The OS Doorstep - a helpful and supportive thread in these tough times

carolbee

StressedOutMummy wrote: »

Oh Mrs LW , you have reminded me of something. My beloved nan use to be an active member in the British Legion and she always has beetle drives round her house with other members and anyone else who wanted to attend. I wa just a kid but I loved it! It will be the 1st anniversary of her death on Sunday, feel sorry for my aunt whose BD it is tomorrow.

Ooh, I remember beetle drives, in fact I went to one last year, must resurrect as a game with family over winter.

mrs LW, are you still in Kent?

[Deleted User]

Sadly not CAROLBEE we left on a job move many moons ago and even after all these years I still miss the orchards and the fields of sheep in Kent!!!

Pooky

*waves to Carolbee*. I'm in Kent, along the coast up in the fog

carolbee

Pooky wrote: »

*waves to Carolbee*. I'm in Kent, along the coast up in the fog

Waves back through the rain, have pm'd you

monnagran

Evening all.
I can't even begin to tell you what my life's been like the past few days. I'd still be typing tomorrow morning.
Everything is OK but so busy I spend all day trying to catch up.
Pops: Get yourself chec............. Oh! someone's already said that.

Nargle: OMG! Liberty bodices. I remember having lisle stockings fastened to mine, all wrinkly round my little fat legs. Eat your heart out Nora Batty.
I won't go into what it was like growing up in the 40s and 50s. Every woman seemed to have red mottled legs in the front from sitting too close to the fire, and mauve legs at the back where the fire didn't reach. Good Old Days? Blankets weren't too plentiful either and during the war there was no rubber to spare for hot water bottles. We had stone or metal ones that just warmed a bit of the bed but were too hot to put your feet on and once they were cold there weren't enough bed covers to keep the warmth in. I remember once having the hearth rug on top of my bed to get some extra warmth.
Oh! the absolute bliss of duvets.

The wind is howling around here tonight - it's come straight from the arctic circle. Reluctantly I will have to start looking out my winter clothes.

On a good note I think I have sorted out my clothes for the Wedding of the Year in a couple of weeks time. In true OS fashion I have managed to find a pale blue suede jacket which I saw in a CS some time ago. I bought it although it was much too small for me because it was so pretty. Thank you 2:5 diet. I can now get it on. It's a bit snug but quite wearable. I also found a long skirt in shades of cream and blue that I bought in a sale ages ago but have never worn. I have almost new navy suede shoes and today picked up a dark blue handbag in a CS for £2.99. I am scouring the shops for a cream top and that's me done. I will NOT be wearing a hat. I know the bride's mother has bought 2 outfits because she couldn't decide which she liked better. Probably spent several hundred pounds. Mine will cost £2.99 plus the top which may even be a top that I already have, dyed cream. Polishes halo.

Just look at the time. I was going to have an early night too.

We are celebrating DGS 12th birthday tomorrow. His birthday isn't until next Thursday but he is over for the weekend so tomorrow it is. Like all autistic children he has his obsessions, one of which is Eddie Stobart lorries. I managed to get him a cake topper of an ES lorry with his name underneath. I've made his cake and managed to work out how to get this topper on - not easy as it came with no instructions, but it looks great.
He's such a lovely boy, I'd do anything for him.

x

Molly41

I can't remember anything positive from being cold during my childhood. Like you I remember the frost on the windows and lying in bed freezing cold. My parents still live in similar conditions and it is a never-ending worry in winter as they have no insulation. I always laugh because the birds line up on the windowsill at the living room window (metal frames) when they have the fire burning - my parents think they are tame - but really the birds are just keeping warm as all the heat escapes out:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

Popperwell

Morning All,
It was colder last night but extra blankets/thermals etc...I'm ok. Can't find my hot water bottles:mad: but they are reasonably cheap so may get a couple more.

Still doing alright so hopefully Thursday was a blip but yes I have taken notice of advice given and it means so much.

I have sneaked the CH on for approx. an hour and its taken the chill off. Going to post a couple of images on my blog of yesterday in Durham(Image of the theatre, musicians and one of the sculpture outside, which shows monks carrying the body of St. Cuthbert(I am led to believe that it is carved of wood? Next time I'm there I'll tap it and see if that's true:p

Today I have convinced myself I will have some fruit(Banana)with or without cereal/porridge and am going to have a BLT sandwich or roll. Funny how you get these sudden ideas. No plans for any travelling.

My garden is slightly out of hand and I have decided I am not bothered about mowing the lawn just keeping the grass short and by the easiest means possibly so I asked my neighbour for advice and think I am going to buy a strimmer(she has a bosch from Argos)that cost £29 and that does not seem too much out of the way. I think I could just about manage one of those. Even if I do it in stages.

Just had a mug of coffee and will now return to bed.

katep23

Molly41 wrote: »

I can't remember anything positive from being cold during my childhood. Like you I remember the frost on the windows and lying in bed freezing cold. My parents still live in similar conditions and it is a never-ending worry in winter as they have no insulation. I always laugh because the birds line up on the windowsill at the living room window (metal frames) when they have the fire burning - my parents think they are tame - but really the birds are just keeping warm as all the heat escapes out:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

:rotfl: I can picture that!

We live in a rented house, built around 1950, and when we moved in nearly 6 years ago it was such a shock. We used a third of a tank of oil in 3 months and were never warm! We've learnt to wear layers and sometimes even hats and fingerless gloves in the house. We have friends who won't visit us in the winter

At the time we moved in, there was no insulation in the loft, the roof felt was shredded and hanging off, no cavity wall insulation and single glazed plate glass windows which leaked so much that if you left a pile of papers on the dining table they would blow off!

We did as much as we could with fuzzy stuff for windows and doors, heavy curtains for the two doors and lots of other tips picked up on here.

A few years ago they re-roofed the house, did the cavity wall insulation and insulated the loft which made a difference but we still didn't run the heating very often as we still had the windows to leak the heat out. We tend to have a fire in our living room which is directly below our bedroom and just heat the bathroom in the mornings with a convector heater during our shower as the rad in there is rubbish.

This year they have finally replaced the windows with super-dooper double-glazed ones which so far are fab. Hopefully this winter will be a bit warmer. We have asked for the rads to be flushed through as they haven't been done while we've been here but it's not looking likely.

Before the work was done, we have in the past had ice on the inside of the windows, the toilet cistern froze (in a single-skinned part of the house, just off the kitchen) and snow never stayed on the room as it melted with all the heat escaping through the roof!!

greenbee

You can flush your rads yourself Kate. Tedious, and not as good as a power flush, but works. Buy the cleaner and inhibitor from a DIY store, then read up on it as my memory is a bit vague and I don't know your system. I seem to remember adding the cleaning chemicals then opening all the valves and running the system really hot to get it circulating. Then draining down, refilling and draining again 3 times to rinse the chemicals out before refilling, adding inhibitor and running hot again to circulate the inhibitor.

Very dull, and there was always one rad we forgot to close before refilling which sprayed water everywhere so use a checklist!

Then re-balance the radiators as well. Worth looking around for detailed directions.

katep23

Thank you greenbee, will look into it but we're not supposed to do anything to the house so may be a no go.

The house is owned by a university and they have all sorts of health and safety rules - we're not allowed into the loft as there is a risk we could hurt ourselves!