Come On Baby Light My Fire

It’s been a tad chilly the past couple of weeks – we’ve even dropped to single digit temperatures at night.

While some might scoff that we don’t know what winter is here in Queensland, you have to remember – our homes aren’t built for the cold.

Features like central heating, underfloor heating, double glazed windows and fireplaces are very much the exception rather than the norm, so we really suffer when the temperatures plummet!

Actually – it always amuses me to see movies or TV shows made in the northern hemisphere – when the characters are walking around their homes in short sleeves even though it’s snowing outside. You definitely couldn’t do that here!

When the weather turns cold, my top tips are:

• wear a cami under your shirt to keep your torso warm;
• put on a scarf – it really is amazing the difference it makes;
• heat up a wheatie in the microwave and take that to bed (no need for electric blanket);
• and  keep a blankie or two – plus a fur baby! – on the couch to keep you warm when relaxing and watching a bit of telly.

We have a reverse cycle air conditioner in our bedroom, which is brilliant for those frosty winter mornings – we set the timer so that it turns on before we wake, which makes it a lot easier to get up and get our day underway!

But what I really miss is the old kerosene heater of my childhood.

I know, I know. They were bad for the environment, smelly, released noxious gases, and a huge fire risk … but so comforting and warming on a cold winter’s night, even if our parents were constantly warning us not to get too close (especially when we were wearing our highly flammable nylon dressing gowns!).

There’s just something about the heat, the smell, the rattle of kerosene tank, the ritual of lighting the heater, that warmed our hearts as well as our homes.

Do kerosene heaters even exist these days?

When I first left home, I had a bar heater; by the time we got married, we’d “upgraded” to a fan heater or two … huge electricity gobblers. These days we use the heating in our air cons, which is so effective that usually after half an hour we can turn it off and still stay toasty warm.

But the husbear and I agreed recently that great as our reverse cycle air con is, it feels very clinical compared to the ambience of a fire of some sort – whether that be a log fire, pot belly stove or kerosene heater.

We’ve been known to play a Youtube video of a crackling fire on our TV, to try and replicate that feeling of “hygge” … but it’s a poor imitation.

It’s no wonder so many Aussies have a firepit in their backyard, or love going camping – it’s about the only opportunity we have to enjoy the flicker of a fire.

How do you keep warm in winter?!