What has this bad weather taught you?

lostinrates

what the weather is teaching me is that I need to give heating a higher priority in our house refurbishment. Previously, as we don't use heating much, its all been about insulation etc and hot water in our heads, but affordable long term heating is only going to be more of an asset!

Fruball

jaxx46 wrote: »

Your present is ordered, I promise it's so,
I made my plans then God made the snow,
As soon as it gets here you will have it forthwith,
But for now please make do with this Christmas kiss.

:T:T:T Love it :T:T:T

Charis

JackieO wrote: »

The rough sleepers,and the lost and lonely who have no one who cares about whether they have food or shelter That is the obscenity in the 21st century.

[...]

Its tough but things could be a darn sight worse they could be homeless,sleeping out on the streets,with no food ,no money and no one to care about them. They are the ones I feel for.

Some of the homeless have people who love them dearly but can't have them home because they are violent or because have a drug habit, for which they steal. Many of those lonely souls need professional help, but they are even less likely to get it with all the cutbacks.

soba wrote: »

We don't send cards at Christmas, instead we donate a little bit to charity (usually the scouts) but after reading your post I've decided that we'll give to a local homeless charity instead this time. I know it won't have an effect immediately but hopefully it'll help somebody in the cold weather - even if it only buys a blanket or sleeping bag. Thanks JackieO.

kittie wrote: »

https://secure20.salvationarmy.org/donation.jsp

They are getting my christmas card money this year

I will do that next year too. More sensible than buying the usual charity cards, of which only a portion of the profit goes to the charity, and better than queueing for and paying the ever rising cost of stamps. Less wasted paper and cardboard and less fuel wasted transporting sacks of processed dead trees. TBH I dread the annual card writing exercise anyway.

Eenymeeny

I heard an idea from a radio presenter recently regarding receiving yet more Christmas socks that you knew you wouldn't wear. He suggested putting them in your pocket and handing them out to one of those homeless people. At first I thought that it was a good idea, then I wondered if they would be offended? Maybe it would be better to just put them into the next charity bag?

[Deleted User]

I knit blankets for The Linus Project.They supply blankets to any needy child no matter where, in all four corners of the world I have seven well-fed, warm, lucky grandchildren, and by making my blankets I like to think that somewhere tonight a child is wrapped in a blanket that I have knitted to keep them warm The blankets go to south america,eastern europe ,india ,africa and every country in the world.I often recycle wool from hand-knitted stuff I get at boot fairs or charity shops.I unpick them ,warm,dry and rewind and then re-knit into something warm.in 2008, 68 tonnes were sent to children who sometimes only have a blanket to wrap around themselves at night.My friend crochets and makes patchwork quilts for the charity as well.I feel lucky that my granchildren don't have to worry about being warm or hungry so by doing a bit of knitting I am putting something to good use which may have been binned.Lots of my friends keep an eye out for oddments of wool even half balls and the colours don't matter as long as its double knitting .Last year I had 6 large black plastic sacks donated to me of machine wool which is very thin.wound together in two strand it made a suitable double thickness.All of the wool was used by both myself and my band of knitters.To the poster with the socks why not give to the salvation Army they are always looking for extra socks and warm clothes for their rough sleepers.

Fruball

JackieO wrote: »

I knit blankets for The Linus Project.They supply blankets to any needy child no matter where, in all four corners of the world I have seven well-fed, warm, lucky grandchildren, and by making my blankets I like to think that somewhere tonight a child is wrapped in a blanket that I have knitted to keep them warm The blankets go to south america,eastern europe ,india ,africa and every country in the world.I often recycle wool from hand-knitted stuff I get at boot fairs or charity shops.I unpick them ,warm,dry and rewind and then re-knit into something warm.in 2008, 68 tonnes were sent to children who sometimes only have a blanket to wrap around themselves at night.My friend crochets and makes patchwork quilts for the charity as well.I feel lucky that my granchildren don't have to worry about being warm or hungry so by doing a bit of knitting I am putting something to good use which may have been binned.Lots of my friends keep an eye out for oddments of wool even half balls and the colours don't matter as long as its double knitting .Last year I had 6 large black plastic sacks donated to me of machine wool which is very thin.wound together in two strand it made a suitable double thickness.All of the wool was used by both myself and my band of knitters.To the poster with the socks why not give to the salvation Army they are always looking for extra socks and warm clothes for their rough sleepers.

Awwwww that is so lovely :A

booter

mrs-stressed wrote: »

I am sorry this happened not just for those that were burgled but for you now with a massive guilt trip going on. Its happened. Sxxt happens. They will learn something from this and so will you. But you are not the Neighborhood Watch so try and put it away for now.

Wht did the thieving gits get? Probably druggies neading ready cash to feed their addiction. 'There but the grace of god go I' springs to mind here.

mrs s

Thanks mrs s - they got all their electricals - laptop, pc, digital cameras (with memory cards) and they took all the wrapped pressies from under the tree. Her jewellery wasn't taken (amazingly). The police seem to be of the same opinion - druggies. "There but for the grace of god" was the exact words I used when I heard. TBH it's my worst nightmare. The neighbour's now worried about coming home to an empty house now, so for what it's worth, I've told her to knock my door if she's at all worried, and I'll go in with her. Let's hope lightening doesn't strike twice (although the local scum are probably well aware that they've already been done).

Thanks to you and bluebag for the thoughts - I'll try not to feel too guilty and try not to be completely paranoid!

Broomstick

Booter, can they account for all their spare house keys? If not, a change of locks should be a priority.

B x

booter

Broomstick wrote: »

Booter, can they account for all their spare house keys? If not, a change of locks should be a priority.

B x

Thanks Broomstick - yes, all keys are accounted for.

alice-mary

booter wrote: »

Thanks mrs s - they got all their electricals - laptop, pc, digital cameras (with memory cards) and they took all the wrapped pressies from under the tree. Her jewellery wasn't taken (amazingly). The police seem to be of the same opinion - druggies. "There but for the grace of god" was the exact words I used when I heard. TBH it's my worst nightmare. The neighbour's now worried about coming home to an empty house now, so for what it's worth, I've told her to knock my door if she's at all worried, and I'll go in with her. Let's hope lightening doesn't strike twice (although the local scum are probably well aware that they've already been done).

I am sad to read about this and it brought to mind some stories I heard a couple of years ago..... Having been burgled, a few families claimed for their losses on their insurance policies and managed to replace most of the lost items BUT a couple of months later, they were all burgled again! The burglers must have waited just the right amount of time for their victims to think "it won't happen again" and then struck again. Please, everybody out there, don't take your security for granted!

Alice
xxxx