Preparing for winter III

prepareathome

Well you can buy them at any camping store but I never get near them these days - you also sometimes can pick them up in places like Home Bargains, B&M etc but I just ordered some Lifesystems ones from Amazon - 2 for £1.94 with free delivery as its all I could afford yesterday, but will buy at least 2 a week so will build up a stock again. I have bought them before and found they do last the full 12 hrs unlike some cheaper ones that are bright for an hour or two then just go to a dull glow and not much brighter than the luminous hands of a watch.

prepareathome

poohbear59 wrote: »

Does anyone have a list that I could use as a starting point for preparing for Winter please?

We have no central heating as have given up on buying oil and are in the middle of adding insulation to the roof spaces to keep the heat from our wood burner in the house.

Fleeces

1) lots and lots of fleece blankets you can snuggle up in them or cut a hole in middle of a decent sized one and wear it as a poncho ( most fleece will not run so you can get away without sewing round the hole if you are not good with that)

2) Line curtains with them as extra layer of insulation


Hot Water Bottles

Warm outdoor coat
Hat, Gloves/Mitts, Scarves
Warm boots - non slip ones in case of ice
Thermal underwear

Emergency Box -

torch - battery,
light-sticks,
alternative form of cooking - flat camping stove + gas for it)
wind up radio,
wind up torch.
Flasks,
water( in case pipes freeze or power cuts and water cannot be pumped to you).
Water proof matches - in case of water leaks,
candles - tea-lights best and safest but you can buy wall sconce's to put longer ones in, holders for the tea-lights - they can be dotted around on plates but safer if in a lantern especially if children are around or even animals that can jump onto sides.
A head torch is handy as it leaves hands free to do things while you still have light.
Spare fuses for equiptment
Fuses or fuse wire if your fuse box is not the push in or flick type to reset.
Couple of screw drivers ( for changing the fuses in plugs)


A carbon Monoxide alarm - that really should be top of everyone's list - you can buy ones that fit in mains with battery back up - we have them; ones that run on battery and like smoke alarms let you know when battery running low or if money very, very tight you can buy stick on disks that you place on wall beside and above your stove, cooker, gas fires, calor gas heaters etc., but you must remember to check on it daily.

Nice warm bedding - going to sleep in a cold bedroom is fine for an adult so long as their bed is warm or will keep them warm so flannelette sheets or microfibre ones are good.

Children are prone to throw covers off so all in one sleep suits are wonderful things to keep them snug and warm throughout the night - I had all mine in the ones with feet in till age 3 and without feet as long as I buy ones that fitted and now of course you can buy them for everyone.

Stove top kettle ( non electric) in case of outages of gas or electric as it can be used on camping stove.

Right that is just off top of my head, I know am missing plenty but will come back or I know others will be along with better lists

Opps a quick add - medicines you need to take regularly, an extra week or better still months supply so if weather bad and you cannot get out you have them in. Plus usual winter meds you might want to take like asprin, calpol, ibuprofen - adults and children, cough mixture, thermometer, paracetamol, hankies, antibacterial hand gel ( good for wiping things after children with runny noses have touched them helps to stop the spread of germs)

abwsco

poohbear59 wrote: »

Does anyone have a list that I could use as a starting point for preparing for Winter please?

Not a starting point but if funds will stretch to an electric blanket get one of those. We got one earlier this year for our bed and it was wonderful getting into a warm bed. We don't do the flannelete sheets as DH would get too hot but just putting the EB on for half an hour before we got into bed was bliss:)

Rainy-Days

Since Tuesday to today I will have done 16 loads of washing. The scarves are in the machine right now washing and they will be popped out on the line.

Done:-
I have checked the hot water bottles for perishes and they are all okay. The hot water bottle covers are due to be washed today as well.
Dressing gowns have been washed and out out drying.
Logs and coal in and put away
Carpets Vaxed cleaned and dried
Dogs bedding including their underneath fixed bedding (they have old throws over their propper bed IYKWIM) washed and done.
All throws washed, dried and put away
Winter coats, washed, dried and put away.

