This Time I'm Really Going To Do It

LadyWithAPlan

I see lots on here are raving about electric blankets in the winter when sat down

I also gather that leaving phones to charge overnight vs just the 2 hours it actually takes is a real waste

Ouch on that leap.. I am turning everything off at the wall including the kettle I have been using my instant pot style pressure cooker and halogen oven to avoid using the oven apart from the hob. I also go to my gym and swim and then shower there as saves daily heating hot water  - I dont currently shampoo their as well - will be more of a pain in winter with wet hair but they do have dryers there I guess.
My usage is way below average I gather.

I am out in the countryside myself at present wincing on the cost of cat, dog and horse food especially the old horse who is being fed 4 x a day to get weight back on!

Suffolk_lass

I recommend a dual tariff with a white meter fitted so that overnight electricity is a third of the unit price. We run the dishwasher and any hot wash in the WM overnight on this tariff and I usually do the 10 minute tumble-dry before 07.00 before hanging clothes on hangers on a gnu rail in the airing cupboard meaning no iron. I wash all our clothes on cold wash now with half the recommended detergent and all fine. I am going to reduce the number of freezers by one too, after defrosting the commercial one by decanting and then moving it all back. We won't be using the heating once the aga is on and will use a small oil filled radiator in the bathroom. We have a log burner and will light a fire most evenings. If I am cold I will boil akettle and use a hot water bottle. 

I was brought up in a house with not heating that was reliant on open fires and paraffin! Frost on the inside of the single glazed windows is something I know won't kill me and I will be more active, to stay warm. The last two months our electricity is a total of £121 but I know we are on a low fix still

Watty1

Some fantastic ideas here.   Thank you.  @LadyWithAPlan  My horses are so fat at the moment but no grass in sight so I'm having to hay the field.  I'm thinking I need to toughen up and go with starvation paddock idea. I've taken them off most of the grazing as there is so little rain here the grass will be too easy to tear up as it must be so stressed underneath.

I fear I may be too grubby with 3 horses for a cold wash but as i was keeping clothes in both places I have enough underwear and socks not to be too worried about the washing machine.  

I have also acquired an Ald1 heated wrap so that will be used when my office gets cold rather than the office heating.

Humdinger1

Yep, slow cookers are fab.  Coming back to a casserole after a walk...priceless and MSE.  Am going through all expenses as DD goes to uni next month and we need to plan for the new normal; food is the biggest, at least till utilities rise up and choke us! What is a gnu rail @LadyWithAPlan? How can I possibly have got this far without one?!  You are doing brilliantly @Watty1; onwards and upwards love Humdinger xx 

Suffolk_lass

That was me I think, @Humdinger1 - a GNU is a brand of ceiling clothes airer on a pulley. Here is an example. Mine has GNU moulded in to the cast iron frame. Rather than hang clothes over the wooden rails (which could stain) I have a set of plastic hangers. And heat rises. My ceilings are low but when I first bought this at our old house, it was above the Rayburn and was brilliant pulled up to the 10' ceilings; everything dried overnight. Here is just fits, front to back in the boiler cupboard, with the pulley tied up to max height.

Humdinger1

Excellent thanks @Suffolk_lass! I've been whistling that song 'I'm a gnu' ever since you mentioned it; you know, the one where he has taken furnished lodgings down in Rustington-on-Sea; first one gnu and then another gnu start talking to him.  I say gnu, but it's actually hunting trophies...purely the heads. Apologies for hurting anyone's feelings; also for gatecrashing your thread @Watty1 with comments that barely cling to the edge of sanity, if that....

LadyWithAPlan

@Suffolk_lass I have learnt something new - - gnu rail
looks great 


I think I want a heater Aldi wrap

i will definitely be buying an electric blanket come winter 
I do live in a flat high up so flat tends to not get too cold 

@Humdinger1 you have lost me with your gnu song but I am enjoying the whimsicality 

I had a slow cooker and a halogen oven as well as my normal oven for years but having for the last few months even in summer this new pressure cooker /sauté 6 in 1 has changed my cooking and stocks, pulses, meats, beetroot are all super quick and tasty  
It’s even more MSE and better  that I won it  

Watty1

GNU rail.  I love those, never had one but do like the idea, just suspect my ceilings might be too dusty being what my mother referred to as a "trollop" around the house  

Lovely day, I've been fighting a losing battle with the bracken in the field for a while.  We have a drought, nothing grows but bracken.  The boyfriend cleared the lot so I've been trying to keep on top of it by mowing it.  Internet wisdom from the Forestry Commission suggests rolling it once cleared will weaken it but the ground is so hard that even the ancient tractor and roller seem to bounce over the top so I decided mowing might do the trick.  I've been warned a few times that the lawn mower is not man enough for the job so today I purchased a ride on mower. The boyfriend found it on Facebook marketplace for £145 and off we went to see it in the horsebox.  He paid £130 and stashed it in the lorry for me, cheerfully advising me the front tyres were flat, it probably needs a new battery and the £15 reduction was because there was no starter thingy but not to worry about the details     The front tyres have been pumped up, the battery is being recharged and boyfriend is happily tinkering with it as I type.  Either I have a bargain or he has a toy for Saturday night.  I think it might have been a MSE bargain but only time will tell.    

Ramouth

We had a bracken infestation in our rental.  From the research I did, pigs are the best solution as they eat the young shoots and grub up the roots.  Do you have any friendly local pig farmers?  

We didn’t so I resorted to pretending to be a pig and going out every day or two and breaking off the young shoots (they are supposed to be quite tasty but I never tried cooking them).  I found that once it gets to the point of opening out to full fronds it is very tough and difficult to break or cut.

Watty1

No friendly pig farmers, although I did think about getting a pig the stuff is so virulent.   In the absence of pigs I've been breaking the young shoots but there are so many of them I thought that mowing might work. Only time will tell

Also amused myself over the weekend drafting replies to the latest letter from the solicitor. I actually wont respond for a while but it has been fun thinking up ideas to reply.   My favourite so far is along the lines of "your letter is at odds with what your client says to me, either your are not following your client's instructions or your client is lying.  Which is it?  Yours faithfully"