Preparing for winter III

chirpychick

Pooky - hubby has had investigations, 5 years ago he was supposed to have an op and then didnt go through with it and so 2 years later id had enough and now sleep in the spare room, it works for us though. Thanks for the thought x

its cold here today!! 16 degrees in our living room, still no heating though. The heating wont kick on until the house drops to 15 so im fully dressed with a hoody and blanket over the top

Confuzzled

chirpychick wrote: »

its cold here today!! 16 degrees in our living room, still no heating though. The heating wont kick on until the house drops to 15 so im fully dressed with a hoody and blanket over the top

outside it's been around 7C with a realfeel of 4 C, it's been hovering at around 16.5-17.5C in my house today, well till my neighbour got home now it's 18.6C :T

i haven't turned the heat on, instead i broke out the heavy artillery... i finally have my duvet on my lap as well as my dressing gown on and slipper boots to be honest i've not even felt the cold in my hands today so i'm not missing the heat.

i haven't had any clothes drying for 2 days and the humidity is down to 64% again, i'm thinking i may not get much lower than that to be honest, well not without running the dehumidifier constantly but it feels fine in here, no condensation on the windows this morning and certainly no damp so i think i'll be happy with that level.

i do like my dehumidifier for helping with drying the clothes though and i think i will probably use it in my daughters room and my room once every few weeks as last winter a few times i noticed they felt slightly damp (very slight) it's almost a shame i don't iron or have houseplants, i have all this water going to waste :rotfl:

Rainy-Days

I briefly heard on the radio this morning that we may get some snow later ths week going into next - it kind of stopped me midway round the bed as I was making it this morning in shock

Suffice to say that I don't think it will be as bad as last year somehow now. I don't mind it being mild as it is because it just means that my heating bills are less and that has to be something to celebrate.

We had the last of the leaves up in the garden yesterday so we thanked the wind for doing a good job for us because it has meant we have pretty much been able to do the leaf lift across two/three weeks instead of dribs and drabs over four or even five weeks!

adelight

Pooky wrote: »

Chirpy - sorry to hear about poppy. As to Ohs snoring, get him to mention it to the GP if it's bad enough to keep you in separate rooms. I nagged my DH to go and he was sent to the sleep clinic for investigations....turns out he has severe sleep apnoea and was stopping breathing around 50 times an hour. He now has a cpap machine to wear over night and it's fab! (sleep apnoea has so many nasty side effects too as well as being potentially fatal, so get him checked)

Lucky OH! The nhs in my area must be strapped for cash because when I saw my doc with all the symptoms of sleep apnea(caused basically by massive tonsils so physically nothing i can do) he diagnosed me on the spot and told me to go buy myself some nostril widener thing. They never seem to have the money to take out my tonsils despite them causing no end of trouble Rant over!!

Thriftkitten, that is such a shame about your garden, sounds like it would be a beautiful little garden if it wasn't for the fence. I bet your neighbour doesn't even use her garden.

I really hope it doesn't snow before christmas. I can't go "home" (parents) until a few days before christmas because of work so only have the 23rd and 24th to try to get back. Don't want a repeat of last year sitting at watford junction all day waiting for a train I could cram myself into :eek:

23rdspiral

hello everyone,

well here in the east midlands, we have officially declared it now to be WINTER!! I had to properly scape ice off the car this morning! That's the first time we've had more than a light frost.

was at work today but have managed to do a few more preps:
~ have put old sleeping bag in the car (it's only thin, but better than nothing.)
~ have bought bladder infection sachets (was advised to on here, from 99p Store so far cheaper than Sainsbury's 3.79!)
~ have bought cereal bars to store in the car.
~ have dug out old pj bottoms, and am now wearing them under my long skirt and am much warmer :0)
( ~ did i say the flannel sheets went on the bed at the weekend and we've noticed a Huge difference)

ran the stove last night with friends round for dinner, we shut off the double doors to the living room (stove in dining room) and got it up to a whopping (for us!) 18.4 degrees!!! :J and OH might agree that a curtain into the kitchen might help keep the heat in! (not able to put a door in due to arched opening + step)

stay warm everyone

Eenymeeny

Tugrin, I was in a similar situation when we moved house. Lidl often sell cheap full size rugs for about £8. Not very thick but did the job over floorboards until we could afford to decorate the bedroom...(very low priority, kitchen and bathroom came first!) Keep an eye on their weekly emails if you are interested;)
Thriftkitten, sorry to hear about your shade problem but I've had a few shady gardens and actually ended up with lovely lush gardens if you think foliage. Ferns, hostas, astilbes, heucharas etc, add a water feature and it can become a lovely cool oasis... I went for a green and white theme. I do have a very soggy lawn though which actually froze over last winter, I've scattered sand on it this autumn and am hoping that will help the drainage.
Sorry if you already knew all that but hope that it helps:o
I wouldn't worry about the willow screening, it doesn't last long, especially if we have strong winds this winter...;):)

