Preparing for winter IV

pigpen

MrsLurcherwalker wrote: »

Because it's the hottest day of the year so far ............. we're phoning the chimney sweep to see if he'll come and sweep ours so the woodburner will be ready for the colder weather, phew it even feels a bit cheeky to me!!!!! Cheers Lyn xxx.

Sounds like a good plan to me.. he won't be busy that's for sure and will probably be glad of the work!

[Deleted User]

Preparing for winter has been forced upon me today by a veritable explosion of cucumbers in the polytunnel, so, despite the heat I am making my first batch of pickles of the year to store away for future consumption!!! 7 of the little perishers grew themselves to enormous proportions overnight so Bread and Butter Pickle is underway and I am very HOT!!! Cheers Lyn xxx.

3 large jars of pickles cooling down in the kitchen , hot work but very satisfying, Lyn x.

THIRZAH

It was my birthday a couple of weeks ago and MIL asked DH to get me a present. He couldn't think of anything until we were up in the Lake District this weekend. I saw some sheepskin gloves in a shop and was admiring them but said I wouldn't spend that much on a pair of gloves for myself.DH bought them on behalf of MIL . I feel hot just looking at them in this weather but at least I'll have warm hands next winter.

bluebag

MrsLurcherwalker wrote: »

Preparing for winter has been forced upon me today by a veritable explosion of cucumbers in the polytunnel, so, despite the heat I am making my first batch of pickles of the year to store away for future consumption!!! 7 of the little perishers grew themselves to enormous proportions overnight so Bread and Butter Pickle is underway and I am very HOT!!! Cheers Lyn xxx.

3 large jars of pickles cooling down in the kitchen , hot work but very satisfying, Lyn x.

Spit my coffee out, I misread and thought you said you had exploding cucumbers.

Really need to be awake before I go on the internets.

[Deleted User]

If I'd left them much longer in the heat in the polytunnel it would probably have happened, they grow as you stand and watch in this heat,hope you'r keyboard is OK, Cheers Lyn xxx.

PRINCESSX87

May I join please?

I’m a worrier, this sunny (summer-ish) spell makes me wary. I know winter is just around the corner. I’m more of a winter person anyways but I would like to prepare because I’m assuming this hot spell is going to make for one cold autumn / winter.

Really there is just a handful of things that concerns me during this time. Which are:-

We have no gas supplies to our rented property. The estate agents doesn’t allow us to put anything on windows, So bubble wrap is out of the question. Its fleeced curtains for us.

Having no gas means that we’re left with 2 choices, both are expensive options. Buying gas bottles monthly for a calor fire or use the electric heaters. We learnt our lesson the year before last after we reached nearly £280 on electric for 2 months worth of heater use. < This wont be happening again.

OH works as a ceramic tiler, Which means he’s always in need of new boots, trousers, jumpers ect. His boss (Which is his brother ) doesn’t provide. Harsh weather means that this cost a pretty penny. Plus, In winter months, He’s got no way of having hot lunches unless he buys them.

Normally we try & prepare in advance but always manage some how to get caught out. During the summer OH & I will be paying out for candles, Blankets, food stock ect. But with the 3 things above I have no idea how I could get around this with limited storage??

Any advice or information would be fab!!

Thanks in advance guys & gals!!
xx

Raksha

I don't think the EA can be quite so specific about what you can and can't do in your home - so long as you return it to the condition it was in when you rented, so why not use bubble wrap on windows, or make a cheap wooden frame to fit into window recess?

BitterAndTwisted

PRINCESSX87 wrote: »

We have no gas supplies to our rented property. The estate agents doesn’t allow us to put anything on windows, So bubble wrap is out of the question. Its fleeced curtains for us.

It's none of the agent's business what you decide to put up at the windows as long as you return the property in exactly the same condition when you leave. What damage is a bit of bubble-wrap going to cause?

Having no gas means that we’re left with 2 choices, both are expensive options. Buying gas bottles monthly for a calor fire or use the electric heaters. We learned our lesson the year before last after we reached nearly £280 on electric for 2 months worth of heater use. < This wont be happening again.

You need to extremely cautious about using calor gas heaters. They give off a fair bit of water-vapour and the one thing you do not need is to swap the cold for condensation and possibly mould.

OH works as a ceramic tiler, Which means he’s always in need of new boots, trousers, jumpers etc. His boss (Which is his brother ) doesn’t provide. Harsh weather means that this cost a pretty penny. Plus, In winter months, he’s got no way of having hot lunches unless he buys them.

This tine of year is absolutely ideal for scouring charity-shops for warm clothing. Plus, you can find very inexpensive thermal underwear at street markets or similar.

No hot food? Try looking for a wide-mouthed thermos flask so he can take hot food with him from home.

Normally we try & prepare in advance but always manage some how to get caught out. During the summer OH & I will be paying out for candles, Blankets, food stock etc. But with the 3 things above I have no idea how I could get around this with limited storage??

Maybe a bit of lateral thinking is required? There's usually a fair bit of unused space under beds or on top of the kitchen cupboards. Or even behind the bath-panel. Where there's a will, there's a way.

[Deleted User]

Hello PX87 nice to have you over here with us, we prepare for winter all year round really as we have the woodstove and never ever pass by free wood. We don't run the central heating any longer but just use the woodstove which means the house runs cooler unless the stove is lit. There are many ways to stay warmer if the heating is off. Lots of thinner layers are better at keeping you warm than thick jumpers. Wear a hat and fingerless mittens indoors, and a fleece or padded gilet on top of everything I find keeps my middle warm. Hot water bottles on your lap when sitting down or on the computer do a wonderful job and again, in to the bed a few minutes before you go up means a nice warm patch where you sit and move the bottle down to foot level and have nice warm feet too. We have throws on the back of the sofa all year round, one to go over your legs and lap and another to wrap round your shoulders. You can get electric heated throws, DD2 lives in a victorian flat and she says having the throw over you when you're sitting still in the winter is toasty and means no heating on unless it's below freezing. Lots of hot drinks, keep moving as often as you can, hot meals all help you stay warm. Fleeces behind curtains and heavy curtains on entrance doors make a real difference as does pulling the curtains all over the house as it starts to get dark to keep warmth in, if you still feel the cold have a look online at how to make window quilts, these can be held in place with self supporting rods like they use for shower curtains and sit close to the glass surface of the windows behind the curtains. Bed socks and warm pyjamas help overnight and putting a quilt on top of the matress but under the sheet is one way of having a warmer bed.
I would second the food flask idea they are very useful for being able to take a portion of stew or hearty soup to work and some of them have a separate container inside to allow you to take two different foods in the same flask, if you have a T K Maximus branch near they are likely to have them at affordable prices.

Hope that's some use, if I can think of anything else I'll post again, Cheers Lyn xxx.

Storage ideas, do you have room for some boxes on top of your kitchen units? if so boxes with tins should be fine up there and boxes under beds would bo ok for summer clothes (we do this every year and write a list of what is in each box and put it on top with sticky tape)in winter and winter clothes in summer, we have some ikea wooden cubes that we use as tables beside the armchairs and they are very good storage, we keep things like spare light bulbs in there so everything is in one place in the house, useful to know where it all is, Lyn x.

PRINCESSX87

The estate agents are very grumpy & stated that it could be classed as a high fire hazard in the LL insurance. Don't know if this is true or not because I cant see his policy.

Thanks for the tips so far. I'm hoping this year I haven't left it too late to start prepping. Whilst using the calor fire - We have the windows on the jar each day. Just mainly the mornings & evenings its used.

Thanks again in advance.

****Also, I'm just wondering where the cheapest place is to buy storage boxes?****