Preparing for winter II

Justamum

mama67 wrote: »

I'm ordering my coal tomorrow, price quoted £260 for 1 tonne delivered as I need in 50kg bags tipped into coal bunker so £5.20/20kg.

This is 'B' grade house coal.

That's really cheap . How big is your coal bunker, and would 1 tonne keep you going all winter?

rising_from_the_ashes

(slinking back in quietly, hoping no-one noticed).....

Frugal wrote: »

I think its because if you were unfortunate enough to land yourself in a ditch or some other horrible scenario, you wouldn't have to get out of your car to get them... You might not be able to get out of the car...

Oh, and there is no such thing as a stupid question

Justamum wrote: »

I agree it's not a stupid question. We are lucky with our car because the middle seat at the back pulls down so we can reach into the boot.

Thanks - I did wonder if that could be the reason after I'd logged off...

Didn't occur to me before as I'm also lucky in that I can easily get in the boot from the car:)

CH27 wrote: »

My MIL has just given me loads of plums from her tree.
Next job is plum jam, plum pies & plum puree for the freezer.

Ohhh you lucky thing!:D I usually get loads from DM but the crop's terrible this year (really small fruits & they're all splitting before they ripen - not sure if it's due to the silly weather we had with it being so dry Apr/May and so wet since).:(

Still hoping for some cooking apples tho'.

Must pop up to the woods at the weekend and see if they're any blackberries nearly ready - I remember picking them when on hols last year (mid Sept) but won't be poss this year and soooooooo love them! (or rather blackberry & apple crumble:)). Fingers crossed there may be a few.

pollys

Evening all,

Went shopping today and managed a get a couple of things. A big box of washing powder, we go through loads of the stuff (large, sporty family) and I always like to have a good stock and olbas oil. We have decided to have one in use and one extra, for things like olive oil, ketchup, floor cleaner, tin foil, tea bags, coffee etc. Stuff like baked beans, soup, chopped tomatoes,pasta,rice we will keep a good stock of. The freezer will be put to good use, we learnt from last winter that we need lots of bread, I will also get some bread flour etc in as we have a bread machine.
We live quite close to the town centre although the hill we are on makes it tricky to get the car out (side roads were not gritted last year) and an ongoing back problem means I'm not much help carrying stuff.
We will buy in hot chocolate and horlicks later (unless it is on offer) otherwise it wont last 2 minutes. I like the children to have a warm drink in the mornings before they go to school, two of them have quite a long bus journey into the neighbouring town.

Loving all this preparation, even though the sun has been shining and it was quite hot this morning.

Love Pollys x

Confuzzled

i got my big shop(s) today, did an order from tesco AND asda, might sound silly but i normally shop asda but found that thing that lets you retrieve unused tesco vouchers from ages ago, used those codes and saved £7 plus as i haven't shopped with them for years online i was able to get away with a new customer £10 voucher and i inadvertantly got £5 tracking through topcashback (i'd been on tesco direct earlier in the day so this really wasn't intentional!) so i figured i'd still get my stuff i know i can only get from asda as i'd more than saved the £3 delivery.

i also decided to play the two off of each other so each thing on my list i checked both sites, whichever was cheaper i added it to that cart, if it was the same or very nearly it went on my tesco so i could get points on it. i had a rough reckoning i would spend around £160 (massive stock up for us plus non food stuff too) between the two i spent just £115!

my new chest freezer is now full, between overflow from the fridge/freezer and the meals i've made thus far. my cupboards are seriously overflowing i've got boxes everywhere because i'd also done two massive approved food orders! we are seriously NOT going to starve this winter :rotfl:

my daughter and i have been planning a big clean out of her built in wardrobes so i've told her i'm laying claim to one of the larger shelf spaces and some of the small awkward ones that aren't great for much else. i want to finally get all my stores in one place. we're also doing a major cleanout of the kitchen and reorganising and i think it's time for inventory lists again!

aside from bread and milk and the odd bag of oranges and bananas i shouldn't have to shop again for at least 6 weeks and that will be a medium top up shop so i can then use up stuff in my stores to batch cook for the freezer.

i also got my new american measuring cups, measuring spoons and 3 stock pots and my healthy one pot recipes book from readers digest today, rather ironic in an amusing sort of way it was all about the food today!

once we've done our big cleanout and reorganising i will start in on making the lined curtains... i'm saving those for a day when it's a bit nippy and i feel in need of a blanket

Confuzzled

oh whilst i'm thinking of it, for the last few years, once it gets cold outside my lower left side of my back seizes up rather violently. it's so bad i can't walk for very long as it squeezes so hard i feel like it might squeeze the spine right out of me.

i've problems with arthritis in my knees but that is nothing painwise compared to the seizing back. whilst i do my best to keep it warm i'm wondering if anyone has any tips, i'm assuming i'm not the only person with this problem

i wear leggings under my trouser that come up over the spot, i sometimes wear those selfheating pads (very expensive!) or i rub tigerbalm on the spot before i go out. I've even wrapped a scarf around my waist before but it's not enough. if anyone has found a work around let me know i soooo dread the cold in that respect

monkeys_mummy

butterfly72 wrote: »

Hi everyone,
great thread. I've got the week off work so I thought I'd do some prep for the winter. I haven't done much to be honest but its a start.

1. had the faulty boiler repaired (I rent so didn't cost anything!)
2. Made rhubarb and date chutneys - for us and for gifts at christmas
3. Repotted all the baby aloe veras into individual pots. They should be a nice size come xmas and I can trawl the charity shops for nice pots. Hey presto more gifts!!
4. Am gathering material to make draught excluders for the doors.
5. Have ordered this: http://www.lakeland.co.uk/21736/Dry-Soon-Heated-Tower-Dryer
6. Had the de-humidifier fixed (for the 4th time in one year - its still under warrenty until the middle of september. Wish I'd just taken it back to John lewis the first time it broke instead of sending to Delongi everytime. I've obviously got a dog of a machine)
7. thinking about those lovely fur lined boots I saw in the shoe shop...Obviously I need them....:rotfl:

thats amamzing...that tower dryer thing!! Just when I think i've got it all on the list (unfortunately not all purchased yet!) wham another great product reccomended on this website, thank you, I'm not going to be saving for this!!

rosieben

Frugal wrote: »

I think its because if you were unfortunate enough to land yourself in a ditch or some other horrible scenario, you wouldn't have to get out of your car to get them... You might not be able to get out of the car...

I used to worry about them getting damp in the boot too

rosieben

squeaky wrote: »

Have you? Not seen that yet.... I'll get it though ...

it was a few pages ago squeaky, I meant pm you too but forgot
thanks for adding it

miss_minx

Confuzzled, not sure if they would be any good but 2 winters ago while pregnant i refused to buy loads of new clothes so bought a band you put over your jeans then put tops over to make it look like a double layer top if that makes sense!!! kept me really warm and saved money in the long run. I got mine from asda and we're about £8 for 2 (white and black) They we're in the maternity section. hope that helps

pollys

miss_minx wrote: »

Confuzzled, not sure if they would be any good but 2 winters ago while pregnant i refused to buy loads of new clothes so bought a band you put over your jeans then put tops over to make it look like a double layer top if that makes sense!!! kept me really warm and saved money in the long run. I got mine from asda and we're about £8 for 2 (white and black) They we're in the maternity section. hope that helps

Thanks for this, I'm tall with a very hollow back, I also have a back problem (L5 prolapsed disc) and during the winter months I struggle to keep my back warm - especially when stood on the touchline watching DS's play football. I'll look out for those bands.

Pollys x