Preparing for winter II

Rummer

He will realize my wisdom when we can't leave the house yet we have shea butter loo roll!

kmiller4

It appears we all have a little bit of a "loo roll" fetish! (hehe!!!!!)

Feeling smug about the pail of apples just picked from the neighbor's tree (with permission of course).

Supposed to be very warm here tomorrow and Sunday-- actually as high as 90F (32-33C). Then the next day rainy and down to a more seasonable 68F (20F). So I shan't be able to bake apple crisp this weekend and i'm too busy during the work week. They'll hold fine until next weekend.

Got pair of jeans today from the thrift shop 1/2 price. Very nice condition. Needed a new smaller pair as have lost over 30# (more than 2 stone):D. Have another 2 stone to go though-- so do not want to invest in buying new if they won't fit me in a couple of months. I've been following a high protein very low carb diet and increasing my walking (I am loathe to exercise).

Also found a lovely almost new Aran style pullover sweater (jumper) for about $5 (3 pounds sterling). And a black leather Liz Claiborne handbag in excellent condition for $3 (about 2 LBP). The sweater is acrylic and not wool-- may not be as warm, but at least I wont itch!

I also found a Christmas gift for my mother on sale (offer) at Kohl's . An enameled cast iron pot (like Le Creuset) 3 1/2 qts (about 4 liters). She has a larger one that she loves but it is very heavy for her, so she mentioned she would like a smaller one. I'm so happy to be making progress on my holiday gifts. I still need to make 2 aprons and crochet 3 afghans--evrything bought-- just waiting for the motivation. Still, its a start!

bluebag

Red_Doe wrote: »

My front (only!) door is one of those PVU (?) affairs, in a rented property. Does anyone know of an easy and cheap way to put a door curtain up without having to drill holes etc? It's got a large glass window and the cold that seeps through that in winter is awful.

The lightweight net curtain rails can be attached with a sticky backed hook that comes with them,though you will need to have a fairly lightweight curtain to go on it. Maybe a light fleece backed with a cheap space blanket.

If all else fails you can apply bubble wrap to it in sections, just damp the bubble wrap and it will stick to any smooth surface for quite a while, when it starts to peel off, just re-damp it.

I was reading back something else on the forum about tights when your posts caught my eye. You are made of strong stuff to tackle the extreme cold. Your dignity and courage shine through, your willingness to face the challenge head on is inspiring and the world would be a better place with more like you in it.

tugrin

Hi K - can I introduce to the wonderful shorthand and slightly 'slangy' English word for £'s quid?
THis will save you having to write pounds sterling everytime you convert for us LBPs I think will just confuse a lot of us as we dont even use lbs and oz (pounds and ounces for the younger amongst the Brits!) any more (wish we jolly well did tho').
Very envious of your weight loss - I just cannot shirt any at the moment, and your Liz Cliaborne handbag (purse I believe is what you call them?) I have gad my black leather holdall type for at least 5 years and could do with a good replacement but all I can find in thrift shops are plastic these days.
Weather does not look promising today but never mind Im making blackberry related things this morning.

Mrs_Vimes

I have just received my Craghoppers order and my Landsend order. I'm well chuffed. I can't remember who posted about the trousers, fleeces and the 15% code but a big massive thank you whoever it was. I have got a lovely winter style coat - should have been £90 (ish) reduced to £50 and then another 15% off.
Massive cheers!!!!!

Confuzzled

littlecal wrote: »

Hi all,

Hope someone can help please

I'm in a rented flat and want to put up a lightweight rod across a door frame to hold a fleece (the door doesn't close properly and LL not bothered:mad:) anyway...I've got some hooks that can be stuck to the frame but it says to use rubbing alcohol - not domestic cleaners - where can I find rubbing alcohol?:)

Thank you.

rubbing alcohol is isopropyl alcohol (or occassionally ethyl alcohol), the place you're looking at for instructions must be american as in the states you can pick this up very cheaply from any walmart or pharmacy (chemist). i've not been able to find it out on the shelves here anywhere. however i did once manage to get some after begging a chemist for some so i could clean my tape heads in my old stereo about a decade ago.

i'd suggest asking at your local chemist explaining what it's for. they may dispense some for you in a small bottle (mine came in one of those ancient brown glass medicine bottles!) but it cost me a fortune. it might also help if you explain what the instructions say here as we may be able to help you find a substitution or other solution.

i was shocked that something so commonly available in the states wasn't allowed here, i was treated with great suspicion when i asked for it! mind you that was on an island and islanders tend to be a little different than mainlanders (in both good and bad ways ) so maybe that was it.

i was also very sad to see i couldn't find any hydrogen peroxide. this is always sold alongside rubbing alcohol and is the only thing i know for sure that will remove blood (wet area, use some washing up liquid, rinse then add hydrogen peroxide, it even removes old dried blood!). if anyone knows where i can get hydrogen peroxide here in the uk please let me know i unfortunately still have need of it and my daughter will need it in a few years too....

Confuzzled

bluebag wrote: »

No, 'tis frugal ways. But occasionally we ought to treat ourselves as well as we would treat a good freind.

Maybe you can buy some needs with it and have the treat of the heating up a little higher on the coldest days and not feel bad about it?

or maybe stock up but stock up on a few more expensive treats than you normally would allow yourself then dole them out here and there through the winter. so if say you normally buy store brand soup but heinz has some flavour you really like that store brands don't you might buy a few of those instead? this way you're still stalking up, still getting a treat and not feeling guilty or deprived :T i find a few small treats, used sparingly can make the most frugal food comforting and tasty thereby eliminating any sense of deprivation, cheese and spices are my two favourites in this area

Confuzzled

Rummer wrote: »

He will realize my wisdom when we can't leave the house yet we have shea butter loo roll!

oh i'm sure he will but do you really think he'll admit to it? :rotfl:

elgar_2

Hello,

I have been lurking all this time....and although posted once on here feel a bit loathed to interrupt! So forgive me. Mind you it takes me all my time to keep up with this thread as I just turn my back for a day or two and it takes awhile to catch up reading all the good tips! Im sure Ive missed many.

Today we plan to do quite a bit in our winter preparation attempt!
We only have a small, one bed modern flat, but still we have to be careful.

So My DH (still getting used to this being married!!) will try and put curtain track above front door and fit radiator reflector things (I got them from a nice website and my mum was jealous as I paid half price she did).

Going to look at carpet for our hallway (its been without since last November) and thermal curtain linings for living room and bedroom (we only have 2 windows). So trip to town.

my mum gave me some curtains for the hall and lovely thicker ones she got from charity shop (3.50)

Also want to see what I have stored away for christmas pressies as we go to visit Inlaws in November (if we have no snow!!) and will be delivering them gifts..have to say many will be photogifts using our wedding photos...well its only year we can get away with that!!

need to think about something nice for our dinner tonight too...

Once we get the pictures up in hall and flooring fitted we can start squirreling away food, as last year it was nightmare walking to work AND picking up food. Mind you this year I have my lovely hubby living with me so a bonus hot water bottle!!

Hope we get these things done today...
Sorry for waffle..I will disappear again to lurk some more!!

CH27

Hi elgar:)
welcome to the thread.