It's Not Only The Heat From The Fire That Keeps Me Warm.

After the nice mild spell of weather we have just had, it was a bit of a shock to the old system, when the winter finally decided to take a grip on things last night.

Brrr, it was cold this morning when Sadie the German Shepherd, managed to coerce me into going for a walk. Guilt. It is guilt she uses. My own guilty feelings. She uses them against me. I can't quite explain how her technique gets to me, only that it always does.

I can be sat reading the newspaper, nicely relaxed, when all of a sudden she will give a little whine. Not very loud. Just enough to make me aware of her presence. I do my best to ignore her. There will be another whine, just a bit longer. I shake the paper a bit, and might give out a hurrumph noise, to signify my annoyance. That is a mistake. She knows now, that I am aware. This is her cue for a particularly long whine, more of a low howl in fact. This is when my second mistake invariably happens. I talk to her.

"Shut up Sadie, I'm reading."

She knows now that she has my attention, and whines at me again. It is a more hopeful whine, but I am not ready to give in.

"SHUT UP SADIE! I'm not listening."

She rests a paw on my knee. Her tail sweeps the floor vigorously. Whine, whine, whine.

"GO AWAY YOU HORRIBLE DOG!"

She lies down. The whines have stopped now, only to be replaced with deep sighs. I risk a peek over my newspaper. This is mistake number three. Her big, brown, soulful, liquid, eyes are looking up at me. She manages the loudest, most heart rending sigh, in the history of dogkind.

"OH FOR GOD'S SAKE, SADIE! COME ON THEN, YOU PAIN!"

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It's nice walking with my lovely dog. I'm so glad I thought of it. It is very cold, but walking briskly gets the blood flowing through my veins, and soon warms me up.

On the homeward journey I find a fallen branch, and sling it across my shoulder to take back for firewood. It is not too heavy, but just enough to make me sweat a bit with the effort. I am not feeling the cold at all now.

Back home at last, I saw the branch up into logs small enough to fit into my old stove. It is quite strenuous work sawing logs, and soon I am feeling really warm and have to take my jacket off. It is worth all the effort. This pile of logs will keep me warm tonight, and will even provide the heat to cook my evening meal. There will also be a big kettle full of hot water. I will fill a hot water bottle with that, and I shall be warm and cosy in my bed tonight.

So there you have it. How to keep warm on a cold day, and all for free. I like that feeling.


I am so pleased I decided to take Sadie the German Shepherd for a walk today.