Preparing for winter II

dandy-candy

I'm halfway through doing the fleece linings on curtains and just wanted to check with someone who did it last year - they do actually make a noticable difference don't they? My enthusiasm for sewing is flagging at the moment.......please tell me how fab they are so I can get my mojo back and finish the job!!

Sunnyday

dandy-candy wrote: »

I'm halfway through doing the fleece linings on curtains and just wanted to check with someone who did it last year - they do actually make a noticable difference don't they? My enthusiasm for sewing is flagging at the moment.......please tell me how fab they are so I can get my mojo back and finish the job!!

There was around 17 degrees difference between my living room temperature and the temperature next to my windows behind the fleeces last year

Happy sewing

SD

Justamum

Confuzzled wrote: »

i'm fairly certain that it's tesco's that sell cherokee in the UK, i seem to remember being suprised to see the cherokee brand in the UK when my daughter was a baby

just out of curiosity how comfortable are these lined trousers, they looked a bit awkward/bulky in the pics

My son lives in his!

mcjordi

£19 for a valet.. :eek i'll do it for £10 lol

got some salt yesterday

suzybloo

Just been down to Mr T's for some shopping and picked up the 4 large cans of de-icer at 62p each, thats another thing scored off my list. Totally forgot about about the dishwasher salt though!
Washed through kitchen curtains yesterday to put back up, took them down 2 years ago as fancied roller blinds but one blind has broken at the bracket, many times I did think about putting the curtains to the charity shop but so glad I didnt. I am sure they will be warmer than the roller blinds anyway.

Thats an amazing difference in temperature in front of and behind the curtains

GreyQueen

abwsco wrote: »

GreyQueen, I'm going to tell my DH about your tomato stash as mine of around 20 pales into insignificance:D

:rotfl:LMAO, definately do that. I always say, if I can't be a good example, I shall at least be a good bad one, IYSWIM.:rotfl:

Besides, 20 cans of tommies is hardly a "stash"; more like business-as-usual, isn't it?

Actually, as well as being slightly insane, there is method in my madness; can't find an interest rate which matches the official inflation rate, never mind the RW inflation in groceries, so I have invested in tinned goods and cleaning products.

I can't possibly tell you lovely peeps how many packets of soda crystals I have by me, but they are currently selling for 30p (minimum) more than I paid for them, so that's a winner.:o

Returning slightly to the topic, I have now got the h.g potatoes down off the lottie and into a paper sack inside a rattan-type linen bin, inside my bike shed here at Shoebox Towers. I have been a bit fly about this as we have a high degree of villainy in the 'hood and if times get tough enough, they may bust in there for the tatties.

Plus, that's where I'm hiding most of my 48 loo rolls and I'd hate to lose them.

So. tatties are in frost proof storage only a few metres away and that leaves my Turk's Turban squash, which seem to be ripening nicely on the vine. Due to limited storage space I won't be able to prep and freeze them so has anyone got experience of storing them overwinter? I think this is a sort of OS-American thingie so perhaps someone across the pond will know the answer.

rising_from_the_ashes

Rainy-Days wrote: »

Rising from the ashes - the Dunelm flannel sheets that I bought from them were in a set, which was a flat sheets, a fited sheet and two pillow case in king size for £34.99.

Thanks, I did see them too but really only after the fitted sheet (have a huge soft "baby" blanket to go between me & the duvet and - for some reason - I hate having warm pillows!:o I may try the cheaper set as really only need them as a back up set.

Frugal wrote: »

Yayyyyyyyyy I just had a quote for having the gaping hole in my living room turned back into a real fireplace :j:j:j

After much umming and arrrring he gave me a rough estimate which is just about IN BUDGET!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

:jYay:j Fantastic!

I really miss the open fire (had one in last house), it just seemed to keep the walls in the house warm and toasty and you can't beat sitting in front of it on a freezing snowy winter day!:D

rising_from_the_ashes

Well, been to the market and very disappointed with the "carpet square man" - he wanted £1.50 for each of them!:eek: (and they were the small ones). I can get them for 50p at the carpet shop but they haven't got any just now so I guess my new rug will have to be put on hold until they do!

Did get some new slippers (£5) - I wear flip flops in the summer (toes have been a bit cold the last couple of nights) and the furry boot ones in the winter but I put these on last night & my feet were roasting so these are an "in-between".

Also got some wool which is the same shade as the fleecy blanket I got from John Lew*is the other day - going to attempt to make a big scarf/shawl to go round my shoulders in the evenings (wish me luck - years since I've knitted)!


Food stock has made some progress, so far:

Tinned tomatoes (2 x 4 tins)
Rice (2 x 1kg)
Pasta (2 x 1kg)
Pasta Sauce (4)
Pasta Bake (1)
Chicken tonight (2)
Olive Oil (1)
Porridge (1kg)
Soup (8)
Crackers (2) (good if you run out of bread!)
Milk powder (1)
Coffee (200g)
Brown sugar (1kg)
Tea bags (240)

It's a start .... (all stuff on offer) and I reckon 14 main meals from the pasta/rice already:D

Any ideas what I can get to go with my rice? (I'm preparing on the worst case scenario of snowed in & no power so cooking on the camping stove).

dandy-candy

Sunnyday wrote: »

There was around 17 degrees difference between my living room temperature and the temperature next to my windows behind the fleeces last year

Happy sewing

SD

OMG I didn't imagine it would be as much as that!! Yay - back to the sewing :T Ty

Confuzzled

GreyQueen wrote: »

Besides, 20 cans of tommies is hardly a "stash"; more like business-as-usual, isn't it?

Actually, as well as being slightly insane, there is method in my madness; can't find an interest rate which matches the official inflation rate, never mind the RW inflation in groceries, so I have invested in tinned goods and cleaning products.

...leaves my Turk's Turban squash, which seem to be ripening nicely on the vine. Due to limited storage space I won't be able to prep and freeze them so has anyone got experience of storing them overwinter? I think this is a sort of OS-American thingie so perhaps someone across the pond will know the answer.

i quite agree with you about food and toiletries stashes as an investment. i figure on the loo roll i stand to save myself about £10 a year on buying in advance at the current rate of inflation (and that's with me buying the cheap value stuff or lidl's cheapie stuff)! i have always referred to my stash as my food savings account (though it also includes non food items). when times have been tough on a few occassions we have lived quite well off my stash, times when without the stash not only would the poverty have been unbearable we'd have gone hungry many a night.

i think i have a serious case of what i lovingly refer to as 'italian mother syndrome' (no i'm not italian it refers to their need to feed!) thus not only do i have a stash for myself i often give food to friends and even my ex husband when he comes to visit our daughter. in fact my food stash helped feed him for a long while whilst he was soo poor he was living in a tent! (and i'll never let him forget it MUAHAHAHAHA ) regardless of why i do it it's certainly helpful, particularly for bad winter weather when my food deliveries might not arrive on time or at all!

as for the squash, am i right in thinking this is squash more like a thick skinned one like a pumpkin and not squash like courgette? if so you can probably treat it the same was as pumpkin, keep it in a cool place, preferably out of direct sunlight and they will keep for months. best to put something under them just in case they tend to rot from the bottom. i had two pumpkins on top of my fridge for months on end, ate one, forgot about the other and erm like i said they tend to rot from the bottom, oops!