Preparing for winter II

kat360

LURKER ALERT!!!
This thread is great!! I've made a check-list with tick boxes on word, I've now printed it out and am ticking off what I have done.:) thanks for all your help.

Toonie

Thanks for the support. On the upside I guess I'll be looking for somewhere smaller so that will hopefully be cheaper to heat, plus I'm far more tolerant of the cold than my ex. That's the first time I've called him that, which is quite odd considering he is in the room next door. Neither of us can afford to move out straight away, so it's really odd. I've begun decluttering and found my hot water bottle and my wheat pack, so I've popped them into a big tesc0 bag to keep them aside. I've also found my warm cosy flannel sheet, it's only a single, but it will be nice to have on cold evenings.

p-pincher

MrsRogers wrote: »

****:wave:WAVES AND SAYS HELLO TO ALL THE LURKERS COMING OUT OF THE DARK TO JOIN IN AND SAYS COME ON IN TO ANYONE STILL LURKING :wave:****

Hi everyone

Thought it was about time i delurked, been following the thread for ages but not posted a thing. To be honest Im doing quite well at the mo, our house is well insulated and we always try to keep the gas a leccy bills low throughout the year. Told DH that the heating is not allowed on til at least October, though hoping we can stretch this out til after our hols at the end of October.

I always try to keep a full pantry but stepped it up a bit and cleared 2 shelves of food that cannot be touched at all, well at least until it snows. Grabbed lots of the branston beans and 22p wholewheat pasta over the last week. Hat, scarves and gloves sorted. Kids needs new fleecy pjs and im definitely buying myself an all in one from primani ( though dh is not happy about this). New wellies for dd1 and snowboots for dd2 been ordered and on its way.

Trying to now sort a few xmas pressies that i know the kids definitely want I know its early but after last year with all the snow I had a nightmare with deliveries either being late or not turning up on time or not at all (yes I mean you amazon), far too much hassle.

To do list for this week

Thick work socks for dh and another insulated mug for work.
Get some hot chocolate stocked up as well as some marvel.
Stock up on some more store cupboard bits, see whats on offer.
Get some more wool to finish my crochet blanket x

THIRZAH

The boiler is due to be serviced next week. The new windows and porch are finally finished. The curtains have all been washed or dry cleaned-which cost a small fortune but needed to be done.

Now I must jut get more stores in. I have quite a lot of tins and packets of pasta etc already but do need more . It was amazing how the store cupboard was depleted by the time Christmas was over last year.

I always keep at least one "spare" of most essentials-washing powder, tea, coffe, flour etc.

We went to IKEA today to get some shelves and I noticed that they still hae the cheap fleeces for about £1.49. They also had duvets for about £2.50 which I thought might be useful as a mattress topper.

I have a couple of pairs of thick PJs but what I really want is something to wear in the evenings after I've got back from walking. It seems a bit decadent to put my PJs on at 6 pm but I don't want to get properly dressed again after I've had my bath.I was wondering about some kind of kaftan but the only ones I've seen are quite thin.

kirsty822001

:wave:Hi winter preppers

Still getting sorted here, OH refusing to get anymore loo rolls from costco as 40 is enough for now,spoilsport! Told him thats nothing compared to others :rotfl:anyhow will ignore him and get another pack of 40 later in week and some other bits there once I have earnt some money. Been off for 2 weeks so it will be nice to get kids back to school and me back at work, I dont earn if I am off. My final winter prep and xmas buying begins this week!

I noticed a product this week to absorb damp/condensation, (i think) it was re usable, microwaveable to reuse?? It was called 'Ping' I may check it out and source a stockist cos if its reuseable that means it would last,anyone heard of it? may be good in winter for windowsills etc.
Just wondered if anyone could point me in the right direction for the silver blanket thingys,,was wondering if could use them or some kind of insulating sheet for my rabbits?? really not sure what to use,,I am trying to plan some kind of winter protection like a hutch hugger,,OH gets really strong waterproof tarpalin sheets from work so he is hoping to get me a couple of those ,then i am hoping to sew one of those silver warm blanket things, then a waterproof picnic blanket,hoping that would work,,any thoughts? Its the wind and rain I want to keep out cos if it is really cold I will bring my 2 bunnies in for the nite,,OH will not be happy at that :rotfl:he pointed out today I clean the rabbits out more that i clean our bedroom or change our bed :eek: yes was my reply but we dont poo in our bedroom or bed;) not yet anyway:rotfl:
right sorry rambling on thanks for listening

hugs and positive thoughts 'Toonie'


