Needing to wear thermals or long johns and undercoats is reasonably unusual in Australia, unless you visit the snow, and then the insulation is usually built into the ski clothing, but here in the UK, even though it is Spring, I have needed to wear them. I have felt the need to wear thermals especially on my legs, or long johns, not sure what they should be called. Pete has some that look like leggings, but mine have an elasticised waistband like a pair of men’s jocks. Anyway, no matter what you call them, they are wonderful and have saved my legs, arms and body from freezing to a state of solid ice!! It seems though, that there is quite an art to managing them once they are on. Going on is dead easy, a step by step process each morning starting with the undies, finishing with my socks. But OMG, going to the loo during the day has been quite the challenge. Down go my jeans, and with them, everything else, which is the really easy bit, and almost impossible not to do it in one step as the three layers cling together like old gladwrap. Not too much of a challenge at all, even in a confined space as most public conveniences seem to be. For a germ freak, this is also a positive, as no chance of my trouser bottoms hitting the floor!! The next part of this tale is too ridiculous not to be funny, even though it is my own expense, and unfortunately, I don’t think I can even blame dementia. If it was possible, I’d draw a cartoon of it, just for the hell of it; perhaps one day my DH will, along with one of me sitting on the floor to dry my hair back at the Aloft Hotel! So, business over and done with, and up to get my trousers back on and out the door. Except for one thing, the three layers that went down so easily won’t come up together. As I’m always in a hurry to get out of a public loo, I try to get them up together, but only the jeans will come up, the undies stay where they are, the long johns seem to hold my knees together so tightly if it wasn’t for the walls being so close together, I’d fall over. A task that seemed so easy in the morning suddenly becomes almost impossible! The only way to get the job done is to back up, very slowly, and dig for the first layer, my undies. Then, finding the long johns and unbinding them from the insides of my jeans is vaguely possible, as long as I stand very still and go even more slowly with my legs very close together… I’ve been practicing this for almost two weeks now, and as long as I remember the game of patience, it really is plain sailing! Oh, and on the folly of wearing thermals, please feel free to leave me a few tips.