Cold Days

It is really cold today and we have all had to wrap up warm...one thing we expect to do in England.. though not in Thailand a hot tropical countries.

There were not many really cold days, mostly cold mornings. There would be that hazy cold air which often comes in hot countries on cold mornings, the smell of wood burning and desire to wrapp up warm with what ever you can find.

We would wake up and feel the cold seeping through the walls of the house. Our house was made of wood, nailed in ship lap style. On the inside you could still feel the roughness of the wood and sometimes see through a wood knot to the world outside.
Most of the time it was great to have these little cracks because the cooling air would come through and shift the hot air to somewhere else. The front of the house had big tall doors which folded back to allow the air in and as part of the culture in Thailand, to have an open house.
On a cold morning all you wanted to do was hibernate until it got warmer. On mornings like that we would only oen one door until it had warmed up enough, usually aroung 9:30-10:00.

From November to February was cold season. Most of the time during the day it was a nice warm temperature and we went around in t-shirts and shorts but when it started to get dark around 7 pm the air became quite cool and in the morning we could sometimes see our breathe.
It was such a novelty to have to wear jumpers, thick sock and wander round with blankets draped around our shoulders.

In the evening, mum would light a fire on the charcaol cooker on the lower porch and put this big blackened kettle on it. This water would be for our bath. She put it in a big tin washtub in our bathroom and we could have a warm bath. I think if there was any water left over she would make a cup of tea with it!!! We did have a gas cooker but I think it was easier to heat the bath water on the charcoal stove as it got in the way of her cooking dinner.

Ovaltine and Milo are another memory I have of cold days. It was the only hot chocolate you could get. Whenever we were travelling and wanted a warm drink we would buy ovaltine or milo depending on what the shop sold. Ovaltine was in orange tins and milo green tins. The thai make it up with hot water and an inch thick layer of sweetened condensed milk at the bottom....children's idea of heaven...horribly sweet!!!