Preparing for winter II

Hobsons_Choice

Justamum wrote: »

I know how you feel. We are renting and the house has carpets only on the stairs, the tiny bedroom and the attic conversion which my DD1 sleeps in. Her room is boiling hot in summer and freezing cold in winter. The rest of the floors just have bare floorboards, and we're not talking nice laminate either, just floorboards where they must have ripped up carpet and left it. There are gaps between the boards. Bloomin' freezing.

Could you try putting newspaper between the floorboards to minimise the gaps? Soak the paper first if need be - you can always get it out if you have to move and leave the flat "as was".

tugrin

Good morning everyone,
Today is the day of the village show here and the village hall was busy buzzing with all of us growers,cookers and preservers. New people like myself are regarded w2ith a degree of suspicion but I just merrily smile as I our my lopsided Victoria sponge next to a pneumatically high and light looking entry thinking to myself - there's no glory in winning if you are the only entry! Howver I know by the time I go back at half two to see if I was 'placed' anywere with my produce, there will be a whole pack of sponges and flans and muffins vying for those coveted cards!
Back on topic - FRUGAL - if you are there you mentioned a dehumidifier than was dry and kept things warm too??? Is this true or is it just a sort of by - product of the dryness?? Anyway what sort of dehumidifier have you got please??

splodger_seedswapper

morning tugrin - re village shows - i get asked every year if i will be exhibiting and every year i decline - i reckon i am the best judge on how good my veggies

back on topic - i have been thinking about how i can best prepare for the forthcoming winter - and you guys have spurred me on to get my finger out and actually do something constructive

my job for this weekend is to clear out and sort a very messy hallway cupboard (where i usually put towels, throws and dogs bedding etc) - give it good clean and tidy - and make room for some wine racks - as i will have to start bottling my homebrew soon - and just don't have a place sorted to store it :beer:

and i have made another decision - aagin thanks to your inspiration - instead of buying in extra food stuff etc - i think i will try and put a few extra quid each week on my leccy key - i think that will really help me out once the cold weather starts and the heating has to go on - i have left it a bit late - but nevermind - better late than not at all :cool:

Rummer

What items should I have in my car? Last year a few people were snowed in at my work and I was thinking the following would be useful to have ready either to get my car out or to make sure I am prepared to walk home :eek:. If you can think of other things or good suppliers please let me know:

• First aid kit - already in the car
• Folding snow shovel
• Spare hat, scarf and gloves
• Waterproof trousers
  
• Water
• Drink
• Snack bar
• Change for bus
• Scraper
• Blanket - foil/woolen or both?

I always have with me a fully charged mobile phone and in the winter I wear snow boots (proper not fashionable :rotfl:) and a waterproof ski jacket.

rising_from_the_ashes

Rummer wrote: »

What items should I have in my car? Last year a few people were snowed in at my work and I was thinking the following would be useful to have ready either to get my car out or to make sure I am prepared to walk home :eek:. If you can think of other things or good suppliers please let me know:

• First aid kit - already in the car
• Folding snow shovel
• Spare hat, scarf and gloves
• Waterproof trousers
  
• Water
• Drink
• Snack bar
• Change for bus
• Scraper
• Blanket - foil/woolen or both?

I always have with me a fully charged mobile phone and in the winter I wear snow boots (proper not fashionable :rotfl:) and a waterproof ski jacket.

Pretty good list & depending on where you live it could be fine left at that .... My winter car kit is everything on your list, plus:

De-icer
Concentrated screen wash & funnel
Pump for tyres
Wellies & thick socks
Sleeping bag & several blankets
Carpet squares (use as mats but handy to put under wheels if you get stuck)
Torch & batteries
Couple of old mags
Box of tissues (& now a loo roll;))
Antibacterial hand wipes
Rope
Emergency whistle
Size larger than I need - thin waterproof jacket & trousers (easy to put on over whatever you've got on, even if you look like the michelin man!)
Walking stick (can be very hard going in deep snow/ice)
Huge bag of sand

Some of these may seem excessive but I mainly travel on very rural (often single track) roads so if I did get stuck, I'd likely be stuck for a while - not always able to get a mobile signal to get help either:(.

If I have to do a journey and it's really bad, I also take:

flask with hot drink
Camping stove & gas
Pan with lid
snacks/food for 24 hours (packets of pasta-n-sauce, flavoured rice etc as easily cooked on stove as well as biccies etc)
lots of bottled water
extra jumpers, change of trousers & socks etc
Spare pair of boots

If the dog's with me, I take some of his meal as well as making sure his water bottle's full (lives in car as does a bowl).

HTH

tugrin

Yes splodger - I know what you mean but I just love all the social life that revolves around the horticultural society and it has been a great way for me to meet people in the village. Its an old tradition and if only the oldies put there stuff in then there will be no show in 5 years time. I love the competition and the fact that I have put a squash in the marrow category and I oil and polish my tomatoes to give me an 'edge' - I probably migh get a couple of 3rds but its fun.


If anyone has any advice or info on dehumidifiers I really would appreciate their input as I am really worried about my bathroom extension - I have a convector heater wired in to use when showering BUT the towels never dry and the room feels clammy when heater not on.

FairyPrincessk

Just a warning on de-humidifiers. If you intend to use it in an un-heated room, you should check what the minimum temperature is for its operation. Most dehumidifiers will have to defrost (or burn out the compressor) if the room is below a certain temperature. So, if you want it to be effective in an unheated room you may need to maintain a base temperature in there anyway. I had one (although its broken now and I'm not in a position to replace it) and it would frequently go into defrost mode whenever the heating had been off for awhile.

pennib

Did your room get frost on the inside of the windows FairypricessK? What would be the minimum temp? I use my machine on the end bedroom which is quite cold and can get damp if I let down my guard. Never had a problem with it...so far!

miss_corerupted

my thermal lining curtains have arrived and my twin sided draft excluders (£1.99 ebay) these look very cheap but if they work who cares!! Just got to cut them to length now. Not sure whether to put the linings up yet as I going away tomorrow for a week so not sure if I have enough time to wash, iron and rehang by tomorrow so they will prob wait until I get back.

I'm debating on taking the washing with me as I know OH won't do it while I'm away and more will just build up (i'm doing a degree long distance and we have block study once a term)

Lucy5781

I went to £land for basic car kit, we're in North London so it's not often we're out and stranded but we've got trips to Leicestershire countryside, Suffolk and South Coast all happening before Xmas and probably middle of Hertfordshire over Xmas and they include a fair few winding country lanes so...

Just as a start:
Bag of mishape biscuits
cans of drink
Large packet of babywipes (always good if OH has had to rummage under the bonnet etc)
first aid bits

And one big old throw which I used to use on our old cream sofa, Landlady got us nice new leather ones in March so I have a stock of throws/fleeces I used to use to keep the old sofa from stains!

I spotted foil/bubblewrap windscreen blinds in there too £1 each!!

We're lucky to live in a less than 30 year old flat with high quality DG, only trouble we ever had was earlier this year, the flat below us (we're 2nd floor) was empty and their Landlady had the place re-plastered, OMG did we feel the cold!! It left the hall/stairway outside so cold we had condensation on the inside of our wooden front door! Had to keep wiping it down with Kitchen roll! Thankfully only lasted about two weeks but OMG the front door stuck so much I hurt my fingers trying to shut it from outside!