Preparing for winter III

Eenymeeny

Sorry if this has already been posted but I've just noticed that Home Bargains have their sledges in online. There was a bit of a rush for sledges last year! http://www.homebargains.co.uk/category/2-toys-games.aspx?pageindex=2 £6.99 each, I think that you can save on delivery by collecting instore

ginnyknit

Im a firm believer in having things delivered nowadays, it certainly keeps your budget on track, as you say, because you dont buy things you dont need. Petrol is a big concern and parking is often a nightmare. Someone on another thread was saying they parked the car, nipped in a shop for change for the meter and came out to a parking ticket :eek: when questioned the attendant said they allow 10 minutes for you to get change and she had been 11 minutes :mad: Ok so you should make sure you have change before you go but we all make mistakes.

Its flipping chilly here and Im sorry I didnt put a heater on last night but I have the trophys for an entire cricket league stacked up for collection today and they were against the heater but I didnt want to have a moan at Oh so will wrap up for now.

I got some socks for wellies in poundland - hmm guess how much :rotfl: and they are nicely padded, I really get annoyed as wellies are wonderful but so so chilly. Off to fill the oven to capacity and warm the house up - 2 birds with one stone!

chirpychick

noodles86 wrote: »

I am sorry if I have missed this as I have been following the thread for months but does anyone cover up their back door or have a back door curtain?

We brought a pair of heavy curtains off ebay last year and we have one over the front door and one over the back. Our kitchen and living room is open plan and our backdoor only a few feet away from the sofa so we were getting quite a chill from it. However the downstairs was remarkably warmer last year so I highly recommend it.

Popperwell wrote: »

...I can see more retailers closing at this rate...

I went to Evans last weekend, it's the first time I have been in there for at least a year. Someone had brought me something I needed to exchange and I was walking around with this look permanently attached to my face :eek: I honestly don't know how they stay open because I couldn't justify their prices! In the end I exchanged my stuff for a hoody, leggings and socks (ever the practical) but I was in there for about 90 minutes trying to work out how to best spend the money.
Most shops we went in bar £land and a few "cheapy shops" we found shockingly expensive, people dont spend, the cost goes up :S
I have noticed clothes and basics are selling for more on ebay because they are in a higher demand.
However, I am still shocked at how much people spend on their new babies (£16 for 1 outfit :eek:) carboots are so under rated!

drinkupretty wrote: »

Forgot to look at fleece throws when I was in Tesco yesterday thought, want some for the windows.

I brought 2 a few weeks ago - the regular ones everyone buys are currently £4.96 - but if you spend £30 on home cook and dine (assuming you were going to anyway!) there is a voucher code for £5 off TD-6HK4.
When we brought ours they had £5 off when you spent £20 on toys and clothing and we happened to be buying a play gym and some baby stuff so paid in 2 transactions and my 2 blankets were free
They do have some cheaper fleeces which are on their "Direct" website but I don't think they are as big.
HTH.

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I was reading last night how bad this winter is supposed to be getting :shocked:

I am thankful as our friend has promised to replace most of our "blown" windows before the end of October, this should make upstairs much warmer this year. But have to hope that we can get him back around next year to fix the downstairs ones that have now also gone!

My biggest concern is giving birth in a snow trapped car.

I have had all my focus on being ready for when the baby comes and kind of kidded myself into thinking I was prepared for Winter because after everything I did last year it was then very warm.

But I need to ensure we have a car kit, rucksack for hubby to take to work when he walks, some food stores, matches, more candles and some more ready made formula.

I have put some bottles of water in the shed, as soon as the snow starts falling hubby will bring them indoors (don't really have anywhere to store indoors), we have a plan for the Guinea pig and are waiting for payday to stock up on dog food.

I am desperately trying to make money on ebay for a car seat (essential), blind, & changing bag to finish the baby list off. Have just won cellular blankets, ordered cot sheets, MIL has brought fleece blankets for the cot and I have a snow suit and everything like that.
Then, I need a coat.
Then, I shall try my hardest to get some money to buy a few thermals and stock up the cupboards and medicine cabinet.

I was being a bit naive in thinking this year would be mild again I think, especially if the long range forecasts are anything to go by!

And if it is mild well at least I am prepared for next year! :rotfl:

Rainy-Days

I have taken down the hanging baskets and took some of the summer flowers from their pots - they are looking past their best now. I also repotted some of the indoor plants that I have into bigger pots and did that yesterday. I have blitzed the house today and put down the winter rug and had a big clean up generally.

I still need to go to Primarni and get those fleece socks as they are a boon for me in my wellies.

2tonsils

we had a morning of hot sunshine but now its raining and stormy again. Had to go out to fill the car up with petrol..it was DOWN to 1.84 a litre from 1.92 so at least its gone in the right direction.

