UK and elsewhere in northern Europe this would not be cold, not quite dipping into single figures C, but this Yorkshire lass has been softened up by ten years of long hot summers. The house is cold, sometimes more so than outside, and the lack of carpets, curtains and central heating are to blame. Electric heaters are the only option, not wanting the mess and pollution of a log burner (there are many houses around here with those, belching out a thick layer of smoke every evening, and although the scent of burning wood can be quite pleasing, the smoke irritates my lungs.) As a child I grew up in a mining district, and all the houses had coal fires, which also heated the water boiler and the range oven. I remember it took ages to "catch", and produce a reasonable amount of heat, and many a copy of the Yorkshire Evening Post caught fire while trying to draw the fire up the chimney. The heat when burning properly was quite considerable, for a few feet around it anyway, so it was a case of huddling close and burning the front of your shins. It also drew in icy drafts from any ill-fitting window (no double glazing then) or door left open: cue cries of "were tha born in a barn?", "put t'wood in't 'ole" etc. The fire in the living room was scooped up in a big shovel while still burning and taken to the front room in the evening to add to the prepared kindling there preparatory to watching one of the two TV channels then available in black and white. The TV of course was rented not owned, which was a plus if it broke down or a new model came out, as it could be swapped out easily.
I remember getting chilblains every Winter (is there such a thing now?), purple itchy patches on fingers and toes, and having to take my coat off when entering anyone's house or I wouldn't "feel the benefit" on leaving. Icicles were on the inside of the windows, frozen condensation from people breathing. A huge icicle would grow outside the door, and I was terrified it would break off and impale sombody. Burst pipes were frequent, as the pipes froze, expanded and then ruptured. I'll stop the memory lane stuff now, as it's turning into this.