Preparing for winter II

kmiller4

Americans dont eat a lot of goose. In fact I don't believe I've ever had any. I was surprised when someone on this board said how expensive they are. Well, when I was in the market yesterday, I saw some geese in the freezer section. They were $6/lb-- thats about 40 quid for a 10 pound (4.5 kg) bird! I had no idea they were so costly! At this rate I'll never get to try one!

Does the flavor of goose differ much from that of duck? I've had duck before and a friend is going to give me a fresh duck to cook. I've never cooked a duck. Does anyone have any tips or recipes on how to cook fresh duck?

I didn't end up getting any chuck roasts yesterday. They were all very fatty. I know fat adds flavor, but I hate to pay for fat and its not good for me either

dawnie1972

rising_from_the_ashes wrote: »

Hi Dawnie, just wondering if there was some reason you've decided not to use the open fire?

I used to live in a really old farm cottage (again with oil heating that I couldn't afford to use) and the open fire was my only source of heating.

I only had the fire in my lounge but it warmed the room (with doors shut) really quickly and I could then open the doors to the other parts of the house and keep the chill off them.

The heat generated helps to warm the stones that the cottages are built of and stops them getting really cold which helps a huge amount.

Mainly because I work full time so am out of the house during the day so by the time i'll have stoked it up at night it'll be time to go to bed whereas with the oil i can set the timer so that its warm when i get home/get up in the morning. Plus i'm not very self sufficient so would end up buying kindling/logs/coal which would cost quite a lot i think.

tryingtobethrifty

Hi everyone, about 6 months ago our bedroom started to get quite cold, but the thing we noticed the most was that we were now able to hear much more road noise. Well, last night I'd had enough and went to investigate. It turns out on the hinge side of the window (upvc) there is a massive gap in the middle of the window like it's bowed, where the window joins the frame. We've stuffed it with toilet roll for now but does anyone know if it's possible to get a new seal or if indeed this is bad news (please say "no")?

Also, I was thinking now that I'd be using the tumble dryer a bit more that winter is coming it would be good to give it and the pipe that goes out of the wall (oh...how technical I am :rotfl:) a good clean to prevent fire.

Thanks in advance for your help

oh, and well done Red doe

Rainy-Days

The fascias boards are now done and finished :j:j:j

What a ruddy job that was, DH has mortared up the roof tiles where some of the concrete came out adjoing the old boards. That is one huge headache over. £5,000.00 original quote (uPVC and replacement guttering) DH has done it for just under £300.00 all in. I suppose I am very lucky that I have him in a position where DY he can pretty much turn his hand to anything.

rising_from_the_ashes

dawnie1972 wrote: »

Mainly because I work full time so am out of the house during the day so by the time i'll have stoked it up at night it'll be time to go to bed whereas with the oil i can set the timer so that its warm when i get home/get up in the morning.

Sorry but going to disagree.

I worked all day too when I had mine - I laid and lit it (about 5 mins to do) as soon as I got home and with the doors shut the room had warmed up in no time, then plenty of time to open the doors to warm the rest of the house before bed time.

The residual amount would smoulder away gently overnight and there was still some heat left in the mornings (and because the house walls have warmed up it keeps the house warm all night).

You can make log bricks from old papers, gather wood (or buy if you have to) and it will be cheaper than oil.

If you really don't want to use it during the week, have a think about using it at weekends when you're around more, you can keep them going and sending out a reasonable amount of heat with very little fuel (of whatever type) on them once they're "going" - there is honestly nothing more warming than an open fire .... I still miss mine 5 years on and would do anything to have one here.

dawnie1972

rising_from_the_ashes wrote: »

Sorry but going to disagree.

I worked all day too when I had mine - I laid and lit it (about 5 mins to do) as soon as I got home and with the doors shut the room had warmed up in no time, then plenty of time to open the doors to warm the rest of the house before bed time.

The residual amount would smoulder away gently overnight and their was still some heat left in the mornings (and because the house walls have warmed up it keeps the house warm all night).

You can make log bricks from old papers, gather wood (or buy if you have to) and it be cheaper than oil.

If you really don't want to use it during the week, have a think about using it at weekends when you're around more, you can keep them going and sending out a reasonable amount of heat with very little fuel (of whatever time) on them once they're "going" - there is honestly nothing more warming than an open fire .... I still miss mine 5 years on and would do anything to have one here.

So what would i be looking at cost wise - i have access to a load of wood pallets at work could i burn just those or would i still need coal etc. I need to get all the ash pan etc as it has nothing just the big grate (i'm in rented accommodation). When the colder weather comes because of where I live i will be getting home from work on the Friday and not moving from my house till the Monday morning.

Rainy-Days

dawnie1972 wrote: »

So what would i be looking at cost wise - i have access to a load of wood pallets at work could i burn just those or would i still need coal etc. I need to get all the ash pan etc as it has nothing just the big grate (i'm in rented accommodation). When the colder weather comes because of where I live i will be getting home from work on the Friday and not moving from my house till the Monday morning.

Dawnie, I use a combination of wood - for the flame - and coal - for the heat. It's a personal choice thing. With wood it will burn allot quicker and you will get more ash. If you use the thick blocks inbetween the pallets they do take longer to burn, but generally speaking to give it a bit extra oomph in the heat department I would suggest getting some coal to give it a good start.

toottifrootti

tessasmum wrote: »

You will love the woodburner - we've had one in the last three houses and couldn't survive without one here so we had one put in two winters ago after being without one for five years and it is wonderful!! Keeps the room cosy, dries washing overnight, saves on heating oil, keeps the family together in the one room rather than them being spread about the house, can even cook on it!

tessasmum and anyone eslse I have a very small open fire which I am going to have checked to see if I can use (rented house and empty for years!) I would like to use the fire but my OT and others dont think its a good idea because of various health problems -one being that I could not get down to clean out the fire - I was wondering if a woodburner would be better and easier for me? would it still need cleaned out everyday?
There is gas CH and it seems to be very cosy - i get a lot of sun in the LR during the day so I am wondering if I am wasting money thinking of getting one and should just make do with using the fire when and if I need extra heat. I am at home a lot as unable to work.

what do you ladies think?

toots x

dawnie1972

toottifrootti wrote: »

tessasmum and anyone eslse I have a very small open fire which I am going to have checked to see if I can use (rented house and empty for years!) I would like to use the fire but my OT and others dont think its a good idea because of various health problems -one being that I could not get down to clean out the fire - I was wondering if a woodburner would be better and easier for me? would it still need cleaned out everyday?
There is gas CH and it seems to be very cosy - i get a lot of sun in the LR during the day so I am wondering if I am wasting money thinking of getting one and should just make do with using the fire when and if I need extra heat. I am at home a lot as unable to work.

what do you ladies think?

toots x

Hi
Not sure what your health problems are but in my previous house (rented) I had an open fire, my landlord fitted a woodburner and after using it twice i never used it again, it caused me a lot of problems with my asthma. Everyone is different but that was how it affected me personally.

Ida_Notion

dawnie1972 wrote: »

So what would i be looking at cost wise - i have access to a load of wood pallets at work could i burn just those or would i still need coal etc. I need to get all the ash pan etc as it has nothing just the big grate (i'm in rented accommodation). When the colder weather comes because of where I live i will be getting home from work on the Friday and not moving from my house till the Monday morning.

I don't know the first thing about open fires, but if you're in rented accommodation then I should check before using yours that it wouldn't breach the terms of your tenancy agreement. I know I'm not supposed to use any naked flames here (apart from the gas cooker), not even a candle. I think it would invalidate the landlord's insurance or something, and is pretty much standard now.