Preparing for winter III

greenbee

Tugrin - does DS need any household stuff? Do you have anything unused/barely used that you could smarten up for him that he wouldn't notice was second-hand (boys are very unobservant!). Could you make him some cotton hankies out of an old pillowcase or sheet? Or lavender bags to keep in with his nice new clothes DD might like some of those, and yo can always use old potpourri revived with a bit of lavender oil. Do you have any herb seeds? How about making up some herb planting kits with pots, seeds and compost? How about home-made spice mixes? Or those biscuit mixes in a jar with a recipe on? Or instant mocha (coffee powder, chocolate powder, dried milk powder)? A photo album made up of pictures from his childhood, or as a collage in a frame?

Hope you feel a bit more positive soon.

lizzyb1812

tugrin - how are you at baking? Specifically biscuits, cakes, etc. If you've got the ingredients in then a box of assorted homemade biscuits, muffins, cakes, etc would go down a storm with both kids and would be a very "mummy" present IYSWIM. I know I would have been delighted with such a gift and you don't have to worry about catering to their clothing tastes etc. Muffins could be frozen until the day before they are given to be sure they stay fresh. Or just do lots of biccies - they'll think of you every time they have one:)

tugrin

Hankies and Biscuits -flippin' well brilliant - I havent baked them for a long time BUT I know they both love them - and real hankies - well how posh is that! I have lots of scrap material that isnt big enough to make 'things' with EXCEPT of course handkerchiefs - ooooh you are fab, millions of hugs and thanks!!! That me sorted I think.

Eenymeeny

Is anyone else spending hours catching up on the postings on this very helpful thread? I'm torn between appreciating all of the helpful advice and feeling guilty that I should be getting on with it instead of reading about it! Fortuantely most of it is done and I'm grateful for all of the little reminders. (I keep a pad and pen beside me!)
Just a couple of things that have occured to me. Good idea to take a note of the numbers of the power supplier etc that you might need in case of emergency. maybe it would be good to put them into your mobile? Just in case...
Someone mentioned the concern that you might be liable if someone fell after you had cleared a path. This is posted on my local council's website:
Will I be held liable if someone falls on the path I have cleared?
There is no law preventing you from clearing snow and ice on the pavement outside your property, pathways to your property or public spaces.
It is very unlikely that you would face any legal liability, as long as you are careful, and use common sense to ensure that you do not make the pavement or pathway clearly more dangerous than before. People using areas affected by snow and ice also have responsibility to be careful themselves.
Hope that helps, (I think that they might have found things a lot harder last year when people who would have cleared their front paths didn't because of these worries!) There is also a lot of useful information about clearing snow and ice from public places:
http://www.southtyneside.info/article/14316/Clearing-snow-and-ice-from-pavements-yourself
I'm off to get that box of candles and lamps down from a high shelf which would be very difficult to negotiate in the dark!:eek:
Btw, candle sconces... although very handy and sensible during power cuts I found that that my walls were left with smokey marks. I had to repaint in the Spring

mardatha

Remember the new phones with multiple handsets that sit on bases, don't work in a powercut.
Lovely posts and ideas re biscuits and hankies. I buy party cello bags on ebay and fill them then tie with pretty ribbons.
Whoever was feeling guilty at sitting here readings all the posts - its the weekend! relax!
i'm kind of knackered today so that's what I'm going to do allll day

[Deleted User]

some very good ideas on this thread again and for me the best one was the tea lights for heating food. I got 100 tea lights from sainsburys today and I have found the aluminium foil dishes that I was saving for batch cooking. They will be perfect sitting on an upturned roasting rack, over some tea lights, in my deep roasting tin. Thanks very much for that spikyhedgehog, it might be a real lifesaver in this house and I`ll even be able to boil water in my camp kettle indoors now

I know now why I like internet shopping and its the sheer time and energy in driving and picking and paying and putting away plus there was a subliminal thing getting to me, that I didn`t have this and that. I didn`t have a list this time, so got pretty tempted but was fairly strong willed in walking past stuff. Anway I got moo milk at 1/3 off so am very chuffed, also several long date £1 cheeses and alcoholic cream and cox`s. All tucked away in the fridge now, mainly for christmas. I got back at 11.15, got the cold stuff away and dived into making 2 hotpots in 8" casseroles, a last minute decision after buying 6 very nice small lamb chops( £8 :eek: )from the fresh counter. 2 in the freezer and 2 to a pot, they go a long way when chopped and mixed with sliced onions, potatoes and I used my shredded cabbage, only I got carried away when using my (dangerous) mandolin), I`ll say no more but have a plaster on a thumb now. 2 hours in the oven and they will transform to a heavenly meal. with one for another day

