Preparing for winter III

Eenymeeny

Confuzzled I'm on a dual deal with Npower should I be looking at it or will I get a reduction? OH is one of those who likes to 'leave well alone' and reckons that once one drops their price the rest follow on.

mrsr

Eenymeeny wrote: »

Confuzzled I'm on a dual deal with Npower should I be looking at it or will I get a reduction? OH is one of those who likes to 'leave well alone' and reckons that once one drops their price the rest follow on.

I,m with npower dual fuel they have droped there gas by 5% starting first of Feb,i think if you have fixed they will let you move tariff.

Confuzzled

Eenymeeny wrote: »

Confuzzled I'm on a dual deal with Npower should I be looking at it or will I get a reduction? OH is one of those who likes to 'leave well alone' and reckons that once one drops their price the rest follow on.

well if you aren't on a fixed tariff you might like to wait til the end of feb to see who has done what. martin said that npower and a few others are set to drop their prices in feb, i suspect they will all do so to avoid people leaving them in droves but i can't be certain, i'm on a contract til july so i was very happy to hear that even the capped rates/fixed tariffs are still going to drop

[Deleted User]

what gets me is they drop 5% but had put it up 15% so people are still having to pay 10% more. Thank goodness it is such a mild winter as it`ll give many people breathing space and time to gather themeselves together for the future bills. A bad winter would have sent loads over the edge. I don`t know yet what feb will bring and tbh we are all battened for storms anyway, the main thing is knowing if we get mainly relatively mild, compared to last year. Whatever happens now, winter won`t last much longer

Today is stunningly glorious, very sunny with a bit of a breeze. Dh is out with mates, cycling and I`m at home doing this and that, you know womens work, which is never done. I washed 2 loads, made sourdough bread and preserved 2 pints of garlic cloves (hundreds) as I can see faint signs of a few getting ready to sprout. I used a silicone roller tube and it made the job easy while the archers was on. Dh is back at 2 and lunch is easy, re-heated chicken casserole with fresh veg, raspberries in red jelly and cashew nut cream (easy 1 part cashews, 1 part water and a bit of vanilla and all blended). I didn`t have any other topping in so made that and it is very nice too

Feet up later with a nice book, mug of tea and some christmas chocs and a look through my seed sowing plans, as spring is coming

lisakay_2

Kittie how have you preserved your garlic? I did some in oil and it went a bit funny and after reading somewhere that it could be very toxic I would like another way of doing it! I grow my own and had loads. thanks x

[Deleted User]

lisakay wrote: »

Kittie how have you preserved your garlic? I did some in oil and it went a bit funny and after reading somewhere that it could be very toxic I would like another way of doing it! I grow my own and had loads. thanks x

yes that is right. It cannot be preserved in oil at room or fridge temperature. I peeled the cloves and had 2 pints in volume. I then got the containers ready and put the freezer on quick freeze and only then did I blitz the garlic in the oil. It went straight into the boxes and into the freezer, all in a few minutes and It won`t freeze solid so will be easy enough to spoon out and straight into cooking. It will never hang about

I didn`t appreciate how much oil I needed ie about 3.5 pints. I have a lot of garlic left and will peel, halve and dehydrate tomorrow and they will store nicely in a box on a shelf. I`ll do that next year rather than as much in oil

Being the winter thread, I`ll just mention what veg are going strong in my raised beds. Winter carrots (covered in fleece if sharp frost due) kale, winter spinach, endives and winter lettuces. I always like some veg by the house in winter

Fingers crossed for some more frost, please, just enough to kill the bugs especially horrible whitefly

Eenymeeny

Thanks for the fuel advice. Now I'm off to see if I'm on a fixed tariff... Just signed up with Npower when we moved here as I already had electric from them at the old address and they offered us a deal. Very haphazard I know, should be ashamed of myself:o Martin would be horrified! I promise to do better in future...;):)
Very cold here today, it hasn't warmed up at all and I've had the heating on all day. (I'm sitting here, wearing my dressing gown on top of my clothes, surprising what a difference it makes!:))

Confuzzled

Eenymeeny wrote: »

Very cold here today, it hasn't warmed up at all and I've had the heating on all day. (I'm sitting here, wearing my dressing gown on top of my clothes, surprising what a difference it makes!:))

oh i know my mircofleece dressing gown has really saved me on my heating bills, i always wear it around the house now. i really notice the difference when it's off so it only comes off if i'm washing dishes or exercising etc i bought another one too so i could have one to wear when the other is drying since i wear it so much it needs washing more frequently

so last year i learned the wonders of slipper boots, this year a fleece dressing gown (and brushed cotton pjs really help too!) and i've also embraced using a hot water bottle for my back as the rice sock was taking the same amount of time to heat up (probably more energy) and the heat in my hwb lasts so much longer than the sock, and covers a better area, yay!

amazing how the little things make such a difference, only time i've felt cold in this flat this year has been when i was being stubborn trying to get into dec before putting the heating on (last few days were a tad nippy) and when i'm just unwell but no amount of heat can really fix that, it's internal. overall the flat is normally around 17-18c which i prefer (i get uncomfortable at 20c and overheat at 22C) thankfully this year it's been easier to keep it that way but being toasty in my slippers and dressing gown have made it a doddle to stick to :T

greenbee

Bamboo thermals and sheepskin boots (purple ones from celtic sheepskin... I love them as they're local, ethical and PURPLE) on, wood burner going nicely. Unfortunately:

The hall radiator is off as I have the bits for the new wardrobe stacked up there
New bamboo sheets and old brushed cotton PJs are still with my ironing lady as she's been off sick
I have damp washing in the kitchen as I got behind with all the upheaval (new electrics/telephone/network wiring)

Washing will go into the utility room at bedtime to reduce the damp, but in the meantime the dehumidifier is helping. Wardrobe is being built tomorrow (if everything goes to plan) so I can put the radiator back on AND tidy my bedroom and there is only one load of washing left to do, most of which will go in the TD.

prepareathome

Never got above freezing here all day despite beautiful sunshine, oh how I love cold and sunny winter days. All the draughtproofing etc is really paying off though as we still have not put heating above 18c. Had it on this as we can never seem to work out timer to change it so stays on 18c except when we switch heating to summer setting and so will just come on when dips below. Last year on cold days we did usually have to pop the thermostat up to about 22 to warm house up, but no more. We are wearing fleeces if needed but at moment I am sitting ok in bed but window is open a bit ( I open and close it depending if I feel room is stuffy - I know wasting money but cannot stand the stuffiness gives me headaches) and radiator is on in here something I rarely have to do and I am in short sleeves - ok tootsies are under the covers but have plenty of knitted slippers or bed-socks to wear.

Got a few calls/texts from family today saying the hats I knitted for DGC, Nieces/Nephews have at last been used, especially the ear flap hats and photos have been sent, nice to see and actually have request for a couple more hats for them, so I better get knitting. The adults whom I knitted tango scarves have also said they are now being used - knitted about 20 as Christmas presents and although they liked them, most said unlikely to be worn as not cold enough....

Have really noticed how much the bubble-wrap on the windows has helped a lot.

Yesterday at long last my strawberry plants arrived and when I went to put them out found ground after just one night of freezing temps was solid, so put them in a planter in compost and covered with straw, will do the same with replacements being sent out next week. Poor spring plants that had sent shoots up will most likely die.

Never used car today and it stayed white instead of its usual orange all day Path looking rather white so will use some more of the grit I bought on it later.

Hope everyone is staying snug and warm