Put a polo neck long sleeved jumper on as it felt cooler before breakfast and didn't even make it through my cup of tea before I had to change into short sleeves again. Few more days of this changeable weather then its forecast to be hot again. So with that in mind I bought a new stand for my netbook that plugs into the USB, with a fan under the netbook to cool it and a natty blue light...just 4 euros so a bargain at the car boot sale. Unfortunately there were only two stalls there this morning because of the threatening black clouds.

I keep seeing the reminders about Christmas and I am finding it very hard to even think about it. Christmas is low key here in Greece every year but this year a lot of people are going to be struggling to survive on little or no money. So it could go either way...either they will cut back so much it won't feel like its happening or they will go crazy on the decorations to make them feel better. Not sure which way to go myself yet LOL

Still waiting for the olive wood to become available for fuel. We stack it outside on the marble steps, so will be on the lookout for pallets by the bins so the would is raised off the steps. Marble is brittle and it chips easily if the logs fall onto it. We have a full tank of heating oil which is just as well because we wouldn't have been able to afford to fill up this year at the new prices. We only use it in an emergency if it starts to freeze hard or the house suddenly cools.

Our walls are three feet thick stone so once its warm it stays warm in the house. I agree with the poster who said to warm the place up before the sun goes down..when it goes down here the temperature plummets in about ten minutes and you can go from warm to frozen stiff in minutes. Then its very hard to get warm again.

I keep a pot of soup on the go all the time in the winter as its a great warmer upper....not to mention the odd dash of rum or brandy in a hot cup of coffee when you come in chilled to the bone. As a non drinker even I resorted to drinking it last year when we had to ride the scooters through the deep freeze Siberian winds!

Confuzzled

ginnyknit wrote: »

Off to fill the oven to capacity and warm the house up - 2 birds with one stone!

i do that too in autumn to take the nip off, also now that i have my massive excalibur dehydrator i can use that, i always have something i could be making in it, yogurt, fruit leathers, drying veg i get cheaply and/or making jerky

just that little bit extra from that really takes the nip off the air,smells nice and saves me money in the long run :T

chirpychick

I just thought I would nip back on to say - if you prepared medicine kits/power cut kits etc last year that didn't get used then make sure you check them as I have just gone through mine and had to bin a bit of medicine - cough medicine that kind of thing as it had gone out of date.

Also I was going to buy more tea lights but I found I have about 300 LOL so I think I will be safe to save myself a couple of pounds

CH27

I must remember to buy matches. I must remember to buy matches!

prepareathome

Putting the oven on here freezes the kitchen thanks to the fan that keeps the cupboards cool - built in wall mounted oven with cupboards above and below, so can be rather chilly in there in winter, but sc does take chill off a bit. No room for a radiator in there so kitchen definitely not the warmest place to be but in summer when its hot( seems unbelievable it ever has been after this summer) its a lovely cool place to be.

I forgot to buy more tea lights yesterday as down to my last 100:o terrible so must remember to pick more up this week.

Still not put over the door curtain over front door and still working out how to put on over back door. Front door and surround is wood but last one fell down as wood is rotten and needs replaced so need to drill new holes. Back door slightly harder to sort as upvc and no space either side of door as opening in wall is just size of door and frame. Bubble wrap on the glass and windows of down stairs toilet which is right next to it made a big difference last year but a curtain would make it even cosier. Don't want it warm really there but do want it above freezing as its where gas canisters for camping stove are kept as don't have a shed as last one fell down it was so old and might be next year or year after before I can replace it.

Not sure what I am going to do about hall floor as its lovely red quarry tiles in there which are cool in summer but freezing in winter even with radiator on in there so usually put a runner down but unfortunately my older girl ( dog nearly 15) has developed a funny bladder and although she manages to hold on to get downstairs or out of living room she invariably has an accident on hall floor. Easy to clean up when tiles are bare but I don't fancy having to put runner in wash 5 times a day( I have two and both from Ik*a are machine washable, with 3 dogs and lots of rain they have to be. So might find newspaper is better(I put that down every night now as she cannot last all night) all the time, will look awful but easier to replace and make it a bit warmer. Either that or buy more machine washable runners.

House used to fit round the kids, now they have flown it fits round the dogs and the reason only carpet is on the stairs with rugs by beds.:o

Oh Home B@rgain have lanterns with 4 leds about 12in high that are wind up and are £2.99 and I am seriously impressed with them. You can definitely read with one as tried it, but have not timed how long it lasts but did read for 10 mins and was still ok. Very often with wind ups minute you stop winding the light dips, but not with these. Bought one and went back for another and if they have any left when next near there will buy another one or two. Only stand about 12ins made by Expedition, in ours they are next to binoculars so easy to miss them if you are not studiously looking along the shelves. Cannot see them on-line

WantToBeSE

Hi. Loving this thread, although i dont post

Do you mind if i ask a question please? Where do you all buy your wellies? The children and I all need new ones, but i dont know where to get them for a reasonable price. Any ideas would be great.
Thanks.