The clocks went back on Sunday. I don't particularly like it when the days shorten and the nights grow longer. Of course this has been gradually happening for the last few months, but it really hits when the clocks go back and it's dark at 5pm. All I want to do is hibernate.
At least the weather has been kind to us so far in the UK. We have had the some mildest temperatures for this time of year that I can remember. Although global warming isn't good, I have been grateful that I've not had to turn the heating on. With the rising price of gas and electricity this has been a great blessing.
But today it's been a little cooler. Not the biting cold that is due at anytime. But cool enough for me to light my first log fire of the autumn. I managed to buy a stock of logs a few weeks ago so that I can use them rather than turning on the central heating. I plan to only heat my lounge most of the winter and only turn on the central heating and radiators in other parts of the house if it gets really cold. I don't like the heating on in the bedroom anyway.
At one time burning logs would have been more expensive than the gas central heating, but not now. It's a shame that my fireplace doesn't have a back boiler so that the log fire would heat my water too. But even so, there is something nice about sitting in front of a real fire rather than just having radiators heating the room.
The only problem with having a real fire is that it is so distracting. There is something almost meditative about watching the the flames dancing in the fireplace. I find myself watching them rather than the TV programme I'm trying to watch. Maybe that's a reflection on the quality of the programme that makes watching the fire more interesting.