Preparing for Winter V

suki1964

Kittie, mr suki sweeps our chimney and we have never been advised by our insurance that we needed certificates. They weren't even concerned that we had installed a free standing stove

When we did have a sweep, he made no mention of it either

Now I'm back working I shall be ordering coal to get the bunkers filled before December. It felt chilly enough Sunday to light it but I held out Mr suki has blackened it and it looks all nice and new again. Going to have to find a new grate for it, after 8 years of constant use its bowed so we turned it over as getting the ash pan out was becoming very tricky. Trouble is now because the slats are upside down, the clinkers don't fall through so takes a bit longer to clean and needs a bit more tending to keep a good air flow

Managed to get all the fleeces and blankets washed and put easy to reach in the hot press. Really need to get in there and rake it out as I seem to have at least a hundred sheets :eek:

And duvets galore, and as an older lady, I can't cope with more then a sheet most nights. Oh and kittie, I too have had the most dreadful sleep these past 3 nights, never linked it to the moon before. I shall keep an eye on that

shoei

It's awful here still today we have over 24 hours of constant rain and its very windy now. I'm working from home today and considering making a fire!


I have bought some nice thick curtains for the living room and painted the room a pale grey, it's amazing how much cosier it seems that white and red! I want to get it carpeted before winter too as the floor boards are drafty.


All windows are now 'finally' refurbished, the cast guttering is painted, but we need to repair a piece above the backdoor.



Oh and I have a new kitten as a lap warmer!

I still have part of the loft to insulate but that should be it for indoor jobs really.


Outside, I'm planting a 22m hedge across the back come autumn. Expensive but it is north facing and I'm hoping it will provide some shelter.

[Deleted User]

suki the insurance broker e mailed me with a directive. Have a look at paragraph 2. They were adamant that it had to be done by a certified person/company and what really scared me was when I read that this lack of a certificate would make a house fire claim null and void, even if started by say an electrical fault in the house. I had to send her some details as I have a high tec pellet stove with a flue

http://nacs.org.uk/chimney-safety-advice-for-consumers/

shoei

kittie wrote: »

suki the insurance broker e mailed me with a directive. Have a look at paragraph 2. They were adamant that it had to be done by a certified person/company and what really scared me was when I read that this lack of a certificate would make a house fire claim null and void, even if started by say an electrical fault in the house. I had to send her some details as I have a high tec pellet stove with a flue

http://nacs.org.uk/chimney-safety-advice-for-consumers/

I wonder if it dependent on the company, we have never been asked either, we are with NFU, but I'm def going to check.

Laura_Elsewhere

I've managed to get two of the three most time-consuming Christmas presents made! A crochet-lace scarf for my Mother-out-Law (laceweight, 800 bloomin' metres of it!) and a big mohair lap-blanket for my elderly father.
That means I'm further ahead with Xmas presents than I have managed in the years I've been making them all! Hurrah!

Also, it means I've been able to start on a silk-merino laceweight project, a big lace shawl for a friend whose expecting her first in October - night-feeds will be chilly and a shawl can be ore easily snuggled into then many clothes when she has an infant clamped on, so to speak, or so I'm led to believe by Them As Knows!

It feels like autumn here, but yesterday I woke early and went out at 7am in just rolled-up jeans and vest-top and it was fine and warm. But emotionally, it feels like autumn and on days when it isn't sunny (like this morning!) it's definitely chillier.... but thus far, not the chilliness reported from further north (I'm in Shropshire).

My next winter preparation project, I think, is getting the freezer's "meat" drawer overhauled: we have only a tiny freezer, not the normal depth, so I buy meat cheaply and then freeze it divided up into the quantities we use for specific recipes (and we have adapted recipes where possible to use the same amounts of meat) - so I buy reduced-price packs of 750g pork mince, but freeze it as three 250g portions, then I can use it for pasta sauce, or for burgers, or for sausage-rolls, without having to make more than we can eat. It uses less freezer-space to freeze the 250g mince than to freeze the extra portions of pasta sauce!

