Preparing for winter II

NualaBuala

tiff wrote: »

Yes, I've been following the netweather forums and also a weather forum on boards.ie as I have family in Ireland.

They are saying its being played down in the media and giving mixed messages. Netweather has regional threads so I'm following those to see what the experts are saying.

Oh I read that weather on on boards too, haven't checked it out this year as you lot keep me too busy! So is Ireland due for much snow, some of my forecast websites reckon yes we will get it today.

I LOVED all of you sharing your thoughts and memories, got me all nostalgic about my Nana and her range and Mum and her open fire. And I have always wanted mittens on a string through my coat! I must ask my sister if we warned about chillblains for if Mum gave up on us. We did have a neighbour who warned us about piles from sitting on a cold wall though!

Can I ask what everyone does with the ash? I know pure woodash can be used in the garden but was told coal ash was too toxic (has heavy metals in it). We used to use it sometimes to "grit" our drive and footpath. Can't think of any other use so it always ended up in the bin.

stiltwalker

Oh no it's just started snowing here, it's not allowed (sulk). Not long got rid of the last lot and was hoping this would stay off until at least tomorrow afternoon as I've got a very lovely friend of a friend bringing me my bread flour from a big bulk order they did. It's a 32kg sack and I've worked out this shold do us 10 to 12 weeks (yes we eat that much bread in our house!) depending on how many times I add a bit of wholemeal flour or fancy seedy flour to my loaves and this should see us through the worst of the winter but if the snow sets in we'll not get it up our little road, Burger!

stiltwalker

There's a lovely family story about a very small me sitting in front of the real fire of some friends of ours when I was little hoping that if I sat there long enough someone would come and light it for me!! - Then they pointed out to me that it was July! :rotfl:

Justamum

stiltwalker wrote: »

It's a 32kg sack and I've worked out this shold do us 10 to 12 weeks (yes we eat that much bread in our house!)

That would last about 8 weeks in our house! I find that when everybody's at home (ok DH mainly :rotfl:) when he gets bored (honestly it's like having another teenager in the house:D) he'll trot off to the kitchen and make toast or a sandwich. When he was away for a fortnight in SA in August I made 4 loaves before he went and put them in the freezer. We still had three left when he came back. I usually make bread every 2-3 days (4 loaves at a time!). Then he complains that he needs to lose weight!

I've tried to register with Netweather to get updates in my inbox, but it doesn't recognise my postcode so I can't get local updates.

stiltwalker

Only thing is Justamum there are only 2 adults and a 20 month old in our house so heaven help me how much I'm going to need when DD and bump are teenagers! I make bread every day as don't have freezer space for bread although I suppose in this weather I could just leave it outside the back door!

OH laughed earlier in the year when I started filling the pantry with supplies and I've had several friends ask if I'm expecting WW3 but was so comforting to know that I didn't have to worry about running out of stuff when the weather got bad. Must get my wonderful and ever so practical father to trick out my undersairs cupboard with proper shelves though as filled up the ones I have and just had to stack stuff after that.

Justamum

stiltwalker wrote: »

Only thing is Justamum there are only 2 adults and a 20 month old in our house so heaven help me how much I'm going to need when DD and bump are teenagers! I make bread every day as don't have freezer space for bread although I suppose in this weather I could just leave it outside the back door!

Crikey - you win! :rotfl:There is a thread on here called 'outside fridge' or something like that. I'm sure there are definitely places in the UK where it's probably colder outside than a deep freeze :eek:

stiltwalker wrote: »

OH laughed earlier in the year when I started filling the pantry with supplies and I've had several friends ask if I'm expecting WW3 but was so comforting to know that I didn't have to worry about running out of stuff when the weather got bad. Must get my wonderful and ever so practical father to trick out my undersairs cupboard with proper shelves though as filled up the ones I have and just had to stack stuff after that.

My DH is very keen on bushcraft sites, and 'preparing for the unthinkable' sites, and has been telling me for ages that I need to start getting a stockpile of food. I just wish I had somewhere to keep a decent stock. I've started a stockpile this week so I have a long way to go, but as the saying goes, every journey begins with the first step (or something like that )

Justamum

sb44 wrote: »

I'm not sure if this would work or not but...............

Regarding going on a car journey and being prepared, I had the idea of filling hot water bottles and putting them in one of those Thermos bags, the ones that are silver lined.

That way they should stay warm for a few hours ready to use if needed.

That sounds like a good idea. Don't forget the blankets too! I'm hoping that the bad weather holds off until Saturday (or even better holds off altogether) - I get my grocery money today, and need to go to Tesco for some of it tomorrow. As the children finish tomorrow it won't bother me if I can't drive after the weekend as long as I can stock up with the basics.

Actually it's sunny outside and it's quite warm on my face as I sit here. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

alec_eiffel

We keep our picnic blankets in the car in case of emergency, they're fleecy on one side but have a waterproof backing so if we did have to stand outside in the wet or cold we could keep warm and a bit of the moisture off too.

amani_2

Justamum wrote: »

That sounds like a good idea. Don't forget the blankets too! I'm hoping that the bad weather holds off until Saturday (or even better holds off altogether) - I get my grocery money today, and need to go to Tesco for some of it tomorrow. As the children finish tomorrow it won't bother me if I can't drive after the weekend as long as I can stock up with the basics.

Oh yeah, and if you put the blankets in with the hot water bottles, they would be lovely and warm.

Eenymeeny

Re-nostalgia and mittens does anyone remember 'pixie hoods'? I remember my mother sewing folded scaves part way along from the middle IYKWIM! so that they went on your head like a hood and fastened under the chin and tucked in under your coat..no annoying little draughts and they stayed on! I saw a similar idea in New Look the other day, sorely tempted but £15. Too much for a scarf on my budget but might try a home-made one.:) Just for going out in the dark or really cold you understand...:o:D