Preparing for Winter V

babyblooz

Definite change in the weather down my way today but I am getting prepared for it. I needed a scoop neck close fitting thermal to wear under my tops that sit that bit lower around the neck. I managed to get one from a MnS outlet so with my two crew neck thermal tops that I bought last year from the bay of E I should be able to stay snug over the worst of the winter. I really need a new thick winter coat but my chunky arms mean that most of them are too snug to be really comfortable so will have to work on that one!

I also popped into Primark last week and bought a pair of snuggly warm jersey type casual trousers that were only ten pounds and are so very comfy I may just live in them from now until march! I also spotted some very cute suede gloves in a lovely soft pale grey but held off buying them in case some more come in different colours over the next few weeks. (I do have a bit of a thing for leather and suede gloves)

The cupboards are heaving with tinned goods and flour and sugar and I have frozen eggs and milk in the freezer so that when we need the comfort of a home baked cake I can just thaw them out and whip one up even if the weather is bad and we can't get out. That's the time we need cake the most!

I have also written up a list of what still needs to be done before the worst of the winter sets in. I like to have a list, it makes me feel accomplished when I cross things off it!

The one thing I DO need to get around to in the next few days is swap my energy supplier as I am coming to the end of my MSE fix in the next couple of weeks.

Wimbrel

Tidied up the larder and did a stock take. Making lists of the dried and canned and packaged goods I need to stock up on. Will soon look out for the sacks of potatoes, onions , carrots and parsnips too. Must put the gloves on and stock take the freezer soon.

Fruball

smeeth wrote: »

Chilly day here too... boots and jackets came out of hibernation for the first time in months. Must get the central heating flushed ASAP!

How do you flush central heating and what doesbit do?

Mr.Generous

Fruball wrote: »

How do you flush central heating and what doesbit do?

it cleans out the pipes and radiators, helps it work better and makes the valves and especially the pump last longer. Basically you drain down and refill with clean water, or you can powerflush, which just means using mains pressure cold water to force more sludge out of the system.
Anyone who has taken radiators off and cleaned them out with a hose will know just how much black sludge accumulates in a heating system. When you do this its not uncommon to find a rad or two not working after the flush. Its because of all the sludge disturbed causing a blockage. Test the heating and re flush as necessary. You can isolate rads by shutting off the valves to increase the flow to others to help clean out.
Only when its all working fine would I add the corrosion inhibitor otherwise you risk draining it away again if you have to re-flush. A one litre of inhibitor will treat most systems, if you can't get it cheap from a heating merchant try toolstation, its about £6.50 - I have known people pay double that and some. http://www.toolstation.com/shop/p94504?searchstr=inhib

great thread people, thanks to all posters.

parsniphead

Yesterday it was chilly first thing but then got quite warm by the afternoon. The little ones were sweating badly running around on the playpark. It was nice to have another day of being able to do some hard work in the garden.

Today it's raining. I don't mind as I really like Autumn and the rain is needed for the garden. Also the rain will keep me inside a little and I can get some work done inside. I think I may get the fleece linings out and start putting them on the curtains. I'm looking forward to proper snuggling up days though.

Pooky

We've just got back from a few days camping in Chichester, we had wonderful weather but the last night it hammered it down and thundered all night - I gave up at 6am and got DH in the car while I did a quick "fling it all in we'll sort it out when we're home" pack up. Luckily it was so lovely and warm here yesterday that I managed to get the tent and ground sheets completely dry and packed away.

I'm very much enjoying the nights drawing in, lighting a few tea lights most evenings now. Managed to find some new winter boots yesterday in a local outlet store, they furry lined warm soft leather reduced from £99 to £44. So comfy that they'll get a lot of use.

When next months grocery budget starts I'll do a larder stock take and get my stocks back up. We don't eat cakes etc so no need for me to keep flour/sugar etc in but we do use a lot of tinned beans and pulses and I like to keep a good stock of the part baked rolls in to go with soups etc. I've been running the bathroom stores down too so will look for some decent offers on the products we use.

[Deleted User]

WE had a trip to the big Mr.T this morning and I've invested in 2 x 2 1/2 kilo packs of red lentils, 5kg of chapatti flour, 2 kg of risotto rice,2 x 480 tea bags, a big bottle of sunflower oil, 4 packs of dried milk, miscellaneous packs of dried beans I haven't already got, 2 big jars of marmite, some tinned fruit to use in crumbles, a very large tin of custard powder, some packs of pudding rice, some shampoo, and some bottled sauces (soy, sweet chilli etc) to go in or on winter foods to liven them up and some bottles of Mr.T own brand golden syrup. Glad to have this as stores, we'll use it all because it's part of everyday life anyway, it's all relatively heavy to carry by hand so good to do a big stock up and use the car but best of all I KNOW now that if we do get bad weather and laying snow (which I just can't stay upright on) we won't need to go without anything or go out and risk falling trying to get to the shop. Peace of mind!!!

smeeth

Fruball wrote: »

How do you flush central heating and what doesbit do?

Mr.Generous wrote: »

it cleans out the pipes and radiators, helps it work better and makes the valves and especially the pump last longer. Basically you drain down and refill with clean water, or you can powerflush, which just means using mains pressure cold water to force more sludge out of the system.
Anyone who has taken radiators off and cleaned them out with a hose will know just how much black sludge accumulates in a heating system. When you do this its not uncommon to find a rad or two not working after the flush. Its because of all the sludge disturbed causing a blockage. Test the heating and re flush as necessary. You can isolate rads by shutting off the valves to increase the flow to others to help clean out.
Only when its all working fine would I add the corrosion inhibitor otherwise you risk draining it away again if you have to re-flush. A one litre of inhibitor will treat most systems, if you can't get it cheap from a heating merchant try toolstation, its about £6.50 - I have known people pay double that and some. http://www.toolstation.com/shop/p94504?searchstr=inhib

great thread people, thanks to all posters.

It's that yucky sludge causing all the problems here.. all of our rads have cold spots, been waiting for plumbers since March but they wanted to wait until it was warmer & now the weather is getting cold again! Hopefully get it done before I need to switch the heating on

westcoastscot

Mrs L I'm in the city at the end of next month and will use that to do a big store up - my list is very similar to yours :-) These things just liven up the basics don't they? I "shop" from my store pantry and just buy fresh fruit & veg, fish and some meat as and when we want it, but can manage just on store cupboard and freezer supplies for quite a while if need be.
Gives me a feeling of security and peace of mind.

[Deleted User]

I might also have bought fair quantities of porridge oats.....you can't be uncheered with a big bowl of porridge when it's cold outside can you?