Cheapskate

It feels back-endish here, too, for all it's not even half way through August. I finished one crochet blanket last night and started another - we'll have them dotted all over the house for chillier days/evenings, and I need to use up loads of my stash!! Laura_Elsewhere, your freezer talk has just prompted me to put in the oven a load of bread crusts from the freezer, turning them into breadcrumbs which will take up less space in the freezer than whole slices, and will be instantly useable for cooking. Also got various things to use up in the freezer before I re-stock for the winter. Our local beef farm will be doing their beef boxes soon, so I need some space to store the meat.

Our new front door will be ready soon, and then we'll be weathertight for the first time in our lives!! In 31 years of marriage we've never had double glazing, and it's so strange to have non-draughty windows, and it's so QUIET when they're shut - keep leaving them open a tiny bit all the time.

The children need new wellies/snowboots, as do I, and I need a decent winter coat, so will be on the look out for these soon. I'm also planning to stock up on all manner of non-perishables for the poorer weather, so I don't have to trail out with the kids when we've run out of stuff. We've taken them out of school to home educate, and it will be so nice to be able to stay indoors and do stuff at home, instead of trudge out in lashing rain some days, especially if we only need a pint of milk or some cat food!! :rotfl:

A xo

Gloomendoom

shoei wrote: »

I wonder if it dependent on the company, we have never been asked either, we are with NFU, but I'm def going to check.

Bear in mind that the National Chimney Sweeps Association have vested interest in frightening people into using their services,

My insurance company has no such caveats and I suspect that any insurance company refusing to pay out for an electrical fire on the basis that the chimneys hadn't been swept by an NCSA member would be on a very sticky wicket if the case was referred to the insurance ombudsman.

[Deleted User]

I can sleep at night gloomandoom, my broker sent me written notification. In fact I have just got this years certificate from the stove and flue expert, not a sweep in fact

A year previous my husband and I went around every room, every drawer and cupboard and did a full inventory of our things, having realised that under-insurance is also a danger, no-one needs insurance unless something goes wrong. I saw a programme on tv, a semi detached, thatched cottage caught fire and the house next door was completely destroyed. That occupier, the second property, had not had specialist insurance and did not get a penny. We did the full works, went to a specialist broker, eco not thatched, diagrams the lot as husband was a structural engineer. We also added up all the contents and doubled the value we had originally. Needless to say our insurance premium went up but was still only on a par to that paid by my son for his very modest semi in Glasgow. Now I never worry about `what if` re insurance because I know it has been done properly.

Pooky

Finally finished cutting all the free fire wood we were given. Some is destined for the fire pit as its either painted, varnished or treated so not something I'd happily burn on an open fire. I've filled 20 big blue ikea bags full of stuff for indoors and that's all stacked neatly in the garage. We still have a few logs from last year but I'll order some more in October/November once we've used what we have.

Finished a big cosy blanket for DH to use in his observatory, he does get cold out there, despite his thick padded thermal suit he wears. I made the blanket from Aaron wool so it will be toastie warm, there's enough left to make him a snood too which will help. I'm about half way through a kingsized blanket for our bed, it's so heavy already and will feel nice over the duvet...I do like the weight of winter bedding.

My slow cooker died a few weeks ago and we were gifted a new one still in its box but the lid doesn't seal on it which is such a pain. Will keep my eye out for a new one. I do use it a lot, especially for joints of meat.

fuddle

I know first hand of a couple that had to fight extremely hard to get a housefire insurance pay out because they had no evidence that the chimney had been swept. It caused a lot of unnecessary stress and prolonged the time in which they could repair and get on with their lives.

I seems to me that insurance companies don't give a jot about stoves but will happily use a lack of maintenance proof to not pay out. Given what I know I will ensure I have my sweep certs.

Edited to add: i have started my dehyrated purchasing tiday. Thank you for the link kittie. I have invested in carrot and leek. I figured I wouldnt be growing carrots or leeks anytime soon because the need deep beds and im not sure ill be ready for next season. This was the most sensible in my eyes and they're soup and stew staples so they will have a valuable place.

It must be autumn as I've put all my cook books onto the work surface. I have a bland kitchen (intentional so it wouldn't date) and these don't 'alf brighten the place up. I dont like cluttered tops but I have justified this visual delight taking up workspace by needing a shelf for dehydrated goods. It's a lovely, warm feeling as they sit next to the SC as it bubbles the gubbins to be made into hotpot later.