Preparing for winter II

mcjordi

well most of my car parts arrived today.. so doing the repairs over the weekend.. also need to collect a wheel for the car with a brand new tyre on (sunday if i win the ebay auction)
picked up a few tins of soup/rice pudding whilst out and about..
pay day and my birthday tomorrow so may go curtain hunting.. (im 27 and looking at curtains )

Rainy-Days

slm6002 wrote: »

what a lovely day - got curtains through today and my order of food has now been dispatched so getting there. Anyone know if we are expecting any more summer weather or are we guessing that autumn is making an early appearance. Got stew and dumplings tonight for dinner - such a summer dinner!

According to Metcheck on their 14 day forecast it is pretty much the same right until the end of this month! However we still do have some nice days in September so all is not completely lost! I do take your point on the return of warming foods though

I haven't really done very much today other than put the cushion covers back on and put the tie backs in place. The sitting room curtains are still ever so slightly damp but that will give way throughout tonight and be completely dry by tomorrow. I bought four boxes of ordinary salt from Lidl's today which will do for bating as a condensation trapper.

Edited to add that I have also bought the Bulldog snow shovel today on the free super saver delivery from Amazon, thats another thing crossed off the list!

Confuzzled

whilst obsessing over my new once a month cooking plan for when i get my freezer i found this very helpful link that list what freezes well, what doesn't, how long you should freeze it for etc and thought i'd share.

since we're laying down food for winter i thought it might be particulary helpful for those things that don't do so well being in the freezer for more than 3 months http://busycooks.about.com/library/lessons/blfreezer.htm

hope that helps!

oh and i had a good idea to put the freezer in my daughters bedroom as it's always the coldest room in the house so the freezer won't have to work as hard but since it's an appliance it WILL give off a bit of heat from being on so maybe that will contribute to keeping the room a little warmer without heating it (we don't heat the bedrooms much we prefer sleeping in a colder room)

nikki2804

Ordered a snow shovel. Will keep the spade in the car and this shovel in the hall. Thanks to the poster who gave the link.

Winter boots dispatched and I have just ordered a jumper and cardi from the Jane Norman sale.

About to order the LO's jacket aswell.

Princess_kate

Thank you for the link for the snow shovel.....that is now ordered & crossed off the list! Will live in the shed but remember to bring them inside before the snow hits so you dont have to fight throught the snow & trying to open shed doors just to get it out!

Was in marks today, looking for reduced items to go in my new chest freezer, didnt find much but did see they had various tinned meat, ham & corned beef, 2 for £3, i got 2 small tins of lean ham, £2.29 each but 2 for £3, thought that was a good item to keep in that I hadnt thought of before!

Going to costco on the weekend to stock up on frozen chicken breast, mince which i will freezer in portions (flattened as they store easier and thaw quicker!) bottleed water and tinner chopped tomatoes.

Will try and work through the rest of my list soon, 2 curtain rails for the hall, back & front door curtains will be picked up from ikea, got the curtains in the CS, £4 for the pair, lined & cream so match perfectly. Yay!

Off to work now, feels like autumn has arrived!!

Rainy-Days

It is quite chilly again you are right and the mood is not lightened by the dreary days and the nights now drawing in.

My friend popped round to see me this afternoon and I mentioned that we could be in for a tough winter. I kid you not, she looked at me as though I had just landed from planet Mars and that I was talking in a language that she could not understand. It was "you what"? "You have got to be joking"! "No I'm not having any of that"! So I said to her "well what if we do get it bad again like last winter what are you going to do then"? She just looked and said "bloody hell I dunno". She is so unprepared it's not true all she is thinking about at the moment is sitting outside in her hot tub! :rotfl:I shouldn't really laugh but she has a lean to covered walkway that needs new wood and perspex putting on it, the boiler needs urgent attention and as far as anything goes in terms of clothing it's a wing and a prayer job! Mind you, if I did achieve one thing, she did say she is going to have to do something about it. Not to the extent of us lot I would wager, but she is coming round to the idea!

rosieben

Confuzzled wrote: »

...since we're laying down food for winter i thought it might be particulary helpful for those things that don't do so well being in the freezer for more than 3 months http://busycooks.about.com/library/lessons/blfreezer.htm

we have a couple of threads about freezing food -

Frozen food safety- misconceptions and

How long can we keep food in the Freezer

some very interesting information and useful links, especially in the first one

MrsCrafty

Thank you all for your wonderful suggestions. We have buckets of kindling and cords of wood (thanks to hubs). I just need to make a door curtain and another one for in between rooms.

As for the bits behind the radiators, we discussed this, hubs & I and he was insistent that if we do it, it has to be the roll stuff which is fairly cheap and stuck onto the wall. I don't actually want the rads on at all this winter. Hey ho. He puts them on in the morning for the kids......nooooooo

I get up at 3.30 some mornings and do not ever turn on the heating, it's just wrong unless you are ill or infirm. Our house faces the sea so it does get really cold but we have never had ice on the windows or anything like that.

Confuzzled

rosieben wrote: »

we have a couple of threads about freezing food Frozen food safety- misconceptions and How long can we keep food in the Freezer

some very interesting information and useful links, especially in the first one

cheers for this, i was quite delighted to discover my dirty little secret of disregarding freezer times is officially 'ok' personlly i don't care about the times though i did mention that for those who do or worry so much that not having guidelines might put them off batch cooking at all. i've found the worse thing that happens is that something might get freezer burnt and taste odd

the main reason for supplying the link was the special tips portion as they are useful for those of us unsure about some things and their freezing qualities, such as if rice and pasta freeze ok etc

but cheers for the links you supplied, i'll have a read through them myself as i'm sure i may have missed a trick here or there!

mummytoo

I am a serial lurker been picking up great tips from everyone!! so thank you everyone!!

Last year for us was totally horrendeous I was heavily pregnant and was so unprepared for the weather so this year started early ( not as early as some of you guys) but very chuffed with myself!!

So far I have -

Bought new winter boots for myself. ( wellys last year and spent most of my time on my backside from slipping)
Bought some nice fleeces ( some to line curtains and two large ones for the sofa)
cavity walls insulated waiting on Scottish gas to get loft done)
bought brush draught excluders and fitted to the doors
Bought a huge heavy curtain for the front door ( still to swap from the summer ones)
Bought pipe roses as draught from holes in laminate from radiator pipes just awaiting delivery from ebay
Been purchasing packets of salt/ dishwasher salt everytime go shopping.
bought new slippers have a fantastic house coat from last year
Bought lovely flannette fitted sheets and flat sheets


For the car

Bought 5 litres of all season screen wash
Bought heavy duty jump leads
Bought de icer


still need to do

Buy a tow rope (dad always says handy to have)
water proof new boots and coat
buy 2 new snow suits for Ds and DD

plus picking up tips from you guys daily so my list is getting longer daily too. I only wish i had subcribed last year.

Has anyone had any experience of these snow shoes for cars, or radiator boosters for the house please can you let me know what you think of either had mixed reviews about the snow shoes but my friend seems to think they are brilliant as they are expensive would love to know what others think xxx

:j:j:j:j