Botulism from incorrectly kept cheese?

[pulisa]

In a couple of words - "not yet".

No pressure, PM. I imagine it's hard to think about tomorrow when you're struggling to get through today?

[fishman65]

Search for "Belling Champion Heater" and you'll find out how

That's some heater you have there PM, are they collector's items now?

[pulisa]

The old ones were built to last..

[Pamplemousse]

That's some heater you have there PM, are they collector's items now?

If you're of a certain mindset, yes. A friend of mine has five keeping an exhibition space warm and dry throughout the year. As it happens, I do collect Belling electric fires (amongst other items) - the one I use to heat where I sit is late 60s (there are subtle clues in the design changes), the one upstairs is smaller and much earlier - just post-war, I reckon. The basic design lasted 30 years in production; I think the Belling "Adam" fire was in production virtually unchanged for 50 years!

The oldest fire I have is from about 1920, and I have three other pre-WW2 models in the collection. At the moment I have no gas fire in the front room (not that I could use it anyway) and I need a new surround really, but I did consider not having a replacement fire fitted and merely using the space to showcase the various models in the collection.

[Pamplemousse]

The old ones were built to last..

A friend of mine also collects electric fires, but those made by Berry. I gave him a nice black/gold "Princess" (c. 1955) complete with its box and the first thing he said to me upon receipt was "they're a proper job - heavy and well-made."

This is a "Princess", with log-effect fire (coal was also available);

Belling log Princess.png.jpg

I've also got several catalogues, dating back to the 1914-15 season, just two years after Charles Belling started the company. The brand name is now owned by Glen Dimplex.

[fishman65]

So is this a 'hobby' PM? Or is that too simplistic? It's certainly different and the cliche 'they don't make them like that anymore' applies here.

What I'm fascinated by is WW2 aircraft and museums pertaining to that period. There are a few airfields in my area where Spitfires, Hurricanes and the occasional Mustang can be seen. During the summer months it becomes normal to hear the familiar rumble of a Merlin engine overhead and look up to see a Spitfire.

In 2018 I pulled into the car park of a local airfield to be confronted by two Messerschmitt BF109s. Amazing to see them up close, they are still flying as well as the British planes.

[NoraB]

Hot water would make a difference, rather than dragging a kettle up the stairs, boiling water and filling the sink then pouring it over me.

Yes, that would make a difference.

I've always been like this, if I'm honest, but I have got a lot worse this last few months (and before anyone goes on about it, it's got sod-all to do with Covid or lockdown, okay?). Truthfully, I only got showered/bathed when Mrs. PM was alive because I had to go to work. I used to work with a couple of people whom you were well advised to stand upwind of; one was an alcoholic, the other was dealing badly with a failed relationship. And yes, she would prompt me.

As I said, this would be Hubs if I wasn't around to prompt him, so you're not on your own there PM.

There are things in my past I don't share on here that certainly stop me from this.

I hear you. I have a past too, I'd write my memoirs only I reckon parents of autistic girls would have nightmares..

I've been clinically depressed but it didn't affect me in terms of cleanliness - personal or home. I went the other way (OCD clean) I would lie in the bath for hours and sometimes have numerous baths a day. The house was scrubbed clean until my hands bled. I was the opposite to you. But I stopped caring in other ways, and I stopped feeling those emotions which light up my autistic brain like a Christmas tree (in a good way) and I'd take anxiety over that any day.

I know from reading many of your posts that, unlike a few on here, you're in no way "some kind of purple wearing positivity ponce" (funnily enough, as a child my favourite shirt was purple) and clearly there's some back story to you. Similarly, there's stuff I've dealt with that I don't want to talk about.

My favourite colour is purple lol. Suits me green eyes innit. But I've come across a lot of so-called 'love 'n' lighter - 'namaste' types on forums and they are as false as it gets.

I am a hoarder too btw, but in an ordered way if that makes sense? I've kept every special card since I was 16. I have boxes upon boxes of sentimental 'stuff'. I have literally hundreds of books, records and 1930s and 1940s memorabilia. My house is a shrine to those eras. I've got Winston Churchill in my kitchen and a massive 'never was so much owed by so many to so few RAF airmen poster on my wall. It's the OCD which reigns things in because it just can't function in chaos..

Anyway, I'm rambling - as I do..

People care about you PM. You're amongst friends on here. We don't need to know your life history in order to support you.

No matter what's happened to you, or even if it's something you've done (mixture of both with me) - you can get out of this with the right support. It's never too late to turn things around in order to be in a better place mentally, spiritually and ever other ally. It won't be easy, but the things which are worth doing rarely are. I've been in a seemingly 'impossible' situation where I could literally see no way out, but I did eventually find a way, and I'm in a much better place. It goes to prove that nothing is as impossible as we think. Nothing can ever be perfect because perfection doesn't exist - though Tom Hardy comes very close! I just refuse to let the past ruin my present and future.

But I know that my story isn't your story and you have to find your way as I found mine. You have this support on here. Folk care about you. It's a start?

Have you ever had any therapy for the issues in your past? I get that you can't talk about them on here but have you spoken to a therapist?

[pulisa]

Nothing much has changed in my house since I moved in in 1986. I've still got the avocado bath suite and a Debonair gas fire (not used) in the lounge. I've got a tiny kitchen with crumbling units, a basic cooker (very basic) and peeling lino on the floor...but it still functions so I'm not bothered. Anyone mad enough to buy this house would completely gut it but I consider myself lucky to have a roof over my head at the moment so am just preserving what I have!

I'm not keen on therapists delving into my past. Just can't see the point.

[Pamplemousse]

Nothing much has changed in my house since I moved in in 1986. I've still got the avocado bath suite and a Debonair gas fire (not used) in the lounge. I've got a tiny kitchen with crumbling units, a basic cooker (very basic) and peeling lino on the floor...but it still functions so I'm not bothered. Anyone mad enough to buy this house would completely gut it but I consider myself lucky to have a roof over my head at the moment so am just preserving what I have!

Until 2014 and a badly-carried out "refurbishment" I had my brother's 1975 Tricity cooker and it was forcibly replaced. I am on the lookout for one on eBay.

Your comment about refurbishment reminds me of my much loved and missed great-aunt, who had to finally buy a new cooker after her old Belling expired. The electricity board refused to connect it to her wiring and so she had the house rewired by them (pre-privatisation, as you can tell). The young lad who did the survey noted that the back bedroom of her end-of-terrace (built around the 1890s) had neither a light or a power point in it and asked her if she'd like one fitted. The response was classic "Auntie";

"Young man, I've not had a light in here since we bought the house in 1936 - whoever has this place when I'm gone can worry about that."

For the records, that was the early 90s...

[pulisa]

Good for her..She sounds like she was a very determined lady who would take no new-fangled nonsense!

My previous cooker had an eye level grill and was a true relic...My dad hated it and wanted me to replace it but it worked really well. Eventually I had to replace it with a Flavel Milano 50. It does the job and I'm no gourmet cook. Just want the oven and hob to function-nothing fancy.

Nothing lasts now. I've just had to replace a 3 year old fridge freezer because the motor burnt out. My previous one lasted for many years...