Heat and dust

I may have been gloomily anticipating winter the other day, but I didn't expect it to arrive quite this soon.  Finger-nipping temperatures today and, yes, SNOW.

But not the "Yay! Snow!" type, all soft and pretty and lovely.  This is wet, nasty stuff - a "wintry mix".  It's settling, for the moment, and I daresay it'll still be around in the morning since the temperature is set to drop well below freezing tonight.  But it won't be here to stay.  All in all everyone is rather grumpy about it and trying to pretend it's not really happening.

I was emailing a local friend today and let on that I still couldn't persuade myself to put the heating on (it is only October, after all).  But I said I might think again if frostbite set in.  She wrote back in loud capitals PUT THE HEATING ON!  So, in the end, I did.  Or at least I tried.  Frustratingly the furnace [boiler]wouldn't start up.  Oh, no.  I followed all the instructions for getting it going - twice.  No luck.  Oh, no no no.

But - top tip!  If you have a gas-fired furnace, turns out it really helps if you...switch the gas on!  Someone had accidentally flipped the emergency off switch.  Sigh.  Anyway, we're all toasty warm now, and the air of the house is filled with that burning radiator-dust smell that makes the change of season so special.