Preparing for winter II

Sunnyday

Woohoo! - the fleeces that i ordered a while ago have arrived today, i ordered two first and was so pleased with them that i ordered another 4 but they were OOS so i had to wait quite a while for them, they are great quality. Two of them will be put to one side as birthday and Christmas pressies for DH so moneysaving and practical too. I have gradually replaced most of DH`s clothed with things that don`t need to ironed so i`m really pleased.

I`ve harvested most of the carrots from the garden and some of the potatoes too. I`ve also got a glut of onions this year and have already picked lots and there are tons more left. These have all been dehydrated, vac packed and frozen, some of the onions have been chopped and frozen too. I now have my winter supply to call on and lots of surplus onions. I`m just waiting for the tomatoes to ripen and the peppers too and then i shall get to work on those.

I froze a couple of bags of breadflour for just over 24 hours and last night i took it out again to get back to room temperature, this morning it has been vac packed and put into my overspill lidded storage box underneath the bed. This was an absolute godsend last year as when the snow hit and the shops ran out of bread everyone wanted flour and there was none around for ages. I have one pack of dried yeast in the box too and i shall add to it until i have 8 bags of flour and two boxes of yeast.

My bathroom curtains are still hanging over the back of the chair until my day off and then i can cut the fleece to size to make the linings and then they will be put back up. I seem to be behind in the more time consuming jobs and in front with the quick fix things so i need to get my act together.

Oh and we had a parrafin heater in a room in our old house but not for long as the condensation was terrible and we ended up with mould everywhere, so if anyone else is considering those then please bare this in mind, a little electric fan heater with a frost setting would probably be a wise investment as it only turns itself on below certain temps.

I have dug out the wind up lantern that i bought last year along with the wind up torch and radio so i`m prepared if we should need those, the lantern is great and was a good buy, i got one for Dad too and he was really pleased with it. I think that my next job will be to create a power cut box and put everything in it within easy reach as there`s nothing worse than trying to scrabble around for things in the dark - ask me how i know

SD

slm6002

anyone have a link to cheap snowsuits for my children - aged 6 and 4 by winter? had a quick look but still too expensive for me

Money_maker

Mountain warehouse do some cheap ski jackets http://www.mountainwarehouse.com/kids/clothing/ski-jackets/?n=20&s=price-up not sure if this is what you're looking for though.

Elisheba

My Winter To Do List so far:
Candles - check we are all stocked up
Make sure I know where the wind up torch is
Cat litter/dishwasher salt for the paths
Make sure I have some tin of food and frozen milk/cheese that will do if the weather gets too bad to easily shop
Check winter coats/shoes/jumpers - think I'll have to get at least a couple of our shoes resoled, and might have to buy some new jumpers.
Start stocking up on coal/kindling/newspapers - really very much an indulgence for us financially, but I love a fire on a dreech winters night
Hats/scarves/glove - make sure we are stocked up.
Get winter quilt to a laundrette and cleaned
get net curtains for living roon
Slippers flor DH
Start looking at buying XMAS bits and pieces now
Make up an emergency car kit
Start thinking about wintery crafts - look out knitting, investigate hook rugging, and making rice bag warmers
Get started on planting some winter veg in the allotment.

One of the things I have already done, due to needing them for going away on a camp, is to buy a few pairs of walking trousers off ebay. So that will be useful. I have also made some (Rather unset I am afraid) marmalade, so thats a nice sweet to have in.

slm6002

for all of you that have light coloured car seats and children i find it very helpful to put a waterproof sheet and then a fleece over the seats but under the car seats in wet weather. When they climb into their car seats covered in snow and mud i dont have to worry quite as much. To be honnest it stays on the seats most of the year!

slm6002

thinking of getting these for my kids
http://www.trekwear.co.uk/s/kids-drip-drop-all-in-one-suit/19530/Product.aspx

this is my 1st ever link so hope it works. Anyway they look waterproof and warm and are quite a good price - plus i can hand down DD's one next year once outgrown as only navy in stock!

