Preparing for winter III

Popperwell

Confuzzled do you have a Factory Outlet store near you, I saw some Dressing Gowns there...plus other items...

Anyone after a wind up torch?

Wilkinsons have them in again for Christmas...they are massive(3 LCD lights)£4 and they say one minute of winding up gives an hour of light.

Confuzzled

Popperwell wrote: »

Confuzzled do you have a Factory Outlet store near you, I saw some Dressing Gowns there...plus other items...

thank you popperwell, he's got one right around the corner from his flat, i'll be sure to tell him!

Caterina

Hi all

Not posted here for a while but now that we have turned the Autumn Equinox I think it is time for me to put my winter prep hat on.

Yesterday we put the fire on in the living room stove, it was so cold! Much to DS and DD's disgust (so what's new? LOL) we hope to stick to the usual 1st November date as first day of central heating, but need to get our trusted plumber to have a look at DD's radiators, one does not work at all, her room is North facing and two sides external wall, seriously cold.

Then I would like to ask some advice please: the last of our ancient hot water bottles has given up the ghost (spilling hot water in the bed last night, which quickly turned cold *GROAN), now I would like to buy 4 new ones, but not sure whether to get the rubber ones, which are eco (not petrochemical) but reported to smell funny, or the newfangled ones, but these are made of some sort of synthetic stuff and I also fear they might not be as long lasting as the rubber ones. Also they should be fully ribbed to avoid burns as I do not put them in a cover. Any ideas/suggestions will be warmly (sorry for pun!) welcome! Thank you.

lbr102

Caterina wrote: »

Hi all

Not posted here for a while but now that we have turned the Autumn Equinox I think it is time for me to put my winter prep hat on.

Yesterday we put the fire on in the living room stove, it was so cold! Much to DS and DD's disgust (so what's new? LOL) we hope to stick to the usual 1st November date as first day of central heating, but need to get our trusted plumber to have a look at DD's radiators, one does not work at all, her room is North facing and two sides external wall, seriously cold.

Then I would like to ask some advice please: the last of our ancient hot water bottles has given up the ghost (spilling hot water in the bed last night, which quickly turned cold *GROAN), now I would like to buy 4 new ones, but not sure whether to get the rubber ones, which are eco (not petrochemical) but reported to smell funny, or the newfangled ones, but these are made of some sort of synthetic stuff and I also fear they might not be as long lasting as the rubber ones. Also they should be fully ribbed to avoid burns as I do not put them in a cover. Any ideas/suggestions will be warmly (sorry for pun!) welcome! Thank you.

Hello, I bought a new hot water bottle last year after two of my older ones that I'd had for years decided to leak all over my feet and the bed! I just went for rubber ones. I Bought a lovely primark once with a pretty fleecy cover and I think it cost about £4/5. I was looking elsewhere but the cheapest I could find was a tenner! This one is still going strong a year later so I'm really pleased with it.

lbr102

I haven't been on in a while but with the weather significantly nose diving during the past week, I thought I'd pop on. Today I have washed three coats at home instead of dry cleaning and they have turned out really well. Pleased to have saved myself the money that I wood have spent at the dry cleared. My partner didn't trust me to do his at first but changed his mind when he saw how well mine had come out.

I've also just foiled beind the radiator in our bedroom which is the only one that is against an external wall. Other jobs I want to do include putting up a new thicker set of curtains in the bedroom and buying a couple of new fleece blankets. I got a lovely one last ear from primark although it wasn't very chew but has lasted us well, including coming on lots of picnics with us this summer.

I've also dug out my thick fluffy boots and am soaking the slow cooker at the moment that needs a good soak after getting dusty in a recent house move.

abcdefghijklmnop

Hi, I've read the prepping for winter threads for a while now and got some really useful tips. I seem to remember people posting some links for cheap but warm snow boots sometime last year? I get very cold feet generally but am also going to a ski resort in January... so I need some waterproof snowproof warm winter boots that are cheapish... any ideas? I'm a female size 5 and can get away with kids shoes usually if that helps!

Thanks guys - the strong winds and rain we've had today reminded me I need to get shoes sorted!

Popperwell

Caterina wrote: »

Hi all,
I would like to ask some advice please: the last of our ancient hot water bottles has given up the ghost (spilling hot water in the bed last night, which quickly turned cold *GROAN), now I would like to buy 4 new ones, but not sure whether to get the rubber ones, which are eco (not petrochemical) but reported to smell funny, or the newfangled ones, but these are made of some sort of synthetic stuff and I also fear they might not be as long lasting as the rubber ones. Also they should be fully ribbed to avoid burns as I do not put them in a cover. Any ideas/suggestions will be warmly (sorry for pun!) welcome! Thank you.

Caterina,
I think all mine are ribbed(some small/some large)most have covers...rubber too(still talking about hot water bottles:o:D)

At present Pound Stretcher here are selling their HWB at £2.49 and they had some small ones on sale(originally Woolworths stock)in covers with a Christmas design(originally £4)now £1.49...

Also lots of thermal/snuggly socks etc...for men and women ideal for winter. All these may be possible stocking fillers...

