Preparing for winter II

Carolyntia

I don't care if the forecasted bad winter happens or not.....I'm prepared for anything

toottifrootti

red doe have you a multifuel stove and can you start stock-piling firewood etc What about peats? they last longer and give a great heat. I know what its like up there - thats where I come from and my mother is about 18 miles from Altnaharra the other side. Its grim in the winter. I couldnt live up there now.

Red_Doe

Thanks guys... we have one open fire, I'm scrounging firewood from wherever it can be found, and I bought, earlier this year, a vintage paraffin heater from Ebay, and will keep that in the kitchen to keep the chill off (last winter was so cold I could barely cook due to not being able to feel my hands) and have another small greenhouse paraffin heater. I know you're not supposed to use them indoors but so long as I leave the doors ajar for ventilation they should at least stop it being so cold, winter will tell.
Nights are getting colder here so OH and I have already decamped to the livingroom and are sleeping there and I have been using the camping gear to cook on to save on electric.
I can't get the gas cylinders even though I have a portable gas fire...they charge an initial sixty pounds for one cylinder here! Half of that is apparently a deposit, so that puts it out of our price range.
I do wish there was some way to get oil companies to realise the realities of living in such a place, and not to penalise us. The other companies won't deliver because we are so remote.
I'm also knitting wrist warmers, snoods and neck warmers for winter. and making quilts to cover us in the evenings.
I like the idea of the candle lanterns in the loo smileyt, thanks!

tugrin

Oh Red Doe - darling that sounds beyond the bounds of human endurance! I like we should all club together and send you something to pay for the oil with (I know we are all skint but nooneshould be living like that these days) What is the name of this draconian oil supplier - at least we could all lobby thed bar steward about his wretchedly unfair installment policy - its insane finacially anyway becaue doing it this way, he deters or downright puts customers off. I would take to burning wood on pricnipal, but in practice I know that means buy stove, pay for fitting, find fuel, store fuel, bring fuel in etc etc which I know is exhobitantly (is that a real word?) costly not to mention an enormous drain of physical energy. When we lived in East Lothian I remember having to cut logs up in the snow (had useless spouse at time, strange as he was Scottish, and the enormous stove we had always seemed to be fighting a losing battle.
The space blanket link is very tempting but how much would I need for a small 2 bed cottage and can I affford it after spending all that on bked beans, loo rolls an lentils????????

kmiller4

Justamum wrote: »

Are kitchen scales as rare as hen's teeth in America? I only ask because everything seems to be measured in cups - even things you can't get into cups. Weighing is so much easier.

And here I was, just the thinking just the opposite-- why all the weighing in Ireland/UK-- its so much easier to put it in a cup! Yes, we do have kitchen scales-- many of us-- but the American way is to use measuring cups and spoons. We use a different system here is all. And like you its all we've ever known and worked with so it seems very normal to us:)

smileyt_2

Good idea, tugrin.

RedDoe, would you be able to afford to replace the empty gas cannisters if you could get the first one delivered? I'd be willing to give a fiver or so. It would only take 12 of us off this board.

Does anyone have any idea how to organise this (providing reddoe agrees?) Could it be done via paypal or something?

Or something similar for oil?

I hope you're not offended, Red doe xx

Red_Doe

Oh Red Doe - darling that sounds beyond the bounds of human endurance! I like we should all club together and send you something to pay for the oil with

Eek, good god no! Please don't even think of that, we're all in similar boats anyway, which is why we're on MSE But thank you for the kindness and if you do ever have dealings with my oil supplier it's Scottish Fuels. Give `em hell.

Red_Doe

smileyt wrote: »

RedDoe, would you be able to afford to replace the empty gas cannisters if you could get the first one delivered? I'd be willing to give a fiver or so. It would only take 12 of us off this board.

Does anyone have any idea how to organise this (providing reddoe agrees?) Could it be done via paypal or something?

Or something similar for oil?

I hope you're not offended, Red doe xx

Honestly, I'm not offended, but I am not accepting money from anyone! It's enough to be able to come on here and have a good rant and moan about it, doesn't make me feel as if I'm so much on my own up here.

Confuzzled

Red_Doe wrote: »

Nights are getting colder here so OH and I have already decamped to the livingroom and are sleeping there and I have been using the camping gear to cook on to save on electric.

do you have a tent? if so, i know this sounds weird but could you rig it up inside on top of some cushions or even the mattress? it would be sooo much warmer inside that tent when you're sleeping, even a tarpaulin hung over a rope stretching over your sleeping area would trap some of your body heat inside... i know that won't fix the cold kitchen etc but i also know how difficult it can be to keep the fire going at night so any extra warmth you can trap inside when it's bitterly cold would be a blessing on the worst nights

ZsaZsa

Ida_Notion wrote: »

Our house is a rental and we can't put nails or screws in the walls etc so we're a bit limited when it comes to putting up extra curtain rails and things, but preparations so far for a typical 'harsh' winter in this area (which usually amounts to the buses being taken off the road and half the schools closing because three milimeters of snow have fallen and another one is predicted) are well under way.

We rent too, but I've managed to hang a telescopic shower curtain rail across the front door with some cheapy tab top curtains. No nails,screw or drilling