Fruball

eughhhhhhhhhh back to thinking about winter preps again! Madness as its 25c here today... But the summer hols will fly by, and soon after that the chills will set in :eek:

I was reasonably prepared last year thanks to this thread - didn't have to go out for food/supplies etc so that was good, but what I didn't bargain for was my frozen washing machine and pipes outside... remember anyone?!!! So, I am thinking about investing in the heat tape for pipes - looks like it will cost me about £60 (unless anyone can point me somewhere cheaper) but it will be well worth it - 5 days with no WM and young kids was NOT funny!!!

I have another pipe outside, only about 10 inches exposed, which needs something doing too but I haven't decided what yet - last year it got wrapped in tinfoil and fleeces with a few bricks over the top - didn't work well so need ideas on that pretty please

Got my wind up lantern from MrT last year - kids broke/lost their wind up torches :mad: so will need to replace those.

I had plenty of DW salt in last year too My path was one of the only ones in my road to be snow/ice free:T

It really makes such a difference being prepared even if friends and family take the mick - I never want a repeat of the year before :eek:

restless_me

Great thread!! Thanks for the handy checklist, I've used it to write my own, lots to do over the next few weeks!

I'm about to move into a pre-1900's cottage with oil central heating and am dreading the oil bills but I love winter, hibernating and lists so I'm trying to focus on the positives!

So far I have:
- Ordered and stacked logs
- Ordered a moisture meter from eBay so I can check they're dry enough (if not I might have to 'borrow' some from parents!)
- Stocked up with tins/dry food & candles
- Washed our snuggly dressing gowns
- Checked we have plenty of winter woolies
- Dug out my ancient silk thermals (best ones I've ever had, they're way comfier and warmer than my other thermals but are dropping to bits!)

Still to do:
- Repaint a few of our windows
- Find a decent draught/rain seal for our front door
- Put Muck Boots on my Christmas list (please Santa!!) - they are way out of my price range but people I know swear by them for warm dry feet in winter and I'm outside a lot so I think it's worth it
- Make plenty of hearty freezer meals - sausage casserole, venison stew, curries, pasta bolog and sausage pasta bake YUM
- Sell some bits on eBay for my Yaktrax fund!!
- Lose a stone so I can fit into my winter clothes...or maybe I should keep it for the extra warmth
- Top up my Lucky Voice account so I can spend the long winter evenings singing online karaoke to my heart's content :j

Good luck everyone with your 'to do' lists x

Mingle

slm6002 wrote: »

could the blackberry syrup be frozen nin icecube trays and then get one out at a time?

They most certainly can. I made a cherry one using the same recipe froze them. Popping them into a gin and tonic was pure bliss! YUM!

Fruball

restless_me wrote: »

Great thread!! Thanks for the handy checklist, I've used it to write my own, lots to do over the next few weeks!

I'm about to move into a pre-1900's cottage with oil central heating and am dreading the oil bills but I love winter, hibernating and lists so I'm trying to focus on the positives!

So far I have:
- Ordered and stacked logs
- Ordered a moisture meter from eBay so I can check they're dry enough (if not I might have to 'borrow' some from parents!)
- Stocked up with tins/dry food & candles
- Washed our snuggly dressing gowns
- Checked we have plenty of winter woolies
- Dug out my ancient silk thermals (best ones I've ever had, they're way comfier and warmer than my other thermals but are dropping to bits!)

Still to do:
- Repaint a few of our windows
- Find a decent draught/rain seal for our front door
- Put Muck Boots on my Christmas list (please Santa!!) - they are way out of my price range but people I know swear by them for warm dry feet in winter and I'm outside a lot so I think it's worth it
- Make plenty of hearty freezer meals - sausage casserole, venison stew, curries, pasta bolog and sausage pasta bake YUM
- Sell some bits on eBay for my Yaktrax fund!!
- Lose a stone so I can fit into my winter clothes...or maybe I should keep it for the extra warmth
- Top up my Lucky Voice account so I can spend the long winter evenings singing online karaoke to my heart's content :j

Good luck everyone with your 'to do' lists x

I have Muck Boots and they really are super warm and comfy - could walk miles in them