Also spotted in the window of Peacocks(they were closed)Thermal men's gloves(also fingerless one's)so I'll go and get mine tomorrow. I have never bought fingerless gloves before but annoying I have a pair of the other type
but can only find one of them:mad:

They have some nice jumpers in at £10 and Gilits but I can't see a price on them(These are all mens clothes)a few weeks ago it looked like they had dropped mens clothes in my branch.

That's news for anyone of course...

Caterina

Thank you for HWB suggestions, I shall have a look around the shops then, including Pound Stretcher! I was looking online and the cheapest ones did not look very good, they have smooth surface so they are dangerous as they can give you a burn (and I like warming my feet directly on them!). Will investigate tomorrow in a few chemist shops too.

SpikyHedgehog

Gettingtherequickly wrote: »

Looking for ideas & suggestions please!

I am on a megadiet, started beginning of month, 2 weeks hols and am still down 11lb, which I am chuffed to bits about. But therein lies my problem, will be getting smaller therefore clothes I have will be be getting bigger!

So what can I buy as it becomes necessary that will keep me warm, but at the same time see me through the next stage of loss? Got alot of weight to lose

Can you ask around your friends to see if anyone wants to have a clothes swap? If you get enough people you could get some decent stuff from it for now. I use belts & get elastic stuff... Much as I need to loose weight, I've had so much going on I've not had a chance to properly try to so my weight fluctuates by a few pounds - enough to make belts a necessity but not enough to justify new clothes!

Confuzzled wrote: »

does anyone know if primark is doing the mens onesies again this year? don't care what style they are (animal, devil etc) but i thought i'd try their biggest size and see if it would fit me, i normally can't wear primark stuff as i'm to large a size but the mens onesies were massive looking. i'd have tried one on a few years back but my daughter was so tired by that point and it was so hot and stuffy in there i just wanted to get out

also does anyone know if primark sell fleecy dressing gowns preferably for men? my ex needs one, i suspect the ones for women if they have them are all feminine colours so not his cup of tea i've been extolling to him the virtues of a long fleece dressing gown and slipper boots when at home to help keep the heating down on low and i think he's starting to listen, i'm shocked now we're not together it finally sinks in, go figure :rotfl:

Yes they are - lots in my local store!

Caterina, I got hot water bottles in Wilkinsons last year, they were ribbed both sides though I don't know how well they've lasted as I've not used them yet this year...

Beds all changed to flannelette sheets & winter duvets, I put DS2's summer duvet in a cover ready for wet bed, and found my old (horrible) king size duvet cover so put my summer duvet in that ready for wet bed by DS2 sneaking onto my bed (or leaking hot water bottle...), I'll put DS1's summer duvet in a spare cover when I've washed it - yes, the reason he was getting so cold at night was that he still had his summer duvet on the bed.

I put a fleece blanket under DS1's flannelette sheet to help keep him warm and didn't do the fleece on duvet yet as he should be a lot warmer with the flannelette sheets under & over him & the thicker duvet... I put an old acrylic cellular blanket under the waterproof mattress protector on my bed to see if that helps but didn't bother with DS2's as though he's got a lot better, he's still wetting the bed about once a week...

I put the heating on upstairs this morning while DS2 was in the bath to check the rads all work - having make sure DS1's was on this time! They came on at 20 degrees this time. Will put the heating on downstairs tonight while I have my bath to check the downstairs rads are working.

I suppose I'll have to learn about bleeding radiators now - though I think DS1 might know how to do them. Errant Husband always did them, you see, & I don't remember if we did them last year or nor. Ho hum, another skill I'll gain.

Had a quick look through my wardrobe after putting ironing away - boys have winter coats that were new last year so should jolly well still fit, my smart coat is still fine and I got a new work coat the other day. Will still look out for a thicker one for work though at least I can layer under this & still do it up.

I need to sort the cat a bed - I got rid of her old cushion as she never used it - seems to prefer fleece to furry material. I could just fold up lots of nice clean fleece blankets and put them on a bed ready to put away - she loves that!

Snail will be fine, though I'm hoping to get his tank into the shed at least for his hibernation. He lives in the hall on the shoe cabinet and moving him to the shed gives more room for gloves etc.

Hamsters... DS2's lives in an enclosed cage (zoozone 2 if yo're interested ) so it stays warmer than DS1's who has a wire cage. Need to make sure they've both got plenty of bedding to stay warm & cosy. But what I guess I really need to do is get DS1's ham downstairs & turn the heating up a bit downstairs a bit for them. More window covers etc needed first though to keep the warm in.

2tonsils

Been cooking big style today so my winter prep is on hold till later on....roast pork and gluten free banana muffins and coffee buns....it was worth the effort. Off to find my spare material to cover my new neck pillows from the bargain rack.

Seeking out the cheapest olive wood for our fire this winter.....the man who supplied it said it had gone up 15 euros a ton...not for this customer mate, I am going somewhere else to order it.

Having said that, we are having extremes of weather from Tuesday....35 in the day and down to ten at night! Glad I put the winter quilt on the bed and the thick curtains up at the windows.