Now I am shattered and will be watching films and soaps all afternoon, while drinking tea and eating chocolate

Confuzzled

i'm sitting here thoroughly enjoying some unbelievably gorgeous scottish wild game pate. my ex comes every saturday to take my daughter to swimming lessons and yesterday he gave me this, 650g he picked up for 9p!!! at morrisons on the night of the storm!

he said he figured that since he was just walking there he would clean up in the clearance dept and he was not wrong, he walked away with a freezers full of really expensive holiday foods for less than £10 (and some of that was spent on uht milk, he said he doesn't remember the total clearance only total)

he even said if we polish this off before christmas he'll bring another as he has several in the freezer :eek: if we polish this off before then the reason i can't leave the house won't be the weather, you won't be able to shove me through the door frame :rotfl:

the skies out the kitchen window side of the house are looking decidely grey and heavy looking, seems a bit warm for snow just yet but i wonder if it's on the cards for tonight when the sun goes down *gets excited like a kid*

actually scratch that, i have my final shop for christmas coming, it can hold off snowing til tomorrow evening

stay warm, prepared and well pampered and for heavens sake, don't forget the sweets :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

Confuzzled

kittie wrote: »

now that is a very very good idea and I`ll join you in doing the same. If I had any spaces I would also be freezing cool packs and water in containers.

5 minute power cut last night so maybe they are testing the system and I burnt 2 candle jars and 2 nightlights, which kept the big room at 19 all evening so I was very happy. I don`t like the fact that they are burning my oxygen but nice to know they work.

oh yes there's a point i meant to make, to anyone that will be holing up in a small room if the power goes out be sure to leave the door open a bit or leave it open for a bit when going to the loo or into other rooms to allow fresh oxygen in, candles DO take up a lot of the oxygen in the room, if your room is small it will eat it up faster.

symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning:

The symptoms of mild carbon monoxide poisoning may be non-specific and similar to those of viral cold and flu infections or food poisoning: headache, nausea, abdominal pain, dizziness, sore throat and dry cough. ..... In children, the symptoms are similar to those of a stomach upset, with nausea and vomiting.


there is further information on the bbc website here if you're using candles and feel these symptoms come on then you def should let more air into the room.in severely cold weather the idea of opening a window isn't appealing, however most houses have trickle vents so you could open that instead, close it again before the candles are put out for the night so you retain as much heat as possible.

also don't burn more candles than you need, as you can see kittie was able to maintain a very decent room temp with only a few candles

stay safe everyone!

Quasar

Winter is well and truly here in London also. Today I've had a typical winter day. Had the slowcooker on overnight (lovely beef stew with veggies, lentils and herbs etc :drool:) then this morning made portions of it that I let cool then put in the freezer. Left one out to have at lunch with a glass of wine. Looovely!

Heating is on but not at full as my fleeces are coming into their own now, as is the flask full of hot cuppas.

I'm ready for the worst as my job takes me out and about come rain or shine, so two woolly hats just washed and ready, gloves, padded coats cleaned, and even my yak-trak shoe chains for when the ice appears on pavements and roads.

Oh and two fleecy blankets in lieu of sheets, one bottom and one top. They are sooo warm against the skin that it's like having two extra blankets on top, and fleece washes easily and dries quickly.

EDIT - Re: candles, I agree with Confuzzled. You don't need many and in fact one or two should provide enough lighting in emergencies. I certainly wouldn't use them to make any contribution to heating.

Confuzzled

oh one more thing i thought might help. if a big storm is looming and you think power will go out, aside from just filling a bunch of containers with water, why not fill closed containers with HOT tap water... (and boil up water for thermoses and hot water bottles)

you can then place those hot bottles of water in the room you plan to stay in if you lose power and close the door, they'll give off a little extra heat into the room but shouldn't give off too much humidity (waters not that hot and it's closed) the heat should slowly radiate into the room and eventually it will cool to a comfortable drinking temperature! just a thought i'm sure it wouldnt' be a massive help but if you're going to fill water bottles anyway why not get the free extra heat whilst you can!