Nope, nothing to do with a chocolate bar, though those Toblerones are still on special offer.
It was threatened last night that temperatures would drop to their lowest this year, so we made sure the boat was tip-top warm before getting into bed after taking Maggie out for her final wee.
With little cloud cover and Orion’s Belt, The Big Dipper and Cassiopeia clearly visible in the night sky, we knew it was unlikely they were joking this time.
Hubby feels the cold most of the time, but since losing my extra blubber layers, so am I, so it was no surprise for him to poke his head out from under his hat then reach across to flick on the heating before either of us emerged from under the warmth of the covers to begin our day.
One of our gizmos on the wall shows the minimum and maximum temperature, and sure enough, inside the boat dropped down to 9º during the night. That’s not the lowest though, we had a lot less than that our first year, and it’s not December yet!
We’ve made a few changes aboard since we took ownership, simple things like a kingsize winter tog duvet (still have blankets in reserve of course) and our revamp is a definite improvement from sitting on benches with blankets wrapped around our legs and feet.
The DIY place never got the clingfilm double glazing kits in, and although we have done the majority of our windows, those in the lounge need to be sealed completely as we did our first two winters. We just did the bottom panes this time to leave the top opening part accessible for air flow, but it wasn’t a good idea afterall. Cue condensation showers most mornings, though today we had icicles.
Luckily, we still have half a sheet from our final kit which will be enough to do the job.
Our velcro on the houdini hatch has worked a treat, and so far the wooden port holes Hubby made are also bearing up well.
Stepping outside with our trainers supported by our gripples, it was like walking into a magical fairy land (well, to me anyway, guess I must have my romantic glasses on).
The pontoon was glistening with a carpet of frosted diamonds, and the bank behind us a white mound topped by two rather confused egyptian geese.
Photos: Our porkly duo in better climates
No ice on the water thank goodness, but a sure sign that winter and cold times are not far ahead.
Such a contrast to the floods of a week ago!
pensitivity101 
Oh my, I thought when you said 9 degrees that it was OUR 9 degrees (-12 C), not YOUR 9 degrees (our 48 F). I was truly worried for your safety there for a few seconds until I realized the error!
Oh Sarah! So sorry to give you such a shock. Yes, 9 degrees C, but that was inside. Outside it was minus 6!
Oh wow! You’re much colder there than we are here. Our pond was frozen this morning, but just barely – some ducks landed on it and promptly broke up the ice just after dawn. It isn’t really turning cold until next week!
Temperatures dropped to minus 7 last night. The dog bowl up by the shower block was one big ice cube, and we had a layer of ice on the water in basin 2. The pontoons on our side didn’t lose their whiteness until late afternoon, just in time to freeze again. It’s going to be cold again tonight, but should warm up for the weekend. Chilly!!!
Oh, it is chilly there! Stay warm!
It’s been warmer today, and at least we didn’t have frost this morning.
But isn’t it nice to be awake right away even without coffee once you were brave enough to get up 🙂
Though the coffee really tastes good when it is so cold.
That chocolate bar was a teaser.
Tasted nice though!
I love your shoe gripples! They look like they will work really well. 🙂
And the lowest we get here in Cape Town is around 9C – and yes that will be inside the house too as I never have heating. However, it will warm up several degrees during the day, so it’s quite different to your cold.
Our gripples are a godsend on the pontoons and steep gantry. Surprisingly we haven’t seen any in the shops this year yet.
Maybe they’re not expecting much snow?
Snow is lovely…….. on Christmas cards. 🙂
haha 🙂