Aga kettle

Alright, this may well not be related to my TBI, but here we go.

Every night, I make myself a hot water bottle to go to bed with as my back tends to hurt in the night. Here is my usual routine:

When making dinner at night I fill the kettle and put my hottie by it, waiting.

When putting the dog out last thing at night I boil the kettle

When it’s boiled I fill the hottie

Done.

We’ve come down to my Mum and Dad’s for a summer holiday and things are a little different. They use an Aga which is basically a big hot oven that cooks food and can also heat the house. In order to boil the kettle, the following process is required:

Fill the kettle and put it on the hob

Sit and wait (what seems like an eternity) for the water to heat

Stand over it to see how hot the water is

Is it starting to boil?

Is it beginning to steam?

How long does this take?

Sit down again and wait

Is it steaming, it needs to for the water to be hot enough

How hot does it need to be?

How long is this going to take for goodness’ sake?!

I’m there for what seems like hours. I don’t know when to take the kettle off. I find it a bit stressful to be honest.

After the first night I asked my Dad whether he has an electric kettle? Yes they do. Could I use it for my hot water bottle please? My Mum is not impressed. She’s taking it as an insult to her Aga. But my Dad gets it out for me the next day. That night I stood over the electric kettle and realised something. The kettle itself decides when it’s ready. When done, it clicks off, ready for me. It’s like the decision is made for me, without me needing to make the executive decision. Is this lazy of me? Yes it is. But is that really a bad thing in life to let it decide for me?!