All the comforts of home..

[Littlemouse]

Has anyone been watching that programme on TV about the three Welsh families living the 1944 lifestyle? I know there are limitations on how close to 100% realistic those programmes can be but I still find it fascinating.

I was watching yesterday and wondering how I would fare if I was living that lifestyle after living the life of Reilly for all of mine. Bathing and washing issues were top of my thoughts - mainly wondering what society smelt like in general.. without all the modern wonders of the various underarm products.

Well should not have wondered too soon... we are having our boiler replaced - work was started yesterday and I thought it would be completed today but at four the engineer told me he was off and see you tomorrow!

A second night without hot water on tap. Which I do realise is really no hardship at all in the great scheme of things, but when you've been in the garden all day, flicking bits of earth all over yourself in the name of tidying up and you're really looking forward to a hot shower, it is a bit of a let down.

Fervently hoping there won't be any unforseen snags in commissioning the boiler tomorrow and in meantime , am off to buy some Lifebouy!

[lottie dolly]

3 years ago we had acompletly new lot of central heating,we also had no heating or hot water,for a few days,until the fitter fixed the new tank up with an emersian heater,it took a week to do the job,i man on his own,but its supprising how you can manage,we used a potable calorgas heater,especialy the bathroom,heat some water on the stove top,and put it into a watering can,get the other half to hold it up,and a good wash can be had in reasonable comfort,and a fan heater in the bedroom for after,is all part of the fun,a challenge if you like,how to manage,we done quite a bit of it over the years,and are a bit down that road at the moment,it will soon pass,

[Seahorse]

Fingers crossed your boiler is sorted soon LM.

I grew up in the 70s, not the 40s and I'm sure it wasn't half as austere as post war Britain but we lived in an 'off-grid' farmhouse and didn't have running HW or CH (I have vivid memories of waking up with a frozen nose and ice on the inside of the windows!). I never thought anything of it at the time - it was just how things were! - but I'm not sure I'd care to go back to it now

[binley100]

Seemed to have missed that programme , sounds interesting. Whens it on? I was a sixties kid and can remember running downstairs to get dressed in front of the fire and bathnight when the electric heater high on the bathroom wall was turned on .

[ginger ninger]

Lifeboy..now that's a blast from the past, my dad used that when he worked down the pit, and that was in the early 80's. I didn't know you could still get it

[Littlemouse]

The programme was on BBC1 on Monday evening. Not sure if this new series or repeat but I think it can be seen on iplayer.

As for Lifebouy Soap... I don't know if it's still around but it was frequently referred to by my dad when we were growing up - he also used to sing a phrase from an old advert.. 'you'll wonder where the yellow went when you brush your teeth with pepsodent!' (think that's the right wording).

Hopefully heating installation should be fixed today. Off to boil a kettle and to get myself ready. The one thing I wasn't prepared for was how noisy the loos are now. Our water mains pressure is incredibly high and when I first flushed the downstairs loo after installation, the racket of the cistern refilling made me jump out of my skin. Seems there'll be no more discrete flushing from now on.

[Two_Sheds]

Before I met Mr Sheds I was living in a damp, cold flat with no CH/HW: I couldn't afford to switch it on.
I'd boil a kettle for a strip-wash, and go round Mum's for a bath once a week

[Littlemouse]

So relieved new boiler has been commissioned and all seems fine. Very pleased with it as barely any noise coming from it unlike our last one which woke us up the moment the water started heating.

Now all I have to do is find my contact lenses and I'm laughing... they went missing yesterday but with everything being everywhere not sure exactly where. Hope I haven't thrown them out.

As for the past 2 days - it made us realise how complacent we have become about having heat and hot water 'on tap'.

better get on with putting place back together.

[Snadger]

I think central heating has turned us all soft and would have no problem going back to an open fire (preferably logs) in the living room only..................if it wasn't for OH!
I used to relish my Mam chucking my Dads auld work coat on top of the bedclothes for extra weight on cold nights to keep warm!

[Eco-Chic]

I haven't put the CH on yet but I was glad of the warmth of the big dog on my lap earlier tonight and I have got 2 duvets on my bed.

CH doesn't go on until my hands and nose remain freezing despite multi layers of clothes being worn and canine heating either side of me.