Preparing for winter IV

[Deleted User]

kezlou, that choc drink sounds good. I bough my raw cacao in and also cacao liquor, the ground up beans not the alcohol, so am set up in that department now

I have a big bag of bayleaves near my grains, as they keep weevils away, I don`t have enough lock and locks for every foodstuff but I make sure all flour is securely stored in these boxes. The grain crop has been very good this year so I am not storing as much grain as in previous years but I still have eg 6 kg of pinhead oatmeal, just bought in and will last a couple of months

I have been very busy in the back garden and allotment all this week as I hate clearing and sorting in cold and wet autumn and winter. Re mature trees and shrubs in pots, I have been replacing some soil with new JI no 3 so they are good for another 3-4 years. Plus 19 large lovely heavy pots have been emptied and soil put back with lots of grit and perlite to support (ebay) semperviviums, watering has been horrendously hard again this year and they will survive any hard winter as that is now the trend, no branches to break either and the wind will just whistle over them plus next year they will scarcely need water. Squashes will be in from the allotment before the 15th of this month , should be nice until around that time

For me, winter is about outside as well a inside. I want to be able to look outside in howling gales and lashing rain, knowing that everything is safe and secure and hibernating, like me, in winter

nicki_2

I went through DDs wardrobe yesterday and was rather shocked at how little she's got now she's accepted some things are just too small. She has no jumpers, no long sleeved tops except 3 hoodies and one of those has gloss paint on, so I'm going to take her to primarni when she has an inset day later this month in the hopes of restocking her wardrobe with just a few bits. Definitely on the list is more of their "comfy socks" I'll need to go through the stuff I've stored away first though which I think is just pyjamas :rotfl:

fuddle

Been in two minds whether to invest in a wool cardi for work over the winter months or to go cheaper with a long sleeve cotton top to wear under my tunic. I have gone with the cotton top and used my uniform quota to invest in a tunic a size bigger.

My good quality cotton sheets should arrive today so that is the start of investing in bed linen to last.

Winter preps at the moment seem to stem on hurrying all the spiders into their nooks and crannies for the winter. Boy they are big and frequent here.

Snorkypants

kittie wrote: »

....

For me, winter is about outside as well a inside. I want to be able to look outside in howling gales and lashing rain, knowing that everything is safe and secure and hibernating, like me, in winter

Agreed, I have a list of what needs doing, planting bulbs, emptying pots etc. I will also have to find room in the shed for the wormery....and remember to feed it when it's out of sight too....


The only problem we have outside is the bbq, there's no room in the shed so it has a rain cover and get's put against the wall so it will be reasonably sheltered but it has fallen over in high winds before. Luckily, this spring I dug up some massive lumps of concrete from the garden so we can use these to weigh it down. I like silver linings, it makes up for having to dig them out in the first place!


nicki - the nets sound like a great improvement

115K

I have ordered a new lightweight plum coloured cardigan to wear under my winter coats. I wanted to get a fisherman's jumper for hubbie but I haven't found a nice one yet. He will only wear black or blue for some reason.

I still need to buy cocoa, it's been so warm this week that it seemed weird to add it to the shopping list.:D

I have all my winter boots and Trax at the front of my wardrobe and I have put my winter hat, gloves and hot water bottles next to my warm pyjamas in the drawer.

Toomuchdebt

Bought myself a jersey cotton sheet from Lidl for £6.99.It feels lovely and soft-haven't put it on the bed yet but plan to do that next week.

nicki_2

I've done my deep clean of the the gas fire today. Figured I might as well since I was doing my first proper clean in the livingroom for a while. It was filthy I'll have to turn it on at some point to burn off the remaining dust on the little spike bits, but I'll leave that to a night when we're chilly We don't really use the fire so I'm happy to leave it until then.

cornishchick

nicki wrote: »

I've done my deep clean of the the gas fire today. Figured I might as well since I was doing my first proper clean in the livingroom for a while. It was filthy I'll have to turn it on at some point to burn off the remaining dust on the little spike bits, but I'll leave that to a night when we're chilly We don't really use the fire so I'm happy to leave it until then.

I like to do a dust burn off on my gas fire too. Only I would do it when you can open a window, as burning dust stinks, lol it only needs to be on for a few minutes and you can class it as a trial run to check all is working :cool:

[Deleted User]

Just sorted out my wardrobe, blankets and curtains for the winter. At the moment washing machine is humming as I am trying to get all the winter bedding washed before the weather changes.
No new clothes need for either DH or myself so looking good for no major spend for this winter.
Probably will look at food requirements tomorrow, as currently on holiday from work, will be back next Monday so need to get as much done this week as possible.

Snorkypants

Not sure if this has already been posted but I found a list of what devices use how much electricity when left on standby - possibly useful for bringing down electricity bills. Though, the comments are seriously cynical about the articles accuracy....


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/household-bills/10920520/The-devices-quietly-running-up-your-energy-bills.html