Preparing for winter IV

Rainy-Days

Well it's been blowing an absolute hooley since late this morning and it is still going on now!! I had to really work my legs to take the dogs for a walk in the wind. I brought my boys in tonight so they are tucked up in their stables. More rain is on it's way over the Midlands tonight. Seems the Sout West, Wales and North East England are having torrential downpours of rain!

Confuzzled

Pink. wrote: »

Mardatha doesn't live in the North East kittie. We had a dull day here, but not a lot of rain and barely any wind.

Pink

i think mardatha lives outside of edinburgh in the country, east yes but how far north is north to someone not in scotland


i'm further north than she is but we don't always get as much weather as the edinburgh region does, having lived in auld reekie for several years i can say they have more than their fair share of wind tunnels, i suspect they catch the siberian winds a tad more than we do in my area of fife, mind you i'm in a bit of a valley so that could be why.

still good to know i should be extra prepared if i head out around that time i'm sure mardatha won't mind knowing she seems to get hit fairly hard each winter where she's at


we had some seriously heavy rain this afternoon and the sky went very very dark but it didn't last that long, it wasn't raining when we closed our curtains about 90min ago, we have had some strong wind gusts over the last few days but compared to the winds we had off and on for several weeks last winter they're nothing to worry about

my heart goes out to anyone being affected by the flooding, be safe and look after each other

Rainy-Days

There is about 1,000 homes in Gloucestershire without power - just been on the news!! Power company is blaming the wind and rain.

I have lit two of my jar candles - they are scented, but the wind is so fierce that just in case we do lose power I have some light to use before lighting the rest!

Fruball

Rainy-Days wrote: »

There is about 1,000 homes in Gloucestershire without power - just been on the news!! Power company is blaming the wind and rain.

I have lit two of my jar candles - they are scented, but the wind is so fierce that just in case we do lose power I have some light to use before lighting the rest!

I've got a couple of friends over that way and they have posted on FB to say how nasty it was/is over there. Rain like she has never seen and howling winds... It should hit me within the next 2 hours :eek:

rising_from_the_ashes

Spoke to DF earlier and their elec was "playing up" as he put it (Scotland).

Have just:

• Plugged the mobile in to make sure it's fully charged
• Taken rechargeable batteries out of big torch and plugged in to top them up
• Lit pilot light on gas fire *
• Put batteries into 99p lanterns:) (have candles but try to avoid due to pets)

* this is the most stupid thing - it's a sealed unit, so you can't light it if the power goes off (and the pilot light isn't on). Gas guy was here the other day & said it's fine to leave on the pilot light all winter (like the boiler) but I worry the dog may knock the end and turn it up by mistake when I'm not in :eek: (she's at DMs just now so will leave on until she's back!)

Fruball

rising_from_the_ashes wrote: »

Spoke to DF earlier and their elec was "playing up" as he put it (Scotland).

Have just:

• Plugged the mobile in to make sure it's fully charged
• Taken rechargeable batteries out of big torch and plugged in to top them up
• Lit pilot light on gas fire *
• Put batteries into 99p lanterns:) (have candles but try to avoid due to pets)

* this is the most stupid thing - it's a sealed unit, so you can't light it if the power goes off (and the pilot light isn't on). Gas guy was here the other day & said it's fine to leave on the pilot light all winter (like the boiler) but I worry the dog may knock the end and turn it up by mistake when I'm not in :eek: (she's at DMs just now so will leave on until she's back!)

The storm is still about an hour away from me by which time I will probably be in bed (I hibernate most nights in winter!) but I have a wind up torch hanging on the bed post so I can always get to it in the night.

I really ought to have one next to the sofa in the living room - I know where 2 wind up ones are in the kitchen, but easier to have them within reach.

Once the curtains go back up in the living room, i will make sure we have a wind up torch behind every curtain in every room so we are never without!

Confuzzled

Fruball wrote: »

Once the curtains go back up in the living room, i will make sure we have a wind up torch behind every curtain in every room so we are never without!

i have a nice selection of windup torches in my emergency box but one thing i now wouldn't be without is my little credit card torch as i call it, got them on hawkin's bazaar this summer for just 40p each so i bought 10 (on the same order i also got their mini hotwater bottles with covers for just £2 each so i bought 6 of those!)

i keep one in my dressing gown pocket since i wear that every day to keep me extra toasty warm so i don't as much heating and it's great. it really does give off a great light and it's so light and inconspicuous, i think i'm going to shove one in my handbag too, just in case.

my only complaint is that you have to squeeze it continuously to keep the light on there is no on off button, however if it's just to get you to your emergency box, find the keyhole to unlock your house/car, find something you've dropped in your car etc they're really great. hawkin's is out of them right now but i bet they can be had elsewhere with a google search

http://www.hawkin.com/card-light

tina_malteser

just a wee thought!!!! if everybody puts ALL their wheelie bins out with lids open,(empty of couse) this will catch an awful lot of rain :rotfl: thus preventing millions of gallons rolling along the streets:T

Eenymeeny

I lke your thinking Tina Malteser! We've had flooding in our street a couple of times recently, maybe I should suggest it to all of the residents? We have 3 wheelie bins each so could make quite a contribution! Nice one!:rotfl::rotfl::T
I also llke the idea of those credit card torches and the suggestion to put a torch on each windowsill. That way, all family members would know where to look and it would probably be the lightest area in a blackout. Credit card torches could probably be tucked under a lamp where you normally sit too. I wonder if anyone has seen them anywhere else please?
Thanks for the ideas, I'm getting back into preparing for winter mode now after giving it a rest for a while. Fortunately most items just need to be taken out of storage as they were built up last year Thanks everyone:T

rising_from_the_ashes

Eenymeeny wrote: »

Credit card torches could probably be tucked under a lamp where you normally sit too. I wonder if anyone has seen them anywhere else please?

Loads on e*bay