Keep warm for just pennies!

The thermostat above my desk said 15.7 degrees yesterday morning, which was a lot warmer than it's been, but still too cold to sit and write.  However, as I'm getting a bit anxious about the cost of turning on the heating, I decided to dress for the occasion instead.  After all, I grew up in a flat that was so cold my poor mother had to put on her coat before venturing into the bedroom to do the vacuuming.

I write best first thing in the morning, after tea and biscuits, but before getting dressed properly.  Also, I rather like the decadence of having a bath in the afternoon and then dressing for dinner.  So I'd just pulled on a pair of stretchy jersey trousers and a loose top. No, it's not a tracksuit.  Why would you think that I would posses such a garment?  It is smart-casual workwear, or at least, it was when I bought it, circa 1998.  {I've never understood 'smart-casual'.  I have enough problems with 'smart'.}  It is a very comfortable ensemble, especially when teamed with woolly slipper-boots.  {I love these!  I have three pairs!}  Sadly, the trousers have become somewhat stretched and worn now, and embarrassing holes are starting to appear around the back seam.  I was also still cold, so I decided to add a long jumper...

... which was not quite as long as I remembered, so didn't help much in terms of elegance or camouflage, but  at least it was a bit warmer.

Now, I did, of course, realize that no-one was going to see me, and I would be sitting down.
But I always feel a bit uneasy with only a thinly covered behind.

It was too cold to take the trousers off and put on a different pair... and anyway, I'm not sure that I have another pair that are clean and still fit.  Nothing else for it, I added a long, woollen skirt.  Of course on top of the trousers!

That did the trick, so I settled down to attempt writing a press release for the book.  Didn't get very far, but did learn a lot about "Writing Magnetic Headlines" from something I found on the internet, in between playing endless rounds of Spider Solitaire.

By about half past two I was cold again {despite having made a further couple of additions to my clothing} and hungry as well.  Still in the interests of saving money, I tend to just have a bowl of porridge for lunch.  I could probably save even more if I bought a big bag of economy oats, rather than neat little sachets, but that would mean doing real cooking, rather than simply nuking it.  So I nuked my porridge and sat on the edge of the toilet to eat it while I ran the bath, since this was now the warmest place in the house.  Yes, I know I would have saved more money by just having a shower, but my original intention had been to eat the porridge in the bath, and you can't do that in a shower.  Well, I suppose you can, but I don't like runny porridge.  And it wouldn't have got my feet warm like the bath did.

Oh, did you want to see what else I ended up wearing?  A blanket, and my favourite, fingerless writing gloves.