Whilst I am being a pest can I also ask you lovely winter preppers what can put on my hall floor? It is Oak with coconut matting inlaid as u step in,,but as soon as it rains and we all trapse (sp) in, it gets all wet obviously,,shoes are removed but its not good for the floor to get wet. Not worried about the mat. I was wondering if that plastic hall stuff is any good, the clear stuff no clue what its called! I am not sure will be able to open the door with that down,,i just run and grab a towel but its a pain to do. Any help would be much appreciated:)

tugrin

Hello everyone
I forgot the blackberries this aftenoon and they have a slightly overcooked flavour - is there any remedy for this??? Anything I can add before I boil the juice with the sugar??
I am absolutely cheesed off about this as I got scratched to smithereens getting them - to the extent that I actually have a scatch going septic today!! Poor me.

SuziQ

I picked up a couple of the Asda double summer duvets today. My two boys like a double duvet over the single one, with a couple of foot against the wall so it doesn't come off in the night. They were using a couple of old ones, and tbh they were a little too thick, so these low tog ones are ideal. I picked up nice plain blue cotton covers for them off our market, £3 each so very pleased with those. They were also selling off the rolls of door/window insulation stuff at our Asda, 15m rolls reduced to £1. There were loads there but I only took the 3 needed-it has really annoyed me recently to see one person empty a complete shelf of a good offer, leaving nothing for anyone else. One of the tesco ladies told me last night that one woman took EVERY SINGLE PACKET of the 22p pasta they had-over 60 packets. She couldn't possibly need that many, so why not let other people enjoy a bargain, too?

I am trying to decide what to do about my drafty office floor. It is stripped, varnished pine and that room is freezing in winter-to make matters worse the front door opens into it and the stairs lead upstairs from it, it doesn't have a door either as it's a curved wall. I think I am going to take my friends suggestion (she renovates houses for a living) of ripping up newspaper and soaking it, then stuffing it down the gaps with a knitting needle. Trouble is, I can't kneel for very long,and I'm sure it would be a time consuming job. The other suggestion she made was to buy a large, cheap rug to cover the majority of the floor, back that with space blanket and then secure it down with the non-slip carpet gripper (I already have a load of that.) I could then just seal the parts of the floor not covered by the rug? Do you think that would make a difference? I have already placed a draft proof cover on the back of the post slit, am going to line the door frame with the strip I bought, am finishing off a draught excluder I made tonight and I am toying with the idea of a door curtain (a little awkward, as there is a small window either side of the door with wall that juts out, stopping a full length curtain going right across.

Some of this stuff is far from straight forward!

My ex cleared out my gutters for me yesterday and refixed a downpipe, and is going to put up my curtain pole tomorrow across the patio doors. I am toying with the idea of asking one of my neighbours that I am quite friendly with, to price up shortening them for me properly, as my sewing machine- a cheap one- is really driving me mad, knotting and snapping the cotton. I know she would do a great job (she is a seamstress, used to do alterations at Harrods), but don't really want to spend a fortune, rehemming £14 curtains! (TJ Hughes closing down sale!)

babyblooz

The simplest way to shorten curtains is from the top - unpick the curtain tape and then turn the top down the inch or so extra that it needs to be shortened by. Then just press it so its level, and pin the tape back on and sew the straight lines to attach it again. It saves all that faffing about with mitred hems and is much easier. If you have knotted the ends of the curtain tape then you can still take it off and just sew new tape on the top where the old tape was. Its not expensive if you have a market stall selling the tape or a cheapy shop.

SuziQ

They need shortening by 10 inches though Not sure whether they will need cutting off or what. Do you mean machine sewing the tape back on?

rosieben

Some years ago my sewing machine caught fire and I finished making dd's huge curtains and linings by hand. I've hand-sewn curtains recently too; I find it less less complicated than using the machine but I'm retired and so I'm time rich, your situation is maybe different but it would be simple to sew the tape on by hand; just tack it or pin it well first so it stays in place