really old style living?

witchwoopiggy

umm the last mod con for me to give up would have to be the internet, purely because with out being able to get on here i would be lost , as i would not be able to read and learn how to do the thins to be old style and ask all those daft questions, as i have no family who could teach me

seasalt_2

Electricity (washing machine, computer and sewing machine - although I would love a treadle) for me too. Fortunately, our cooking, heating and hot water is solid fuel although the runt of a radiator in this house is in my workroom and have got a class in here this morning - hope they all come with good thick woollies or we might have to move to the kitchen and the rayburn! Hope you're surviving Mardatha and anyone else snowed in.

NualaBuala

:eek: What if I had to choose between internet and washing machine aargh?!

I've been wondering about wood supply too. I don't see the point in getting a wood burner unless you KNOW you have a sustainable, affordable source of wood.

On the subject of open fires - well old ones look pretty big. Mine is average size and has to be going ages before the room heats up. And the temperature varies depending what I burn - proper coal (which is not allowed here any more) seems to give out the best heat. I practically sit on top of it till the room warms up ... I guess that is what people did. Then again, you see some of the huge rooms in stately homes, like ballrooms and they were heated by open fires too.

Charis

NualaBuala wrote: »

:eek: What if I had to choose between internet and washing machine aargh?!

I've been wondering about wood supply too. I don't see the point in getting a wood burner unless you KNOW you have a sustainable, affordable source of wood.

On the subject of open fires - well old ones look pretty big. Mine is average size and has to be going ages before the room heats up. And the temperature varies depending what I burn - proper coal (which is not allowed here any more) seems to give out the best heat. I practically sit on top of it till the room warms up ... I guess that is what people did. Then again, you see some of the huge rooms in stately homes, like ballrooms and they were heated by open fires too.

I agree with you about the sustainable source of wood. It also has to be dry or it won't burn at all well, and needs chopping to size if obtained in the wild. My friend has two wood burners and an open fire and has wood stored all along the outside walls of her home. Not something you could do easily in town.

Re the stately homes, didn't many of the owners shut up a lot of the rooms for the winter ?

I remember my Nan's tiny house, no electricity, so they had gas mantles, no proper fireplace, but a Victorian range with a small fireplace and tiny oven. My aunt had to light it every morning. In the scullery there was a butler sink with one cold tap and the lavatory was outside. They lived in that house from 1940 when they were bombed out of their old house, until 1964, when it was pulled down. People will soon be flocking from all over the world to the place, not to visit the house but because the ground is now being covered by the 2012 Olympics site. Less than 50 years ago the housing was that primitive in the east end of London.

Charis

Did anyone else watch 'Housewife 49' last evening? I missed it at least twice when it was on before, although I've read both the books and had a chance to see some of her original diary pages online when I was doing a course (they're now at Sussex University).

I felt the characters were just as I had pictured them (except Victoria Wood's rather felted wig) and the best bits of the story came over really well, but there was absolutely no indication of how little they had to eat on a daily basis. Dear old Nella was a whizz with the cooking, which her husband took completely for granted. No more than a passing mention of all the knitted toys she made either, which helped to save her sanity at the time.

I wonder what she would say if she knew how popular her writings became? She always wanted to be an author. The TV version is a very good plug for journalling as therapy and for voluntary work, both subjects close to my heart. It was the 120th anniversary of her birth this year!

RAS

NualaBuala wrote: »

Then again, you see some of the huge rooms in stately homes, like ballrooms and they were heated by open fires too.

For the most part people lived in stately homes in the summer and London in the winter, because the roads were so bad. Most of the house was closed up for the winter.

What reports there are of people using them in winter suggest they were freezing other than a few select rooms.

Hence the large high backed chairs drawn up to the fire, with rugs to keep off the draughts, and the four poster beds which kept the heat in.

From somewhere esle (poland? Russia) I remember reading about cards games etc which were played round a round table covered with a very thick floor length cloth. Under the cloth a low charcoal brazier kept the temperature around the players feet reasonable.

I suspect the best place in a stately home in winter was the kitchens with all the fires going?

NualaBuala

Oh I loved Housewife 49, saw it when it was on before and bawled my eyes out watching it.

Sounds very sensible shutting up big grand stately homes (or parts of them). Mardatha, you hear that? Decamp down to your winter palace in London!

I want to do the same on a small scale - close up unused rooms and switch off/down heat in them but the knobs are broken and so can't do it yet them (long sad saga, waiting for the company to honour their promise to fix it).

Hippeechiq

ginnyknit wrote: »

Oh big news got a tax rebate owed from when I finished work so Christmas will be better than I thought and will use it as wisely as possible - new knickers for me are a priority - I daren't get run over at the mo:rotfl:

:rotfl: love it! Pleased for you too ......about having the rebate, not the dodgy knickers

How's the house? All back to normal now?

ceridwen wrote: »

but have tried and tried and tried again over the years to get it to work properly, rather than just being tepid....)

I hope this doesn't come across as insulting your intelligence, as that's not my intent, but have you tried "bleeding" it?

I've got one in my hall that is an old looking thing, and no thermostat on it that I've been able to find, but once the heating is on regularly this time of year, I have to bleed it every 2-3 weeks, and before I've had time to let the air out of it and tighten it back up fully again, the radiator is too hot to bear your hand on......just a thought

Or maybe try bleeding them all to make sure the whole system is free of air?

seasalt_2

Thanks for that reminder hippeechiq - something I ought to do too and I haven't done for ages!

annie123

Someone on this thread has their own home page with great printable jam labels and lots of other useful crafty stuff.
I know I've book marked it but my bookmarks are like my home at present, cluttered

Anyone know who I mean please?:D