Preparing for winter II

Hobsons_Choice

Think polystyrene tiles were a fire hazard only when painted with oil based paint?
Then again...I wouldn't take the risk.

Rainy-Days

mcjordi wrote: »

Apparently Altnaharra in scotland has had its first bit of snow in August :eek

Is that bad then?

Not being thick here but I am not sure how far up into Scotland they are as I know some places get snow naturally once Autumn sets in. How does that compare with last year?

Sunnyday

Rainy-Days wrote: »

Suzi you might want to have a look at Thompsons Water Shield it goes on like paint but it is a clear layer of protection which stops water penetrating into your brickwork and walls. It's not cheap, but having said that it is cheaper than having to keep on redecorating thats for sure.

I have put the Homebase link in because it will give you users views on the product!

http://reviews.homebase.co.uk/1494-en_gb/505850/reviews.htm

We used this on a previous house, very good but it does need recoating every couple of years, it makes the surface a darker colour. It is very good if you keep topping it up. Two things to note are apply it in extended hot and dry weather as it will also stop any moisture getting out as well as in and surfaces can crack and weaken if this happens, also keep all windows closed,our neighbour had a window open behind a thick hedge that we didn`t see and she had a bad reaction to the vapours.

mcjordi wrote: »

Apparently Altnaharra in scotland has had its first bit of snow in August :eek

Now i`m scared! :eek:

Hobsons_Choice wrote: »

Think polystyrene tiles were a fire hazard only when painted with oil based paint?
Then again...I wouldn't take the risk.

You`re probably right about the paint, i know that some eco houses are built using polystyrene as an insulator and its also one of the options for cavity wall insulation too so it should be ok.

SD

CH27

I've finally finished doing the plums.
We have 6 plum crumbles, 6 plum pies & lots of bags of stewed plums in the freezer.
We also have plum jam.

I'm cream crackered:D

mcjordi

Rainy-Days wrote: »

Is that bad then?

Not being thick here but I am not sure how far up into Scotland they are as I know some places get snow naturally once Autumn sets in. How does that compare with last year?

thats right at the top of scotland i think.. they were always on the news as being the coldest place in the UK at -22oC :eek:

Rainy-Days

mcjordi wrote: »

thats right at the top of scotland i think.. they were always on the news as being the coldest place in the UK at -22oC :eek:

Just had a nose around on Google - came up with this:-


http://www.discoversutherland.co.uk/altnaharra.php


Snow this early in places such as Nevis which are skiing ranges anyway is a bit unusual it usually starts around about October! Now I have said it could be that we are in for an early Autumn and if that is the case then we could be in for an early winter. It all seems to be following a similar pattern these last few years

Dry Spring
Wet Summer
Early Dry Autumn
Harsh snowy and cold winter

Confuzzled

tugrin wrote: »

Does anybody have a reliable way of drying apple rings?

do you have a wood/multi fuel stove by any chance? or an aga/rayburn? my understand is that the apples would be cored and the rings would be threaded onto a role that ran over the space above the aga or stove... if you're worried about the browning (they do go a bit brown when dried anyway) you can squeeze a bit of lemon juice on them after slicing them.

there are ways to do them slowly in the oven on a very low temp but i'm not convinced you're saving much given the cost of gas/electricity

rising_from_the_ashes

Rainy-Days wrote: »

Woman lost for two weeks under home made bog roll mountain!

Muriel Ponsonby has narrowly survived being crushed by her homemade toilet roll mountain after MSE contributors warned of a doom and gloom weather scenario this winter. Mrs Ponsonby alarmed at what could be lack of toilet roll told Police rescuers that she stocked up on the special offers so that she didn't get caught short! But what turned out to be a warning went beyond obsession and Mrs Ponsonby purchased enough lavatory roll to supply Buckingham Palace 100 times over. After stocking up on more loo roll she opened the storage cupboard door in her home only to be deluged with a falling moutain of packs of the rolls and was partially buried underneath it. She was rescued after a neighbour heard her cries for help! :rotfl:

:rotfl:Ohhhh, I love that one! (It could be me, you never know....)

