Preparing for winter II

lovesabargain123

mcjordi wrote: »

well the cold is on the way for sure.. all ive done the last couple of days is sneeze cough and be sick.. not nice..

will have to crack on as soon as i can tho..

Oh me too! Feel awfull tonight but glad I stocked up on hot lemons last week!
Hope you feel better soon x

On a different note any ideas how to keep the conservatory warm? It's the only room with no radiator, last year we had an electric heater but even that didn't cut it and we didn't use it for months!!! We use it as a dining room

rolo-polo1965

Mad4camping wrote: »

me again.. I also bought as a small gamble some cooking bacon....

It was a £1.50 for a kilo from l**dl.

I had a root through and picked 2 packs with less obvious fat... I have just finished cutting it up and preparing it to open freeze. So I can bag it later and it wont be in a mass clump..there is rather a lot. I was really pleased hardly any fat other than what I saw initially. contemplating going to get some more....

I now have plenty of nice bacon for my pea and ham soups and for pasta sauces etc over the next few months

Thought I would share x

Thanks for this. How do you open freeze your bacon? Sorry if i am acting a bit thick here!

Rummer

Well I have added another few things to the growing stack of winter supplies Dropped by Primark today and I got pjs for me and my daughter and a new dressing gown for me. I will be snuggly on the couch this winter

Rainy-Days

lovesabargain123 wrote: »

Oh me too! Feel awfull tonight but glad I stocked up on hot lemons last week!
Hope you feel better soon x

On a different note any ideas how to keep the conservatory warm? It's the only room with no radiator, last year we had an electric heater but even that didn't cut it and we didn't use it for months!!! We use it as a dining room

OH bought a greenhouse heater last year for ours. We found that the radiator was going into overdrive and somebody mentioned at his work that they found the greenhouse heater better and I have to say it did do a good job as well. It was bought from an online gardening place and it was delivered within 48 hours having said that we ordered ours around the end of November just before the big bad weather hit! It didn't completely keep it toasty warm as the weather was so flipping extreme but it made a good fist of it.

On a different note - tonight I have just finished cleaning the oven and I am off for a shower because I so darn well deserve it!

bramble1

20:45 and it's pitch black already!!

We've prepped aload of runner beans, portioned them and froze them for winter veg will go down the yard and see what else is ready too.

My coat is lovely and warm, ready to the cold weather.

Boots are going to be purchased this week - just looking for the best deal first.

toottifrootti

rising_from_the_ashes wrote: »

We'll try - hoping your off somewhere nice! (just think of all the pages to catch up on when you get back!)

hello everyone! I am back from my retreat and raring to get going except I have no money yet!!!:( rising you werent joking in your post above - there were loads of pages but I have waded through them with enjoyment and a pen and paper:rotfl: lots more brilliant ideas - i think you are all wondereful - I need to find my 'little' list and add a few more things - I may not be able to do most of mine until oct/nov so need to know exactly what I need and where to go for it.

Rainy day I have my birthday in october and then the clocks change so I try to save winter things until after then and I am in the middle of Scotland.
Frugal i was going to say the same about the ties on buggy wheels:T

jamanda wrote: »

Seriously, it is about being comfortable. If it ain't broke - don't fix it. If you are uncomfortable and feeling chilly, break out the preparations and snuggle down.

I know what you are saying is right jamanda but if I get cosy now I will have nothing to add when the real cold sets in and I cant afford to have heating on all the time - I am ill and cant work and not able to move about much and live on benefits and it just doesnt cover huge gas bills - this year will be worse as I have moved house and dont know how warm/cold I will be or what to expect with the bills. I am worried.

rising I couldnt remember the difference either until a friend told me this -Sheperds pie is made with lamb (think Sheherd & SheeP) Cottage pie is made with beef HTH:D I find these price differences annoying too. One thing I have noticed recently because I have been shopping in my wheelchair the cheaper stuff is on the bottom shelves(I had forgotten this)- supermarkets put the stuff they want you to buy at eye level - most people buy whats in front of them when often there is a cheaper alternative on the bottom shelf but as it gives the supermarket less turnover/profits they dont push it! I can reach the bottom shelves!!!!:D

when you are storing things outside would cardbpard boxes do as a deterent to mice etc?

