Rules for keeping warm

My beautiful friend Zena loves the snow and the cold. I, on the other hand, like my pal, Gomez, adore being warm. 

An enormous welcome to my new readers - wonderful to welcome you. 

Here are my - tongue-in-cheek rules for staying warm.

1. Don't allow boiler to break down
2. Take out boiler cover
3. Get boiler serviced annually
4. Try to organise weather
OR
4. When boiler breaks down and you haven't got cover go into major panic. Wait a day and discuss with partner (or whoever you have around).
5. Choose coldest time of year and sit and watch snow falling.
6. Find thermal underwear and under no circumstances remove.
7. Wear gloves and scarves in house.
8. Carry hot water bottles or wheaties around with you.
9. If you have open fire, keep it going and count blessings.
10. Do a lot of housework/cooking to keep warm.
11. Finally ring local engineer who is unable to do job.
12. Ring boiler manufacturer and pay a lot of money to get one of their engineers to call.
13. Wait in for engineer.
14. 5 days after break down, defrost numb body parts and sign insurance documents!
15. Enjoy heat!

Our boiler is a Glow Worm and that got me thinking about these....

My kids had one of these when they were little. You put batteries in and it lit up.
This also got me thinking about vintage toys. When Number 1 was little we found one of these at a jumble sale. It cost us 50 pence in 1987. She loved it and for me it was pure nostalgia.

We also bought ones of these hammer and peg toys, but I don't remember where it came from.
These were toys that I had enjoyed as a child and they brought back happy memories. What about you? Which toys do you link with your childhood?

I have vivid memories of my older brother building a go-cart using old pushchair wheels and only telling me there were no brakes when we were half way down the hill that led straight into the village centre. We seemed to have a lot of freedom. We grew up in a village by the sea and roamed for hours at weekends and holidays. We played in the pill boxes that had been left on the cliffs and the beaches after the 2nd World War.

We had such fun, even though they were dark and terrifying. Of course, eventually they were demolished. Many areas of the cliffs and even the beaches were out of bounds in the 60s and the army bomb disposal worked tirelessly to remove the mines from the area. Apparently the maps showing the location of the mines had been lost. 26 men were killed during the removal of the mines and a  memorial to them has been created.

There were no Play Stations or X-boxes. You had to stand up to change channel on the television. We walked to school, didn't feel the cold and, I am sure, were quite healthy as a result. When were "snacks" invented? I only ever remember getting ill with the things that everyone got back then; measles, chicken pox and mumps. Vaccinations came later on. I certainly didn't have colds or coughs. AND OUR HOUSE HAD NO HEATING, except for a couple of gas fires on the ground floor. I had 5 brothers and sisters and it was a 6 bedroomed house. It must have been really cold!

Tell me, what are your memories of growing up?