It’s late Monday night and it’s cold. That is, it’s cold by local standards. We don’t have central heat at our house so it’s generally chilly through nights during the winter and sometimes it’s chilly during the day. It was 11C in our bedroom when I finally dragged myself out of bed this morning. Our room is at the front of the house and tends to be a lot cooler than the back of the house. The living room, which is the next room, was almost two degrees warmer and the back of the house a bit more warmer still. I opened up the curtains and let the sun shine in this morning and it made me feel so much better. Nothing like solar heat to keep you going. :) Rain is expected tomorrow so there’s a good chance we’ll have a bit of reprieve from the chill although the addition of the damp might cancel out the effects of higher temperatures. That’s only if we actually get the rain, of course.

Meanwhile, my hands, and more specifically my fingers, are suffering more from the effects of cold this year. I’ve had symptoms of Raynaud’s disease (or syndrome or phenomenon ) for several years but it’s been fairly manageable or been of relatively short duration. This year, my circulation has been pretty poor in my hands and feet. Raynaud’s is characterised by up to three color changes to your fingers/toes/extremities caused by constriction of the blood vessels. In the past I’ve had two colors, white and red, but had never seen blue until quite recently. It was triggered when I took an almost icy cucumber from the refrigerator to cut up recently and I saw my fingers go a sort of purplish-blue. I couldn’t say for sure if my toes have gone blue before because I usually try to keep them well-covered at this time of year. Currently that means warm and fuzzy bed socks plus slippers. My toes are still cold despite the layers. I need to either buy or make some gloves for my hands. I crocheted some fingerless gloves a few years ago but they are a bit too big and chunky and don’t do a great job. I had another pair that was better but those seem to have gotten lost at some point. Perhaps it’s time to find a pattern and choose a nice soft yarn and make new ones.

I did manage to warm up for a little while today when I had to go into Perth to drop my camera off for a warranty repair. I had used our relatively new gps to help me find this place but got something of a run around. It initially sent tried sending me to a northern suburb even though I put Perth as the suburb. I realised it was off the track and tried to adjust the location and it wouldn’t let me choose Brisbane Street. It did relent and allow Brisbane Place so I went with it. I figured it would get me within the vicinity at the very least. This side street ended up being about three blocks from my destination. I parked on one of the back streets to get free parking and walked the three blocks and was quite warm by the time I arrived there. The walk back kept me quite comfortable so that I was close to being overheated in the relatively lightweight hoodie I was wearing. I remained for most of the rest of the afternoon. It was only when I returned home in the evening from the gym that I felt chilled again. Fortunately I know it’s not just me because the guys are all commenting on the coldness too.