Preparing for winter II

Confuzzled

Rainy-Days wrote: »

I have a really nice M&S wool jacket which is dog tooth in design but it is dated and I think I would get allot more use if I just dyed it black - that is next on my hit list I think I am just hoping it will turn out okay though :cool:

what i've found with dying things is that if you have a natural fibre it will dye nicely, however the threads might not if they are synthetic. being that it's from marks it may well use good cotton thread anyway. it may be that the stitching doesn't show through or if it does hopefully it's black already. if it's white you could test a bit in an inconspicuous spot with some felt tip marker. if it shows through a bit and doesn't become completely saturated with the black ink it's probably synthetic however it might look ok depends on how fussy are about that kind of thing. i find on jeans different coloured stitching can look kinda cool... anyway just something to consider before you buy the dye. if the thread is black you're fine either way!

Sunnyday

SuziQ wrote: »

The tank does get too hot to touch, so I am bemused by what I can put up around it to stop heat escaping. Does anyone have any ideas what I could use? My ex just shrugged his shoulders and said he hadn't got a clue when I asked him!

Hi SuziQ,

do you have any old polystyrene packing lying around anywhere?

I remember at our old house we had blocks of the stuff behind the hot water tank, you could buy a cheap pack of polystyrene tiles and sellotape a few together and stuff them up into the gap behind the tank.

Test some on the front of the tank first, our tank didn`t get too hot to touch but quite close. The poly can melt at really hot temperatures but i don`t think a tank would get hot enough to do this. Its a really good insulator.

For those peeps decorating and having trouble with mould etc you can buy polystyrene on a roll like wallpaper. What we used to do is put lining paper on the bare wall, then a layer of polystyrene and then line it over the top before putting on wallpaper, when you redecorate you can just peel the top layer of paper off without it affecting the poly.

The warmest rooms in our old house were the ones that had been done like this. When we redecorate the smallest bedroom we will be doing this to the outside walls at least.

HTH

SD

Justamum

My quishions came from JML today. I got three lots of two, so I also have three booklights!

I'm going to suggest to my mum that she gets a stock of basic food in - bread, uht milk etc, because last winter they had to go out to the shops and really struggled. My dad's right leg doesn't work properly since his stroke, and my mum has arthritis in both hips.

mymerrywidow

candie_gill wrote: »

Does anyone know if i batch cook some meals and deep freeze them september time will they be ok through to January? I would like to make lots of stews, casserolles, chillis and currys anf pack my freezer out with them for when the snow comes.

yeap, thats not a problem

chirpychick

Hi everyone.
Well, my hob was repaired on Saturday (only took hubby 4 years to sort the electrician!) and our gutter is being repaired tonight.
Yesterday my MIL brought over 2 big bags of clothes! Theyre about 2 sizes to big really and should be even bigger come winter as i swim everyday to lose weight but she included loads of jumpers and cardigans and as i have none i figure i can just layer them or wear them over leggings or even for just lounging around the house in.
I also got 2 pairs of woolly socks from the charity shop.
I am utterly exhausted today and we are having left over HM quiche and baked potato for dinner and then i will be having an early night.
My final wages came today so i need to sit down and work out what is urgent to do before now and the winter and how much we can put aside for emergencies.
Bit scary now im officially unemployed.
Ive kind of lost my book with everything i had written down as id gone through the thread. Its going to take me a week to read through it again lol.
Oh and my very sheets/duvet covers came saturday and theyre lovely
It is very hard thinking about winter when its as hot as it is today - im reading the recommended long winter by laura ingalls wilder and it seems impossible to imagine that when its 24 degrees!

Ida_Notion

chirpychick wrote: »

It is very hard thinking about winter when its as hot as it is today - im reading the recommended long winter by laura ingalls wilder and it seems impossible to imagine that when its 24 degrees!

I was thinking the same thing when trying (and mostly failing!) to get my head into 'preparation' mode earlier. It's not just the heat that makes it difficult, it's the extreme humidity we're experiencing along with it here. Trying to come up with future ways to keep warm only makes you feel the heat more intensely, and even though I keep looking out of the window trying to picture the street under inches of snow as it was in December, there is always someone wandering around in shorts and flip-flops out there who is willing to spoil the illusion

I was so pleased with my Quishions when they turned up that I put my mum onto them and now she's got some too. They were a lot bigger than I imagined they'd be when opened up, covering the entire surface of our double bed. The accompanying reading lights are a bit blinding though, to say the least!

I don't think I've ever bought bottled water in my life, but found three huge bottles of the stuff Yellow Stickered in Asda the other day (best before Dec 31st 2012) and so have bought and stashed them in the cupboard under the stairs. I'm fairly secure in the knowledge we won't need them due to emergency as we've never lost the water supply in winter here (power cuts a decidely different story), but experience has taught me that if I'd left the bottles in Asda then our water supply would be the first thing to go

SpikyHedgehog

La-Cara wrote: »

for anyone looking to buy leggings/thermal longjohns, Asda do great thick thermal tights for £3. They come in black and dark grey, and are so much warmer than leggings. I always find that leggings just take the chill off, whereas these actually keep you warm! I work outside a lot and they are great under trousers.

I had a look on their site, but would have to pay p&p from George and couldn't see anything else I wanted. If I go to Asda for shopping, I'll look out for them.

I walk DS2 a mile to school before getting the bus to work, and reverse it at the end of the day, plus I work in a preschool so we're in and out. Last year I wore tights under my jeans and socks and it really helped.

I took a dressing gown back to Sains. earlier - I go it in July thinking it was a towelling one, but it was a short fleecy one (what's the point of short thick warm dressing gowns? I love long ones so I can tuck my feet up in them!). So got the money back on my card, had a wander round and got 2 packs of 3 60 denier tights for £4 each to stash for winter. Now in the freezer to help avoid runs.

Rainy-Days

Confuzzled wrote: »

what i've found with dying things is that if you have a natural fibre it will dye nicely, however the threads might not if they are synthetic. being that it's from marks it may well use good cotton thread anyway. it may be that the stitching doesn't show through or if it does hopefully it's black already. if it's white you could test a bit in an inconspicuous spot with some felt tip marker. if it shows through a bit and doesn't become completely saturated with the black ink it's probably synthetic however it might look ok depends on how fussy are about that kind of thing. i find on jeans different coloured stitching can look kinda cool... anyway just something to consider before you buy the dye. if the thread is black you're fine either way!

It's wool mainly and the care label says dry clean only :eek: but I think if I am careful I should be okay. The dog tooth design is like a dark cream colur with dark brown (almost black looking) intersections. I am going to bit the bullet on it I think because with black I can use it for so much more. It is four years old now and as I say if people spot it they will know roughly how old it is because anything like that with a striking pattern from M&S pretty much knows!

SuziQ

Thanks to squeeky-I will re-post on the other forum. And Sunnyday, not sure about the polystyrene-the tank really does get hot. I have used it to line wardrobes which suffer from condensation with good effect, and still have some in the loft-will try that at the front wher I can eyeball what happens, thank you!

Money_maker

SpikyHedgehog wrote: »

I had a look on their site, but would have to pay p&p from George and couldn't see anything else I wanted. If I go to Asda for shopping, I'll look out for them.

You can order from Asda for free collection from store. I did this yesterday with a swimsuit and other bit and pieces on sale for DD. Should be ready for collection at end of the week.

Picked up 5ltre Holts All Season screenwash today, half price at £1.50 in Mr T's if anyone needs any. Think offer expires on 4th.