Preparing for winter III

chirpychick

tugrin wrote: »

Whee does this heresy of 'mild winter' fo us come from??? Is it one of the weather gurus OR the daily Wail?

Oh its not a weather guru i just read it AOL "news" this morning.

prepareathome

Well I now must sort out study as kitchen floor is covered in bags full of cans for emergency supplies, ok if I didn't have a small galley kitchen I would have more space ( only have 5 cupboards plus small pantry for food so to a lot of people my stocks will not seem much at all - I have bought 10 tins tomato soup but hubby can have a tin every day after work so really would only last two weeks as he is not a sandwich type person ( well not unless I make the sandwiches, to fiddly for him, so soup easier, mind you if we didn't have a microwave would he find it so lol.

I think I am going to have to close window in here, temp is actually 20 C and outside its 13.7 but the wind is making the room seem much colder, heavy velvet curtains at window which are closed are moving quite freely - got feet tucked under covers and still cold, getting goosebumps on arms so think definitely time to close it.

Right window closed and throw dressing gown over clothes till I warm up, its annoying when wind is colder than actual temp.

Son had said to me he would like a bio bulb after seeing one in my room but to expensive for them, so bought him one and we took it round, he put it in over of their over head lights - tv/gaming end of living room ( they both are great gamers but then its their only hobby then never go out ) and they were very impressed. With the highest watt ordinary low energy bulb you cannot see any light through their blinds or curtains but you can see light with this bulb and the love the whiteness of the light. Jo asked me the price and went pale when told her but assured her I will buy them. Jo usually falls asleep on the couch about 8pm once the babes are in bed ( 6 and 2) but she is hoping this will keep her awake.

Right better go, got hubby's hair to cut, he gave up going to barbers years ago, he never enjoyed going and is quite happy for me to use the hairclippers, I am no hairdresser but even I with them can give him a decent cut and saves £10 a month, or more

Be warm and snug everyone, and those with real woodburners enjoy them for me :rotfl:

Right dressing gown off as am nice and warm now, ( been writing this over past hour as had a few phone calls)

Just realised while stroking Pixie dogs coats have not thickened up fully yet, usually coats are nice and thick by now, then come spring house looks as if its snowed inside when they shed again, so better make sure I put their coats on ( ones I knitted for them) to keep them snug even just for going into garden.

Thriftkitten

Just checked in to read any morning posts and get my prepping going, and noticed that no one has posted since last night, very thin on the ground lately.
I ordered 3 sleeping bags 1 for the pooches bed on clearance from Mr T's they were down to £3 ish, so they will go with my £5 2 man tent for any overnight camping next summer.
It's been blowing a hoolie all night, the bird food is dotted around the garden and the neighbour has her smalls all strewn over their garden
Honestly.... Some people have no shame!!!
Mother is doing a roast this afternoon again today, much appreciated and will take the chicken carcass for a nice country soup for lunches.
I will NOT be giving the left overs to the pooches tonight, after the mega gas warfar last sunday eve and me having to retire to bed early I have certainly learnt my lesson, maybe they can have it tomorrow morning for breakfast and trump all day whilst basking in their own aromas while im at work hahahhaaha!!!!
In my garden my roses are sprouting new branchesGrrrr thought they had stopped when I pruned them all down. Honey suckle is also producing new leaves, so not sure whats going on.
My xmas flowering cactus is really winging on and getting really bulbous buds, ready to pop, how exciting!!!!
Anyway preppers I now must go and brave the cold wind and do my round, plenty of elderly clients wanting cups of teas, showers and hugs etc. Stay warm, it's a nippy one:eek:

Eenymeeny

Well done with the bargain deicer mcjordi, I also did well with the Focus sale: garden bench reduced from £70 originally, halved, then 10% off. The packaging was damaged and it was labelled 'some fittings missing'. I asked how much they wanted for it and got it for £10! The best bargain I've ever had, I'm learning that it's worth having the nerve to ask! (OH soon put it together with 'bits' that he had in his toolbox)
Thriftkitten love to hear about your garden as I can compare with mine which is a lot colder I would think. I've also got roses sprouting, in fact I've actually got two which are flowering still! Bulbs are all pushing their way through too I hope that we don't lose them over the winter as I love that first sign of Spring...

Confuzzled

tugrin wrote: »

Whee does this heresy of 'mild winter' fo us come from??? Is it one of the weather gurus OR the daily Wail?

the other night before the weather forecast they were having a chuckle about how we're to have a mild winter yada yada

i just sat thinking to myself 'hmmm this reminds me very much of that lovely summers day everyone was told to enjoy and then there was a hurricane'

personally i don't believe a word of the mild thing, the low solar activity and the weak el nina system are enough to make a mild winter unlikely and i think it's actually very very irresponsible of them to be saying things like that because if we do get hit hard what will happen to those that believed the mild winter malarky?

better to be prepared and not use it but have it for another year than to think it's gonna be ok and get caught short possibly in a life threatening way!

Rummer

I am going to put in my big store cupboard order today to make sure that I have everything in incase the weather changes. Plus it means I can avoid the shops during the xmas period. Also I have ordered a weekly veg box so they can bring my fresh things to me weekly and I will be eating local in season produce.

My OH is off this week and since he has been in the mood to decorate I am going to encourage him to finally put the curtain rail up in the living room.

Still need to order in the animals food for the winter and to get our medication in.

tugrin

Very blowy overnight here too - temp is 12 degees but wind chill takes that down to 'very chilly'(technical metereological term!). Very woried about the tarpaulin I struggled to get over my shed/studio roof last month - already some of the roofing nails I used have ripped out and I dont know what I will do if it goes as no money to get it properly fixed and the neighbour who is a roofer never turned up to help and you dont like to ask again do you?
Have had dehumidifier on for over 24 hours now and humidity is just overing around 54% - I think this means the room is qiute damp - am I right humidity experts?
All I have done today is a bit of cleaning and shuffling stuff aound - daughter ome in 3 weeks for Xmas and I have been sleeping in her room since she left in Sept so thats going to mean a big switch around. I hate my bedroom so much I just havent been going into it except to grab clothes. It faces north, feels pepetually damp and has a blue carpet - I hate blue - it makes me feel SO depressed when used in home decor. Of course cant afford to eplace and have missed 2 on freecycle in the last fortnight - may be reduced to jus having boards in the end BUT will that be colder and draftier I ask myself? Sometime I really with I had a part-time OH to talk these things though with....

rising_from_the_ashes

Tugrin does the shed roof hang over the shed a wee bit?

I've had to put a tarpaulin over the dog kennel (aka cat shelter!) and have tied a bit of rope all the way round and weighted down with bricks and it's survived the gales of the past couple of days.

Could take a pic if that would help?

Confuzzled

tugrin wrote: »

Have had dehumidifier on for over 24 hours now and humidity is just overing around 54% - I think this means the room is qiute damp - am I right humidity experts?

actually that's not bad, the canadian sites i found suggested 30-50% is good, someone else mentioned finding one for the uk that suggests 45-60% i'll be happy if i can hit 60% myself i think, even at an average of 65% here with no laundry drying we just have a tiny bit of condensation in the window corners in the morning and some on the toilet but that's cuz the bathroom is unheated, it happens each winter and goes away when it's warm


i think you're house is probably ok at 54% so unless you notice damp issues even at that level i wouldn't worry too much.

rising_from_the_ashes

rising_from_the_ashes wrote: »

Could take a pic if that would help?

Took one anyway (I'm bored!)



There's a rope goes all the way round under the lip and then several bits weighted down (the bit of wood is for the tip!)

HTH