thanks for all the posts about the prices of coal - at least now I know what to expect if i decide to use my fire.

and thanks for all the links especially craghoppers - I will be ordering as well!!!! as I am in a wheelchair when out I find my legs get cold even with a wool rug so these fleece trousers will be excellent.
Welcome to Kathy from across the pond - it was lovely to read your preparations and that so many of them are similar - dont fancy your snow much:eek: I thought we were bad here in Scotland but that is serious snow:rotfl:

awbsco I want your fireplace - its lovely - just my style!

and I loved all the stashes - especially rising's loo rolls:rotfl: I see I have a long way to catch up!!

thanks to everyone for the wonderful posts

toots x

lovesabargain123

Rainy-Days wrote: »

OH bought a greenhouse heater last year for ours. We found that the radiator was going into overdrive and somebody mentioned at his work that they found the greenhouse heater better and I have to say it did do a good job as well. It was bought from an online gardening place and it was delivered within 48 hours having said that we ordered ours around the end of November just before the big bad weather hit! It didn't completely keep it toasty warm as the weather was so flipping extreme but it made a good fist of it.

Ohh can you point me in the right direction of which you ahve please?

Thanks x

Fruball

toottifrootti wrote: »

Frugal i was going to say the same about the ties on buggy wheels:T




and I loved all the stashes - especially rising's loo rolls:rotfl: I see I have a long way to catch up!!

thanks to everyone for the wonderful posts

toots x

Thanks for that... and did you mean "Rising Loo Rolls" because my loo roll mountain is definately 'rising'!!!!! I like to think of it as extra insulation for my outside wall wardrobe

ps for anybody packing things away in outside wall built-in wardrobes, my tenant did this with clothes in black plastic sacks a few years back... When I moved back into my house, the place where she had stacked up the black plastic sacks, against an outside wall was covered in mould spores :eek: I have put a de-humidifier in there every winter since as I am paranoid about damp and mould :mad:

Someone mentioned about heating a conservatory... We had an open plan conservatory and put double curtains up... ie one on the living room wall and one on the conservatory side which left a 8-10inch gap between which served as 'cavity wall curtaining' which made a huge difference but what really helped was getting a de-humidifier in there... we tried plug in radiators etc but the de-humid really helped keep it much more comfortable in there, and stopped all the condensation that I used to have to wipe off every day :cool:

Rainy-Days

lovesabargain123 wrote: »

Ohh can you point me in the right direction of which you ahve please?

Thanks x

It's this one:-

http://www.cnmonline.co.uk/Thermotube-Tubular-Heater-4ft-240watt-pr-16972.html

We only used it mainly during the cold snap, when the weather turned a bit better we switched back to the radiator in there. Might be worth you noting that we used our electric heater in tandem with a timer switch so it wasn't on all day and all night. Having said that the running costs are around about £2.50 a week which is not bad. We don't have a guard with ours as the dogs don't tend to go near anything that is too hot and we don't have children. If you do you might want to consider getting a guard.

It has also stopped allot of the damp and condensation forming and getting into our cane suite as well so thats worth bearing in mind too if you have wood/cane/whicker items!

kmiller4

Hello all--

I am glad I have so many of my winter preparations in place as we will be affected by Hurricane Irene here in central New York State. (We are about 250 miles--400km northwest of NYC). Thankfully we are not directly in the storm's path, but we will get some gusts of wind and an inch or 2 of rain (5 cms). Flooding is possible. The storm is supposed to roll in with a vengeance sometime early tomorrow. We could lose electricity. It will also be a bit cooler-- though not cool enough for the furnace or woodstove.

I don't anticipate any real problems, although OH is afraid we may have some tree limbs down from the 3 gigantic willow trees in our backyard (garden). Hope it does not upset our two springers (Lillie Belle and Betsy) too much. They do not like thunderstorms. On the weather station they are saying it is a very large storm-- as big as Europe:eek:!

Since we may lose power don't fret if you don't hear from me for a little bit. I'll be sure to post and let everyone know how severe the storm actually is once it gets closer.

Have a great Sunday everyone:)

Kathy