to wonder if I am Victorian?

[MitchyInge]

my poor feet are all blistery with chilblains

I feel like something out of Dickens

Watch out you don't get a head-cold in this wet weather. They can be fatal...

I got up this morning, swept the hearth, fetched coal out of the coalshed, got water out of the well, made a big pan of porridge, chopped some logs and then rubbed my poor frozen feet.

Everything comes back into fashion eventually. Victoriana is having its day.

Of course I've also been on the Internet, typed naughty swears about GMTV and let dd watch cbeebies while having porridge. I'm not a purist.

I too got up and wearing my fingerless cashmere gloves and scarf cleaned out the huge stove and relit it. Then lugged the 7 pans of ashes to the garden as fertiliser.

Then lugged coal and logs in from the snow in the back garden.

But I'm now drinking coffee which would have been too expensive for morning consumption in Victorian times

I've never had chilblains

are you wearing sheepskin boots - I bought some from Celtic Sheepskin at the start of winter and they are all I wear in the house now - I have freezing feet so when its particularly cold i wear thick cashmere socks with my sheepskin boots.

think is probably combination of Raynauds + leaky boots + being outside all day in snow and now slush for what feels like years

can ashes go in the compost heap then?

I don't have a compost heap here (i do on the allotment but gardens too small) so I've just been lazily distributing them on the flower beds so I hope its ok.

Sealskinz socks are amazing if you are out in the wet all day - they are totally waterproof, yet let your feet breathe and are cosy. Combined with fleece welly liners, dry and warm feet all day.

I was totally when DH first bought some, but am amazed at how good they are as I borrowed them since my walking boots leak

ah,I have met sealskinz gloves before I think - if the socks are anything like that they will be amazing

in meantime have come home to have a small snivel about painful feet, maybe I've actually got trenchfoot or something?

here, dear sister, is a Victorian homne remedy for the alleviation of chilblains (a most distressing ailment)

Take an onion, chop in half, rub juice into affected parts.
Twill provide blessed relief from the itching and redness.
Meanwhile, have the maid bring a stool for you to raise the limbs, and induce her to give your poor afflicted feet a massage.

Mitchy, my remedy for your poor chillblained toes is to immerse them in a bowl of warm urine. Not hot, there is no need to boil it up, fresh from the body would suffice.
Ensure you loosen your stays too, a touch of the vapours can be most discombobulating.

DH bought me a pair of the riding gloves for christmas - wore them to make snowmen, and had dry and toasty hands, which was weird when they are so thin.

Have you got any peppermint oil around ? It seems v effective on cold and painful feet - my dad swears by rubbing (don't laugh) Uddermint which is a peppermint oil based cream into his feet. You can buy it at the feed merchants

ashes can go on the compost if they're just wood ashes. (or on the beds, or under the gooseberry bush etc)
ashes from coal fire cannot go on the compost, nor can they go on the beds under the plants. this is because the ash from coal is toxic. (forget how, but it's very very bad)

MitchyInge, I've had chilblains every winter for as long as I can remember. This year, for the first time, I've not allowed my feet to get cold at all - have worn two or three pairs of socks plus slippers in the house then thermal socks (2+ pairs) when going outside. Also, I haven't had a bath at all, only showers. So far (touches wood), my toes have been fine - previous years have been agony.

I feel your pain

ah it is insanely painful to put them in hot water isn't it, can remember thinking would be preferable to amputate them myself without an anaesthetic

have found long socks and long boots v helpful in recent winters, instead of just wrapping up my extremities, but this has been an exceptionally cold winter hasn't it and I spend far too much time out in it each day

have had a good chuckle at some of those remedies though

Or, less amusingly, you can get ibuprofen gel from the pharmacy - you just rub it in and is v good for superficial pain like chilblains

Actually, the onion juice is supposed to work...!

So is the urine, no peeling or chopping required either, just a bowl deep enough to put your feet into.

mmmmmm-kay......

ugh, though thanks for the ideas

they are much less painful today, I think I might stay in all weekend and see if that helps them?

people do not understand how precious staying in has become after a couple of weeks of working outside in the snow and slush and ice for hours 5 or 6 days a week

i wonder if those self-heating handwarmers would work on your feet? slip them into the bottom of your thick socks when you're at home?