Still to do:-
Re-stock medicine cabinet
Re-stain the garden furniture
October cut back in the garden
Deep clean on house
Deep clean on cars
Re-stock freezer
Clean garage out
Clean loft out - and car boot/Ebay
Get in sacks of dog food and extra tins
Bring store cupboard for our food back up to levels
Boiler Service - booked for September
Clean gutterings
Keep on top of fallen leaves

poohbear59

prepareathome I have saved your list to my desktop and put it on a sticky note too. It has given me food for thought. I saw the links to cheap fleeces at IKEA but I may need to buy mine by mail order as it is 100mile round trip to our nearest store.

rainydays I have saved your list too as it gives me more to think about.

I have three layers on today and a fleece to keep me warm. I am determined not to light the fire so early in the day, maybe tonight.

prepareathome

Tescos are still doing their special price on fleeces http://www.tesco.com/direct/tesco-fleece-blanket-colours-may-vary/212-9286.prd?skuId=212-9286&pageLevel=

I did click and collect and bought a dozen for me and another 6 for a friend - they are not bad quality at all, soft and good size. You cannot choose your colours but I ended up with four each of grey, pink and turquoise and friend has 3 of pink and grey - all solid colours no patterns. Ikea is a bit of a journey along the motor way for me where as Tescos is just over a mile away so for me easier to order and pay then go and collect them, what I saved in petrol paid the extra. They are still £2.48 each. I posted a photo of the fleeces on this thread, will find it and put up a link to it.

At the moment they are still in the box they were in when I collected them along with safety pins I bought all waiting until I pin them to my curtains.

You can also put bubblewrap on your windows - you wet the glass and stick it on, takes a minute to stick but then stays in place for months. might not look beautiful but I found last winter it did make a big difference in our rooms - only room I didn't do was living room but if its a bad winter this year I will do those as well, was lucky I managed to get a whole lot of bubble wrap off someone on freegle which will do living room and bedrooms ( last winter I had different types on the windows, my windows are big ones made up of lots of small ones so this year can have them all the same). Do this even if you have double glazing which I do and no draughts that I can find. As it just sticks on the glass - even if window is open, it doesn't get in the way of opening them nor blocking your exit if you had to climb out window in emergency and no more fire hazard than nets and I found lets more light in that our nets so in bedrooms I have left the bubble wrap on and don't use the nets, yes doesn't look the best but I have more light in there now which I much prefer.

Confuzzled

Gettingtherequickly wrote: »

Bought a supply of lip balm in Poundland, packs of 3. At that price, they can be left in various places and no need to look for one when it is needed.

if anyone is a carmex fan like me i recently ordered a pack of 12 from an amazon seller

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Carmex-Lip-Balm-Small-Pack/dp/B001BNVXV0/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1343311611&sr=8-7

with postage it works out to just £1.69 a pot which is a huge savings over buying it from boots etc

i don't just use carmex for my lips either, i find it great for chapped lips and cold sores (i rarely get those thankfully) but also for a raw nose during a cold, before bed i rub some on the raw bits and by morning it's usually far better. also good to open the sinuses a little and can be used on abrasions that are sore

bossymoo

I like carmex, and yes it's great for sore noses!

Am liking the bubble wrap idea. Still working out what to do with my lr windows. It is a bay, with French doors on the middle, so in effect, six panes. 5 of them are actually internal, as we have a conservatory. But the 6th is exposed and at the side of the house we get no sun and lots of draughts.

At the moment I have only vertical blinds up. I think I might bubble wrap the end one and keep that blind closed so I can't see it...

poohbear59

I have been having a good think about the bubble wrap too. We have two bathroom windows which are North facing and not double glazed, and the kitchen has an old blocked doorway with a single glazed window too which seems ideal for bubble wrapping.

Our back door is single glazed and last year I used cling film type double glazing. Because it is used a lot the plastic soon slipped off. Bubble wrap may be the answer there too. Both are now added to my list of 'to do' jobs.

I am going to talk to DD to see if her DH can collect from Mr T's for me and then I will order some fleeces soon.

DS2 is in the loft still putting insulation down for me. We managed to find some that was still at reduced price.

Uniscots97

Managed to get a cream fleece for the new home gift cake. I got it in Home Bargains, reduced to £2.50. As soon as they are down to one of a particular type it gets reduced.

Sorting out my long grey coat ready for winter (fixing buttons etc) and bought more wool to knit another scarf. Its similar wool to the Roccoco wool I knitted but it was £5! A great find in my local wool shop. This scarf will be a gift for a friend.