The Tougher Thread continues.....

Uniscots97

4Chickens wrote: »

Hi All

I am starting to get my knickers in a twist about heating our house this winter.
So far this weekend I have put the curtain back up at the front door and intalled a new doggy door in the back door, prior to this it was a gaping hole because the dog went through it at Mach 3 and took it with him. At least now we don't have a gale force 9 wind blowing through the house.
Anyway a bit about my house:
4 Bedroom Detached - only two of the bedrooms are actually used as bedrooms, one is converted into an office and is rarely used, the other one has a spare bed and my two clothes horses. All our bedrooms have either lined curtains or a Roman blind.
3 Toilets - One downstairs, one in the main bathroom and one in our En-Suite bedroom.
Sitting/Dining Room - Quite large with a good size front window and French Doors to the back, has a radiator under front window and gas fire. I have lined, full length curtains at the french doors and a Roman blind at the front window
Dining Room/Kitchen/Utilitly Room - this is a massive space to heat with only one full size radiator and one little one. Curtains at the dining room window are lined and come just below the ledge but above the radiator. Kitchen winow has a roller blind and the utility room has nothing as the window is obscure glass
Hallway - this is the size of your average bedroom with only one small radiator that is right next to the front door.

I am not adverse to putting the heating on when needed but would like to have it a the lowest possible setting whilst retaining as much heat for as long as possible. Any ideas would be most gratefully welcome.
PS When I have gotten over the trauma of moving into this house (May 2009), I shall get a smaller house, with less doors.

You have a very similar house to me. Although my kitchen is separate to my dining room and living room. My kitchen has no radiator and no that OH [STRIKE]has given up [/STRIKE] is trying to give up smoking then the back door isn't left open :mad:. We only use 2 bedrooms as well (SD left a few years ago now and I'm determined to get rid of the stuff she left behind because it wasn't worth selling!.... long story). I'm going to Poundland tomorrow to get space blankets and will put them on card behind the radiator in the hall. I have wood to put up over front door and put a curtain up but not got to that yet.

Candles, I learned whilst in Spain how to recycle candles ends (the wax you're left with) using twine and an old saucepan. Candles give off a lot of heat and can help with the bills.

We're £105 a month (SS is a nightmare for leaving stuff on and I swear his playstation just eats electricity). I'm knitting more draft excluders (for the patio doors in the dining room which only get used in the summer). As for your 2 clothes horses, OH and SS have a VERY bad habit of saying something is dry and throwing it in the ironing pile so it ends up stinking the place out. I have relegated wire hangers to the airing cupboard and put small stuff in there to dry. Unfortunately it has the boiler in there so not a lot of space.

Mint1955

Hi Unixgirluk
Stinky washing made me smile. Glad we are not the only house where the kids do their own washing and it just plain smells after its washed and dried. They also fold stuff damp. Its not so much smelly as dank and murky smell. I took all their washing last week all their bedding everything that could be washed out of their rooms and did the lot on 60% and dried it all throughly and it all smells fine. WHAT DO THEY DO TO MAKE IT SMELL SO BAD ?????

GreyQueen

cat_smith wrote: »

Yes GQ. I can imagine it. I did the same when I got mine and its a 6.5litre for only 2 people. I batch cook for Scotland.

ETA: Glad to hear you made it out from behind the cooker. Tee hee re. Super Gran attack.

Thanks hun; that's a lot of batch cooking. TBH, if I had more than a tiny freezer I would've had the 6.5 litre as it was sooo nice and only £10 more.

SuperGran was heading out to a meeting, briefcase'n'all (very socially-active pensioner is SG) and came to tell me that one of our other neighbours managed to catch the registration of the Speed Demon Car during the night, something which has been p*ss*ng us off at Shoebox Towers for a while now.

:mad: This is a souped-up a$$hole-mobile which gets driven at extreme speed late at night around the block the Towers sits in, with lots of revvings and squealing handbrake turns. It'll kill somebody one day. The polis told SG if one of us could get the reg they'd find out who owned the thing and the come down like a shot next time it's around (we call them, y'unnerstand, the regular polis don't hang out down here permanantly). CID, well, they tend to lurk in various corners, if you know where to look, but that's to do with the drug-dealing.

So, one small step closer to getting the Speed Demon canned......happiness.

Now, I will be heading behind another applicance shortly; the washer this time. Got 3 to do but this is the heaviest and if I leave it til last I mightn't have the strength to crawl back out again......... Tell ya, I am cleaning things with soda crystals and hot water and I now own a slow-cooker so I must be in line for some kinda OS award, methinks - or possibly a short stay somewhere with no sharp edges.;)

ETA, oooh, forgot to mention it but I saw a poster in the kitchenware dept of the store where I bought the SC- today is the start of National Baking Week! The things you find out when you go shopping. Right, enough procrastination, I'm going behind that washer...........NOW!

cat_smith

GreyQueen wrote: »

Thanks hun; that's a lot of batch cooking. TBH, if I had more than a tiny freezer I would've had the 6.5 litre as it was sooo nice and only £10 more.

