Preparing for Winter V

Laura_Elsewhere

mrsLurcherWalker,

"sadly long gone are the days of being able to have shoes repaired!

Not so! You can buy the soles and heels online, and the Right Kind of Glue, and our local pound-shop sells big black and orange plastic grip-clips in two sizes, and with those I've been re-soling and re-heeling my boots and shoes for a couple of years now. They may not look quite as neat as professionally-done ones, but they're much better than I expected.

Laura_Elsewhere

emmwri,

"we saw loads of elderberries. Most weren't ripe, but some were reddish and drooping"


Those still aren't ripe! When ripe they are black - not dark reddish-black but jet-black, goth-black, army-boot black! The stems often turn rd, too, but the berries will go full Rolling Stones paint-it-black!

The unripe ones are poisonous if eaten raw, apparently, although I've eaten them raw all my life...

I shall definitely dig out my recipe, since it's been asked for twice now! Here's to us all having a cold-free winter!

mardatha

emmwri you'd have to try the dehumidifyer and see how much it costs. When we first moved here we had only a coal fire, no heating. The beds got damp and condensation was a problem. I used to air the beds well, keep the window open at night and most days. Leave doors and windows open whenever you can. If you have radiators then run them at weekends to really air the rooms.

emmwri

Laura_Elsewhere wrote: »

emmwri,

"we saw loads of elderberries. Most weren't ripe, but some were reddish and drooping"


Those still aren't ripe! When ripe they are black - not dark reddish-black but jet-black, goth-black, army-boot black! The stems often turn rd, too, but the berries will go full Rolling Stones paint-it-black!

The unripe ones are poisonous if eaten raw, apparently, although I've eaten them raw all my life...

I shall definitely dig out my recipe, since it's been asked for twice now! Here's to us all having a cold-free winter!

Good job we didn't pick any yet then, though when I do I will def now have the Rolling Stones in my head as I forage!!! :rotfl:

mardatha wrote: »

emmwri you'd have to try the dehumidifyer and see how much it costs. When we first moved here we had only a coal fire, no heating. The beds got damp and condensation was a problem. I used to air the beds well, keep the window open at night and most days. Leave doors and windows open whenever you can. If you have radiators then run them at weekends to really air the rooms.

Thanks Mar, I just get so confused about conflicting advice about winter - all the damp/condensation threads say air flow, windows open etc, but all the keeping warm threads are bubble wrapping up the windows etc. I know if I have windows etc open in winter I will be terribly cold. I could possibly have them on the catch when I'm out at work I suppose. I'm just worried about affording the heating this winter. Think will use dehumidifier and hope for the best! It's a Meaco which is apparently good for cheap running.

mardatha

I bubblewrapped my bathroom window and we got this awful SMELL... I bleached and washed and scrubbed and Harpicked... then sniffed the bubble wrap and YEEUCH! It smelled! Must have been something in that bubblewrap, I took it off an item of furniture we had delivered. Never again lol.
I think a lot depends emmwri on what kind of winter we get.. cold is ok but damp is hellish. Just experiment this year and then you'll know.

mardatha

One thing I should say is that it's far cheaper and easier to use an electric blanket than try to heat a whole bedroom. That way you can sleep cosy with the window on the catch letting fresh air in.

Laura_Elsewhere

emmwri wrote: »

Thanks Mar, I just get so confused about conflicting advice about winter - all the damp/condensation threads say air flow, windows open etc, but all the keeping warm threads are bubble wrapping up the windows etc. I know if I have windows etc open in winter I will be terribly cold. I could possibly have them on the catch when I'm out at work I suppose. I'm just worried about affording the heating this winter. Think will use dehumidifier and hope for the best! It's a Meaco which is apparently good for cheap running.

I reckon, in my experience, it is really important to ventilate a home daily, to do what the Victorians called "changing the air" - it isn't just mould smells, but all kinds of respiratory problems can be caused by build-up of eg dust mite fragments.

what I do is: I get a lift into town with my partner as he drives to work, and then I go to the shops for the yellow-stickered cheap items, and walk home. When I get home, I'm usually very warm from walking briskly, so I open the windows and doors wide, straight away, front and back, and then put away shopping, take my outdoor shoes off, etc. After five minutes, the air is changed and I close the windows or put them on the barely-open lock-latch setting. I'm still warm from the walk, and although the windows have been wide open, it's surprising how quickly the air comes back to normal temps indoors when they're closed again - and we don't use any heating.

So I would experiment with just 5 minutes but wide open front and back, and see how that goes - and do it when you're warm and active already!

fuddle

I love that the Victorian's called it 'changing the air' I didn't know that but it makes complete sense. Good old Victorians.

It's quite fitting for me at the moment as we're having a carpet fitted tomorrow and have taken up the laminate which had been in place, over concrete, for around 12 years. The house is 160 years old. I'm having to spend a lot of time in the yard or allotment because my lungs are damaged and my asthma is not as controlled these past days. We've had a lot of work done in the house since February and I have to say I coped with dust and chemicals a lot better than exposing stagnant concrete.

Thanks Laura_Elsewhere. I'm about to open all windows wide and the door all day to get my air changed. I kind of knew it but it's been raining off and on and bleak here for days and I've not had the windows open. I'm cross with myself actually I should have realised this stuff.

Laura_Elsewhere

mardatha wrote: »

One thing I should say is that it's far cheaper and easier to use an electric blanket than try to heat a whole bedroom. That way you can sleep cosy with the window on the catch letting fresh air in.

They say that for the best refreshing sleep you should have a cool room and a warm bed!

They don't say anything about how to et out of said warm bed in the morning into the cool room, though... I want self-closing windows on a timer, so they shut themselves at about 5.30am and we wake in a normal-temp room

We have a 'stone pig' 1.5-pint Victorian ceramic hot water bottle - a cylinder horizontal on one flattened side, with a filler-hole and screw-cap on the top side, and a knob on one end to hold it by - if we fill that about 9.30pm, it is still hot at 7.30am. Not tepid, but actually hot-hot, proper hot.
It does need a foot-board or rails on your bed to stop it falling out though - no good with a divan!

parsniphead

Until 7 years ago my house had single glazing and no central heating, just gas fires. I have central heating now and have turned into a real wuss. I have used the film on windows in the past and even though it cur down on some condensation i got lots of mould. I do try to have windows and doors open asap, especially when I'm home alone.

Hopefully i will get new windows in the next year or two which will help but in the meantime i need to do as much as possible to keep the house warm but mould free.

Looking forward to all the inspiration on this thread again this year.