As The Workhouse Approaches....How To Do Everything To Avoid It, the Old Style Way

lostinrates

GreyQueen wrote: »

I have heard that it is cheaper to keep a whole home to a modest temperature than to have one room hot and the heating off in the rest, plus it is better for your building and your belongings. It was a c.h engineer who told me that but I have also seen it in books on low carbon living etc.

I think it depends on the home. (though not the belongings, everything I guess it better kept at a moderate heat and humidity...too dry bad for wood veneers, too damp bad for everything I guess!) but in reality unless parts of my house are ''earning their keep'' in use I can't see it makes sense to heat them....for example, on the days its just me here.


when our ground source heating system is in the idea is it DOES heat the whole house but not to very warm. That's fine for us and better for the ''stuff''. I'd rather have a constant low heat spot heated with woodburner/fireplaces as needed for comfort.

Winged_one

When we werew in Co Clare recently, there were a few housesthat had obviously gotten a whole trailer load of lengths of trees delivered, sitting in fields or gardens beside the houses. I presumed that it was cheaper for them to get a whole trailor and then dry and chop the trees themselves for firewood. (Wish I had that kind of room).

We use wood when we can, and I pick up large limbs if I find them. But it's mostly pine cones that I can gather - which I use for lighting the fire (they are great for that) and sometimes use a handful instead of a log. There are 2 trees with different types of dense enough but small cones in the plot site, and a whole load of trees with the huge cones in a public park where we walk too, so I sometimes gather a few there. I collect the little twigs off the tree in the front garden too (the ones DH prunes, and the ones that fall in the wind), and if I find decent sticks on walks, I keep those too - again mostly for starting the fire.

Otherwise, I am not really thinking about winter much yet. We weren't too bad last winter, and I had bought ski gear in late summer sales so that was extremely handy (got it cheap as we were determined to go last year, but then DH broke his wrist after getting knocked off his bike). There are times I'd love to be truly snowbound though, as here we were just mobile enough to still get to work, school was still open most of the time, and it just took soo long to do anything....without the cosy days in front of the fire with the board games out and a stew on the cooker.

carriebradshaw

Winged_one wrote: »

We use wood when we can, and I pick up large limbs if I find them. But it's mostly pine cones that I can gather - which I use for lighting the fire (they are great for that) and sometimes use a handful instead of a log. There are 2 trees with different types of dense enough but small cones in the plot site, and a whole load of trees with the huge cones in a public park where we walk too, so I sometimes gather a few there. I collect the little twigs off the tree in the front garden too (the ones DH prunes, and the ones that fall in the wind), and if I find decent sticks on walks, I keep those too - again mostly for starting the fire.

I do the same when we walk the dog,as there's loads of pinecones and fallen twiggy bits on the round in the woods so I pick a few up on dry days, take them home,bag them and they soon mount up, haven't had to buy kindling for years now.We store them in the coal bunker in the summer and then move them to the shed once the lawn mower has been put away for the Winter

mardatha

Going offline for a day or two, but will be back. Getting a new computer and it always takes me ages to suss it out. All nervous here

starsandmoon

All this knicker talk reminds me of when my ex bought a used car and was giving the inside a good clean and found a pair of stained underpants in the boot:eek: My own knicks are too small or slinky material so I wash them and chuck them in the bin (my local authority root in bin bags if they find any out when its not collection day so they can fine offenders). Knowing my luck the bag would split and a pair of dirty knicks would fall out, no wheely bins as no room (back to back terraces)

PepPop

sammy_kaye18 Thanks for posting the links - I'll check them out :beer:

Annie56

Morning all, well the rains gone but theres no blue in the sky and the winds picking up, hope it doesnt come back like last night..
the hanging baskets are well and truly battered, have spent the morning filling them back up and making the plants secure again and checked out the allotments the beds in the paddock there looking a bit knocked around but are fine, they must have good roots already thatsall I can say, once the grounds drained a bit more they will be fine.

Our log piles saturated, so thats the job for this weekend get all the wood into the small barn under cover, what with the news that B Gas might be hiking the prices by as much as 25% that wood piles going to be very very big...Montys lucky that most the tree cutting jobs he does they let him keep wood..thank goodness we have an old trailer we share with a friend of ours, my little Clio is going to be traded in for an old Land Rover with a towing bracket..where has the hair done every week, nails done and lippy on at all times lady gone , I cant believe that was me about 18 months ago, funny how life changes for the better though some of my so called friends think Ive turned into as one put it a country bumpkin who talks about recipes and moneysaving and the weather and how I got a massive bargain at the charity shop... thats another so called friend of my Xmas card list...funny how making ends meet lifestyle doesnt sit ok with the credit card flashing, shopping maniacs I once knew, Im happy thats all that matters..

Just got an email from local Freecycler saying that I can have an old pine chest of drawers that they dont want, another sanding and Farrow & Ball painting job coming up, it said one of the posh mags at the doctors surgery yesterday that pine was making a come back so if thats true then the freebie pine offers might dry up but till then I shall be keeping an eye on Freecycle.

I need to go find some rabbit recipes, local chap offered Monty some rabbits he shot, not sure if Im up to skinning a bunny...specially when Lucys little Thumper looks at me square in the eye, but then its free food so need to get that daft notion out of my head pronto that old me the ready made meal queen is still in my head sometimes oh how times have changed for the better lol

Right am off to scoff some nice homemade bread with some pea and ham soup I made yesterday and finish it off with some HM apple crumble and custard ( the waistband on my trousers is getting tight), and the birds are singing all in all lifes ok .

Warmest wishes to you all

Annie Lucy & Monty and three rabbits lying on the kitchen table ooh errr!!!

mamaninie

Hi, I've been wondering about part-baked bread and hoped you experienced money saving bakers could help me.:) I find it really handy to keep a few part-baked baguettes in the freezer - the kids love them with home-made tomato soup and they take the same amount of time to cook as the soup:p so its all on the table in 15 minutes. They are ruinously expensive though and always too small to just cook one for all of us and too big so there is waste after cooking 2:mad: Can you just part-bake a normal bread recipe to just before the loaves start to colour and cool it and freeze? Or would that just go disastrously wrong? Please tell me if I'm being daft but my baking history is littered with loaves of granite and inedible disasters.:o

silvermaid

JillS wrote: »

Well you can add me as a third. Now that old knickers go in recycling I would wash them on purpose 'cos it just doesn't seem nice putting unwashed undies in recycling but even when they went in the dustbin they were usually washed just because the point at which undies get thrown away is usually when I get a pair out and look at them and think "Admit it, J, these really won't do any more".

Exactly the same here only I say "Admit it, S, these really won't do any more."
x

juliethemuse

i dont suppose anyone has a link for banana cake do they, i had some when on holiday in usa and omg it was heavenly, it will also be a good way to eat more fruit :rotfl:
sammykaye i have been reading about your HV from hell, i had one of those 23 yrs ago when i had son number one, i felt i couldnt do anything right, she said he was overweight then underweight, it was always wrong, to tell you the honest truth i was frightened she was angling to take him off us, probably rubbish but thats how i felt at the time,
i have been gardening like a mad woman this morning and i'm cream crackered i hope i have burnt some calories off, but its my second boys 22nd birthday on thursday and i have bought him a huge chocolate cake, i dont think i will be able to not have a bit of it,