Preparing for winter II

redlady_1

I have heard today that some people are having to wait until the New Year for oil deliveries. Now that is definitely not good, especially combined with the price.

Just had a delivery of logs again this morning but somehow I dont think they will last too long!

saveabobortwo

just a thought before is chucks it down with snow / apparently got couple days yet do you have someone local / farmer who sells log i know may not be as economical individual bags but maybe you could get a couple of extra bags in store.

[Deleted User]

no tiff. Barbie would be outdoors in the freezing cold so I am hoping we don`t get a power cut

lostinrates

kittie wrote: »

no tiff. Barbie would be outdoors in the freezing cold so I am hoping we don`t get a power cut

I'm hoping so too. We also are electric. The other thing I always forget is to buy a non electric phone for use in power cuts.

Pitlanepiglet

I wouldn't use a BBQ inside, there have been a number of cases in recent years of people who have suffered from carbon monoxide poisoning having taken BBQ's into tents or vans to keep warm.

We always had loads of power cuts when I was a kid (I'm 41 now) and also in my 20's. All in areas with lots of overhead power cables. I'm still in the same location now but (touch wood) we haven't had any in ages. We're as prepared as we can be, we've got camping lighting and cooking facilities and full cupboards and freezers.

I did the last of my Christmas food shopping today, I had an order slot for Tuesday but given that we're pretty rural I'm concerned that if the weather comes in we might not get our shopping so I went out and got the extras today so we're now bedding in for the next couple of weeks. OH's 90 year old Mum is coming tomorrow, he's going to fetch her early to avoid any problems and to stop her worrying about whether she can get to us.

It might all come to nothing, but I'd rather be over prepared than under...

tiff

kittie wrote: »

no tiff. Barbie would be outdoors in the freezing cold so I am hoping we don`t get a power cut

Glad you said outside lol Its a good idea though, I wouldnt have thought of that.

Sylvan

Went out for the first time in 18 days. Most of our snow has gone so we thought it would be fairly safe to go shopping but there's still a fair amount of ice in the car parks. My crutches kept slipping!

We went to 5 supermarkets, spent around £250 and I'll not be able to move for the next few days, but we now have enough to last us from now till the boys go back to uni in the third week of Jan (when we can return to running down the outside freezer).

If the worst comes to the worst we've bought an extra 2 months supply of dog food:rotfl:

We had power cuts at Christmas a couple of times when the kids were small and after the second time they asked if we could do it every year, so it's now a family tradition to turn everything off and play board games by candlelight on the rug in front of the fire, while cremating bread on the toasting forks.

We have candles and wind-up torches in every room (though we seem to lose an average of one torch per year for some reason) and about 10 years ago I managed to find some "wee willie winkie"-type candle holders so even the young children can safely carry candles around, but we also have chandeliers at the top of the stairs and in the kitchen so we have enough light to move around even if we have our hands full.

We bought extra gas canisters for the little camping stoves at the beginning of November and the gas kettles are handy. As long as I can have my coffee and hot water bottles the weather can do what it likes!

sb44

tiff wrote: »

Thanks primrose, I'm in my 40's and live in Bristol where we usually dont get too much snow and I've never had a power cut but I think this weather coming is something we've not seen before. I might go and get one of those suitcase type camping stoves that use canisters, saw it in a cheap shop today for £6. At least we could boil water or heat soup and use it camping if its not required!

Shegar, no point leaving it till the weather is here, NOW is the time to prepare. Supermarket deliveries may be disrupted next week.

If you have a pressure cooker you could cook yourself a full meal on one of those camping stoves in a few minutes.

That's why I bought my pressure cooker the other week as we don't have a gas cooker and we already have a couple of those stoves (thought about trying camping then I wimped out).

bluebag

A head torch is amazing in a powercut, leaves both hands free and you can see what your doing.

Most of them ore LED and the batteries last ages. Great for reading in bed, washing up or cooking.

tiff

No, I'm one of those people who's a bit afraid of pressure cookers so I've never had one. Good idea though.