Now, I will be heading behind another applicance shortly; the washer this time. Got 3 to do but this is the heaviest and if I leave it til last I mightn't have the strength to crawl back out again......... Tell ya, I am cleaning things with soda crystals and hot water and I now own a slow-cooker so I must be in line for some kinda OS award, methinks - or possibly a short stay somewhere with no sharp edges.;)

I think I was a frustrated Mrs Beeton in a previous life. I have a HUGE chest freezer and regularly get frustrated that its too full and I have to stop cooking to empty it.

How come if there is only you you have 3 washers to do :rotfl:

GreyQueen

cat_smith wrote: »

I think I was a frustrated Mrs Beeton in a previous life. I have a HUGE chest freezer and regularly get frustrated that its too full and I have to stop cooking to empty it.

How come if there is only you you have 3 washers to do :rotfl:

Hee hee, crossed wires; 3 appliances in total, one of which is the washer. Other two are the cooker (done) and the fridge (yet-to-be-done). Three washers in that tiny kitchen? Perish the thought.......:rotfl:

Anyway, my muscles started shaking when I was inching the washer out of it's niche which is a sure sign of ME-overload, so I've cleaned underneath and will put it back later then will leave the fridge for another day. The other 2 get moved once a year but I do under the fridge whenever I defrost it as I have to haul it half out to open the door wide enough to get the shelves out of it.

You know you're in a small home when you look into decor books at the library with titles such as small space living etc etc and the rooms pictured could take your tiny kitchen or bathroom twice or thrice over. One of my pals living in a tiny old house quips about going to take the plaster off the walls to make the rooms a wee bit bigger.......I think she's joking but you never know........;)

Frugalista

GreyQueen I want to know what is going to be your first meal in your slow-cooker? :j

I'm really excited for you (silly, isn't it) :o:o:D

GreyQueen

Frugalista wrote: »

GreyQueen I want to know what is going to be your first meal in your slow-cooker? :j

I'm really excited for you (silly, isn't it) :o:o:D

It may be silly but I am totally made up over it. Got it a bit too late in the day to use it today, and have my family up tomorrow for an allotment sesh, weather permitting, so the SC will have it's inaugural outing on Wednesday.

I was thinking of a brisket beef joint......nomnomnom. Any tips from experienced SC users would be most welcome.

Gosh, I feel like a proper grown-up now I own a slow cooker..........:j all appliances tend to acquire stupid nicknames in my life and I feel that this one should be Gollum.:rotfl:

kidcat

GreyQueen wrote: »

It may be silly but I am totally made up over it. Got it a bit too late in the day to use it today, and have my family up tomorrow for an allotment sesh, weather permitting, so the SC will have it's inaugural outing on Wednesday.

I was thinking of a brisket beef joint......nomnomnom. Any tips from experienced SC users would be most welcome.

Gosh, I feel like a proper grown-up now I own a slow cooker..........:j all appliances tend to acquire stupid nicknames in my life and I feel that this one should be Gollum.:rotfl:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2197233

Have a look through this thread GQ its usually full of good ideas.

cat_smith

Frugalista wrote: »

GreyQueen I want to know what is going to be your first meal in your slow-cooker? :j

I'm really excited for you (silly, isn't it) :o:o:D

No not silly at all. My husbands comment when he read GQ's post about her precious was that that was me!

So tell us GQ - what's the plan? Have you got any SC cookery books or are you going to add lib? All I can say is don't do Mardatha's cauliflower :rotfl::rotfl:

PipneyJane

rosieben wrote: »

I read today that Ruth, Alex and Peter of Edwardian/Victorian Farm are filming another series set in the 1940's. Its due for broadcast mid 2012; I'm looking forward to this, really enjoyed the other series they did.

Ooh, that's excellent news. I'm fascinated by the War years. It was the fashions that hooked me originally, but now it's anything to do with the Home Front (recipes, gardening, etc).

Lexxi wrote: »

On a seperate note, do any OSers have old cookbooks, I have recently been given one from the 40s, not tried anything, yet, I've just been reading through, it recommends the modern haybox, made from asbestos! OH has told me he is not eating anything from the book

Lexxi, what is the name of the recipe book? I'm just curious because I've never seen any original 1940's cookbooks when I've been trolling the secondhand bookshops. I've got several of the reproductions.

Also, for "haybox" substitute "slow cooker". I'm sure the recipe will work out fine in one of those. (If you are really brave, you could make a hay box out of a large box and a lot of fresh straw. One of the Imperial War Museum's reprinted leaflet collections/"Make Do and Mend" books has instructions.)