tugrin wrote: »

It doesnt matter if its a bad winter - its going to be a winter and I have not really been sensible in the past and have suffered. I mean I know its stupid but I have sat pathetically in my cold sitting room with cold ankles and thought @this is horrible, I'm miserable the only thing to do is go to bed'. Which is Ok for a week or so but not when the winter goes on and on! Doing the door curtain and lining the window one is just very sensible and if I dont have to do massive w/end shops for a while thats a real bonus as it will mean I can go straight home on a Friday snuggle up and not have to do anything in a sshivering miserable rush!! If nothing else I have found this thread tremendously supportive which to me as a single person with a fairly restricted social life has helped me to look forward to the inevitable long dark nights knowing i am not alone and across the country (and the pond) we are all facing it together. PLUS its been fab fun with you all sharing!!!

I also agree with tugrin wholeheartedly .... (another singleton here, looking forward to have lots of people to shiver with this year.....)

sparrer wrote: »

Mind you some of them sound like they're stocking up for a seige, or at the very least some dodgy tummies :rotfl:

For me, it's also a lot about cost....

I got rid of my 4 x 4 when I moved from a very rural to a semi rural area of Scotland - it cost a fortune to run and for the 45 (ish) weeks of the year it wasn't needed, it was just ridiculous.

Even in a mild winter, there's been a couple of weeks when I've not been able to get the car out (last year it was 7:eek: which I wasn't prepared for). Even then, it was still cheaper to get the bus to work for those weeks, than run an enormous gas guzzling monster for the whole year.

However, although I now have a bus stop within reasonable distance (20 mins good walking but longer in snow/ice) and a village store (= very expensive & runs out very quickly) and there are several similar sized small villages withing a 10 mile radius, it's not practical to rely on them for shopping as it's a) far too expensive and b) not practical to lug things like cat litter/loo rolls;), bottled water, tinned products etc on the bus and then a marathon walk home.

I can go to Home Bar*gains and get wood cat litter for under £8 / 30 litres - last winter, I ran out and my neighbour kindly got some in the pet shop in the neighbouring village where he works = £15.

Same applies to staples, I can go up to town for around £5 fuel (straight from work which is about 1/2 way) and get 1kg T*ilda rice for 99p - although Mr A now delivers here (:jrecent development & they couldn't get through for around a month last year) the same product is £4.40 if bought there. Same with loo rolls - 18 pack (similar to Cush*elle) = £3.99, something similar is around £7 in the supermarkets ....

This is where I'm hoping to be able to save some money this winter .....:)

Fruball

Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr I am chilly in my house today...

Went carbooting with a dear friend earlier (a massive one which doesn't start until 11am so no early starts :T) and OMG I have come back with about 6 carrier bags of stuff :eek: all for Under £30 though and lots of things were brand new with tags!!!

One of my bargains was a beautiful Monsoon faux fur jacket for £6 which, although I was looking for a real fur one, I am pleased with... Also got kids scrabble brand new in cellophane still: £2... immaculate Monsoon skirt for DD: £2!) Dressing up clothes for haloween, snow white and others £1 each!!!!! School skirts, immaculate 50p each!

Suffice to say I am delighted with my purchases Just got to wash it all now and put away :cool:

I also bought, from ebay, a brand new rabbit fur scarf for £5.99 INC P&P!!! Chuffed much!

Got the cling filmy stuff to do the glass on the back door.

Got pictures taken of my friends fireplace which is literally a neat hole in the wall with no surround but a nice hearth and it looks really modern and smart, so I will be passing that on to my builder to see if we can get the original quote right down and make it affordable... I can't see it would be as much as what he quoted for before?... Fingers crossed...

And boyyyyyyyyyy if that fire was functional now I swear I would be lighting it right NOW!

skintbint_2

http://www.diy.com/diy/jsp/bq/nav.jsp?action=detail&amp;fh_secondid=10647752&amp;fh_location=//catal!!!1/en_GB/categories<{9372016}/categories<{9372050}/categories<{9372230}/specificationsProductType=space_blankets

may be of use for those wanting to insulate extra wide space blanket down from nearly £20