Preparing for Winter V

Cheapskate

We recently had our garage dismantled and rebuilt on a new base further down the garden, du to our imminent extension. It was a proper garage firm, the one that actually put up the garage 40-odd years ago, but they workmen did a p i s s poor job of re-erecting it, as they say up north! Result: our joiner/odd job chap is correcting their horrendous efforts, and is also fitting it out as we want it. To whit: LOADS of shelving (including for log storage), Heath Robinson-type bits for hanging tools, kids' scooters, etc. :rotfl: We're also going to re-use our old kitchen units in the garage for all manner of storage, including bottled or tinned foods (it's very dry and will be insulated by extra boarding on walls) for over the winter.

Over the next few weeks, I will do some batch cooking to freeze and freeze some dump bags, too, ready to pop into the slow cooker to defrost overnight ready to start cooking at breakfast time.

I'm crocheting all sorts of blankets, for the sofa, beds, the car, so various sizes and using up oddments of yarn, so they'll be freaky colours!! :rotfl:

Elderberries near us are just about ready, so will have a picking session - some to freeze for winter puds, some to have a go at elderberry syrup which I've never done before. Was going to do rose hip syrup, too, but our kids and the neighbours' have picked a load for wazzing at each other!! :mad: Will have to peruse the wild roses near the elders for a few more...

It's glorious here, last days of the hols for our children, so it's a combination of school prep and garden tidying whilst it's fine - will have a boot full of rubbish for the tip tomorrow.

Autumn's my favourite season - I love the hazy sunshine, cool crisp mornings later on, the earthy smells, stews and hot cocoa, long Sunday walks wrapped up, squirrelling away bits for winter - bring it on, please!! :j

A xo

NaughtySpot

Hi all :wave:

I have been doing some draught proofing this morning on our extension. It was built last summer but we didn't think about the gaps around drainpipes and the like until we could feel them in the dead of winter! So filled gaps with wire wool to stop little critters getting in and topped off with some silicon sealant; hopefully this should make a difference.

Usually I love autumn/winter but this year I feel a bit blue about the whole thing and I'm not sure why. So I'm reading all your thoughts about making a cosy winter and am hoping that will cheer me up somewhat.

I have had colds and coughs every month this year so I'm wondering if that's something to do with it. They are all gifts from my two boys, but they seem to shake them off in a couple of days whereas they stick with me for a couple of weeks. :rotfl:

[Deleted User]

Beginning to see masses of pine cones fallen under the trees when I walk Cookie, they are worth collecting and drying off to get fires away, even better if you have some candle stubs you can melt down and drizzle over them to make them into proper fire lighters, all for free, can't be bad can it?

Living_proof

MrsLurcherwalker wrote: »

Our sweep always gives us brownie points for burning at the right temperature, we get very little deposit in the steel chimney liner and he always says its the 'right' kind of soot. We have a Clearview inset multi fuel that is the double burn type and a stove thermometer which we use religiously to make sure we're up to temperature as soon as possible and then keep the fire there until we let it go out. Wonderful things woodstoves, better entertainment than the television any day, I can spend hours just watching it! We only burn hardwoods too, if we get offered conifer we decline gracefully, this latest load has a lot of cherry in it!

I have had several over the years including a Yotel which is enameled, high up on legs and you feed long logs in sideways. The most amazing warmth. Also traditional clearview double fronted jobs. Now I live in a modern box I don't think it would be suitable - it's so warm and well-insulated it would be overkill, but useful in an emergency.

[Deleted User]

We don't run the central heating any longer, just use the boiler to heat the water for an hour in the morning and again in the evening. The inset means the stove warms up a considerable mass of masonry which is directly under our bedroom and the chimney breast is still beautifully warm in the mornings long after the stove has burned itself out. The heat is released over the course of the night and morning and we relight the stove mid afternoon and off we go again. It keeps us and the house toasty warm and the heating costs have diminished considerably since we had the stove installed. It's an expensive business getting the chimney lined and the stove installed but we've found it totally worth it and we're 10 years in and I reckon we're in credit. Most of the wood we use is wombled but if we've empty cradles in the wood store at this point of the year we do what we did earlier in the week and buy in a lorry load of logs. We're both pensioners so the winter fuel allowance actually does get used for the winter fuel, satisfying!!!

Living_proof

I had a practice run, one could say, today. Murphy and his boys with diggers and pick axes turned up at the house a few doors down and proceeded to dig a garden and the pavement up - about 40ft. It was quite inconvenient really as I work from home, would have preferred to have the windows open as it's been really hot but the noise was just too much.

And then the dreaded thing happened. The emails went, then the internet and then - horror of horrors, the electricity. That meant all three phones in the house were down. But oh, Miss Smarty Pants has an old-fashioned plug in jobbie doesn't she. Somewhere. Tidied away in an absolutely logical place.

The shame. A half-charged mobile which I have never really mastered, and a big job to complete pronto. It only took me half an hour to find it as I normally ring it from the land-line naturally to locate it. I had to take the mobile out for a ride in the car to charge it from the battery. Hot day, black car, no air-con.

I guess you could say that I would have been in a worse situation in the winter, in the dark, boiler pump out of action, etc. But I pride myself in knowing where the candles are, I have a wind-up torch in spitting distance but can't manage to find the b***** emergency phone.

Back to the drawing board for me.

nicki_2

My daughter went away last week for a couple of days to the Lakes to spend time with her grandparents. She came back on Thursday with a biscuit box filled with blackberries she'd foraged with her grandad that mornng. I've soaked them well then frozen them ready to make crumbles. DD has asked me to make little ones she can take into school so I'm thinking rather than crumble (which will make a hell of a mess) I need to make muffins or the like with them instead, but thats for another day!

Today I'm going to go and see if I can get some leather walking boots for me as well as some thicker socks. I'm sick of having cold feet in the winter, getting wet feet as I only wear trainers usually, and I do a LOT of walking. My current boots rub the little kn0bbly bit on my ankle raw so I can't wear them unfortunately. I'm thinking of investing in some leather ones.

[Deleted User]

NICKI depending on what you want to pay for your boots and these are NOT cheap but I have a pair of BRAISHER walking boots in leather that I've had for 20 years, brilliantly comfortable and still in good condition both the leather uppers and the soles. I got them at Cotswold Camping in a sale and paid £99 for them back then which was quite a lot but the investment was worth it. I don't know if they still do it now but back then there was even a facility with the manufacturer to recondition and even re-sole the boots if they ever wore out, mine certainly haven't so very much recommend this as a brand.

Si_Clist

nicki wrote: »

Today I'm going to go and see if I can get some leather walking boots for me as well as some thicker socks. I'm sick of having cold feet in the winter, getting wet feet as I only wear trainers usually, and I do a LOT of walking.

I could have said exactly the same myself this time last year, but I've finally found the answer, at least for me - a decent pair of trainers and a pair of these (I got the thick ones 'cos I get chilblains far too easily).

The other approach is of course trainers with a Goretex lining, but I've heard conflicting reports about how long the waterproofing actually lasts.

FairyPrincessk

I've just added roasted spiced chickpeas and make popcorn to my list of cozy activities. I've started a list for autumn and one for winter. On the winter list I have added make gingerbread.