Smookle

Hi, I've been lurking for a while now and just wanted to say thanks for some awesome ideas! I live in a fairly open plan victorian terrace, which we moved into last winter, and very nearly moved back out again, it was so cold! (We'd previously lived in a nice cosy little flat, so big shock!)

So far, from the thread, we've implemented a few strategically hung curtains, some offcut carpet rugs (made them myself! ) radiator panels made from cardboard and space blanket and a duvet for the sofa. Result is a toasty warm living room and kitchen with no heating! Yay! Still lots of other little bits to do I think, like stocking up but am very pleased with progress so far! Thanks guys! :beer:

Now if anyone can suggest how to make my cats more lap friendly, I'll be set for the winter!

Fruball

Smookle wrote: »

Hi, I've been lurking for a while now and just wanted to say thanks for some awesome ideas! I live in a fairly open plan victorian terrace, which we moved into last winter, and very nearly moved back out again, it was so cold! (We'd previously lived in a nice cosy little flat, so big shock!)

So far, from the thread, we've implemented a few strategically hung curtains, some offcut carpet rugs (made them myself! ) radiator panels made from cardboard and space blanket and a duvet for the sofa. Result is a toasty warm living room and kitchen with no heating! Yay! Still lots of other little bits to do I think, like stocking up but am very pleased with progress so far! Thanks guys! :beer:

Now if anyone can suggest how to make my cats more lap friendly, I'll be set for the winter!

:wave: hello everybody

Its surprising isn't it how much of a difference a few winter preps can make. My kitchen has always been freezing but now that the door to outside is double bubblewrapped, it makes a huge difference.

I need to get outside and chop some more wood today but its raining on and off - I am hoping it will cheer up a bit later so I can get some wood done for tonight. Tomorrow is meant to be brighter so will cut loads then.

There are thick grey clouds above and its blowing a hoolie out there (not a Mardy Hoolie, we don't get it so bad down this way ) but enough to blow some of the garden furniture over :eek: It looks like steptoes yard out the back of mine now what with wood to be cut and stuff strewn about

Just been to MrS and they have 25% off all clothes atm - got a warm woolie jumper/dress thing to be worn with leggings and a few xmas pressies! Did ALL the kids stuff online last night - no way am I hitting the shops _pale_

greenbee

So glad I chopped a couple of barrow-loads of logs yesterday and moved them into the log store frugal - I don't envy you that job today! I have a log pile at the front under a tarp which stays fairly dry, but the logs are too big for my stove. I have another at the back of the shed in a store OH made for me where they dry out nicely and stay dry, and then I have a week's supply in old potato sacks in the shed (where I also keep the kindling in old dog food sacks) so that if the weather if vile I always have access to dry wood. While the weather has been ok I have been concentrating on chopping logs small enough to use, using up the remains of last year's apple logs and pallets so that I have the maximum amount of firewood in the minimum space. I hope to be able to get a lot of small logs and kindling to season when my trees are pruned... Hopefully in the next couple of weeks once the leaves are off.

Because I've been redecorating, some curtains have been down for a while... I've just started putting them back up and it feels much cosier. I have, however, discovered that the curtains I was given for my study aren't lined, let alone interlined. I do have a blind there already, but if they fit (I still need to check, which means getting the curtain pole up) I think I'll see whether I can take them to my mum's and line them over Christmas, as its not a job I fancy doing by hand...

Eliza_2

Having just had power restored after a 5 hour blackout I realise that what I really need is decent emergency lighting. It's so dark and gloomy today and I've been trying to do some VAT returns by firelight but not doing too well. I've got a camping light, one of those with a very bright white light (are they leds? not sure) but although the light seems bright they don't seem to illuminate much if that makes sense. Just wondered what anyone else recommends for a decent light? Something reliably rechargeable? Or where can I get a hurricane lamp?

As this is the second power cut in so many days, I can see a fun winter coming!! Might as well go and lock the chicks up now cos they'll be in bed.

thanks for any ideas.

Liz