Preparing for winter II

candie_gill

MRSTITTLEMOUSE wrote: »

Thats strange ,I bought two of those last week.
I have no idea why or what I'm going to do with them but I thought I would get a couple for my "might come in useful sometime" cupboard.
They are huge things so goodness knows what they'll get used for :rotfl:.

I'm sure you will find many uses in the run up to winter

Tonight i have sewn thick fleece behind my bedroom curtains, you would of never guessed its there as completely hidden. The curtains are made from black taffeta and now the fleece is behind they are completely thermal and blackout. I have noticed they look a lot better quality now they are lined too, cant believe i never thought of doing this before!

I also put some of the foil i bought behind the radiator, i taped it to the wall and its well concealed so no need to worry about it ruining the decor. I'm not sure if its going to make a difference, its really thin but its the same foil they put around people with hypothermia so surely should do something?

Picked up a kids umbrella for my LO as well as a wind up torch. The torch is fab, would never of guessed it was from the poundshop.

Eenymeeny

I know that it sounds a bit extreme but one of those emergency shelters kept in your 'winter car kit' could save a life. It's surprising how many people got caught out last year just picking kids up from school etc. I haven't seen them but if you could crawl into them while stuck inside the car for example, they could be very handy. I'll certainly be getting one thanks.

Sunnyday

Hi peeps :wave:

winter plans are coming along quite well here too, i`ve just put a curtain pole in the spare room and sealed around the edges of the window with a white sealant. Once thats dry i can seal the windowsill bit and then i need to paint the recess as the edge of the drill chipped it when drilling more holes for the vertical blind supports.

I hope to have the blind up in a few days when i`ve bought some masking tape to help finish the sealing as i`ve run out. I did see some in the pound shop and wish i`d picked it up then but now that i have an excuse to go back i shall pick up some of the foil blankets too

I don`t have any curtains yet for this room and i`m not sure that we will have the funds just yet but i have some of the fleece blankets so i shall put those up as a temporary measure until i manage to get some. When i line the curtains with fleece i tack a single length of header strip along the fleece and add some hooks and then hook it to the header on the back of the curtains, makes for quick and easy removal for washing too.

I`m another that has given up with the letter box partly due to the draft and partly due to a very naughty post eating dog which also pulled the new mail cage off the inside of the door :mad: We now have a post box on the side of the house and have taped up the letter pox and the difference is amazing. I shall get a permanent plate to fasten to the door when i get around to removing the letterbox completely and when we eventually get a new front door it will be without a letterbox altogether.

I`m saving up for some new curtains for the living room and so far so good, my current ones are around 20 years old and have been chopped and changed a few times to suit different windows so i think its about time for a treat, the old ones will be used elsewhere as they still have some life in them yet. I think the next thing that i need is socks, i have some winter socks but need some thinner ones to go underneath, this way i can wash the thin ones each day and get a few wears out of the thicker ones before washing. Does anyone else find that the thinner socks don`t seem to last two minutes these days? The ones that i have are only two years old and are full of holes. I only buy black ones so that when one gets bad i can throw it away and will always have a pair of good ones

SD

Desperate_Housewife_2-2

suzid wrote: »

I bought a car wash sponge recently especially for this purpose, 2 for £1 in A*da. We've an aluminium door and the sponge fits a treat between the two flaps. No more rattles in the night, though the postman will probably think we're bonkers if I don't remove it before he delivers.

thanks for the car sponge idea, I picked one up in wilkos for 34p but its big so will cut it down a bit.

I have a bambooish type blind up at my hall window which is big and even though double glazed can feel cold. I can't use curtains because wh had our loft done and the stairs cut across the corner of the window...not too noticeable but no chance of hanging a curtain pole up.

I was looking at thermal blinds but it will cost £50+ and I wondered if I could do something with the existing one? It is not sturdy enough to attach thick material so I was wondering about reflective paint or tape or something...has anyone any ideas? thanks

Cinny91

Eenymeeny wrote: »

I know that it sounds a bit extreme but one of those emergency shelters kept in your 'winter car kit' could save a life.

I just googled it and found this link. Is this the right one? I won't be buying any (no local £1lands) but thought it might help those wanting

annie123

Cinny91 wrote: »

I just googled it and found this link. Is this the right one? I won't be buying any (no local £1lands) but thought it might help those wanting

yep that's them.

My son tested one in his living room last year when we had snow. Turned off the heating and the room went down to 9c but in the tent he felt warmer.
Tried to try it in the garden but couldn't find anything to attach the string to that didn't mean sitting in the pond:eek:

candie_gill

The foil tents are huge, enough for a couple to lay down and camp out in. Would be very useful to cut down into wrap around blankets for the car if you are stranded in the cold. You could even use duck tape to make like a sleeping bag type of thing which would probably be more insulating over the top of a blanket. I'm terrified my little one will get cold if we get stranded so will deffo be doing this for him. I'm also going to keep an extra set of mittens, hat and scarf in my car box too for him, they lose these so often and when i'm out and about can nip back to the car if need be or even double up on what hes wearing if we get stranded in the cold. A couple of years ago my OH bought a drink of coffee, it comes in like a thermos can and when you pull the tab on the can it warms itself up. I have no idea how this works, but it was warm within minutes- going to google now and see about getting 6 or so.

MrsBunny

Hey

I have been actively reading this post....some great ideas :-)

I have bought a door curtain today for our drafty old cottage, next on the list is my knitted blanket...started this a few weeks ago as i have just started knitting again, hopefully i can finish it in time for the cold weather!!

I have my hubby onto making this cottage warmer this winter, it was SO cold last winter, we didnt do anything to the house to keep it warm as we only moved in in November and didnt have the money!

Will report back on any of my findings! bye for now, xx

annie123

Thought I'd paint the living room windows this coming week, looking tired, chipped paint etc so did what I always do and went around poking a sharp point in the wooden frames.

Wish I hadn't, wet rot at the bottom of one :mad: and I'm in a first floor maisonette, so will try to do most of it from the inside before I send hubby up a ladder in the evening after work.

Have now tried to make holes in all my window frames but couldn't:D

Winter preps now includes making sure the building is in good condition.
All the fleeces/window quilts/door sausages in the world won't help if the building is rotting away;)

Reverbe

Cinny91 wrote: »

I just googled it and found this link. Is this the right one? I won't be buying any (no local £1lands) but thought it might help those wanting

the ones at ours seem to be like a green popup tent type thing??