Preparing for Winter V

[Deleted User]

I learned this lunchtime from the Sky engineer who was fixing our system (he lives one road over) that winters here are much harsher than those back down on the South coast and usually involve quite a lot of snow! a useful thing to have at the back of your mind in a new home in a new area. Luckily a few years ago we invested in some recycled wool blankets from the National Trust shop at Mottisfont Abbey near Romsey in Hampshire which along with our goose down 15tog duvets from when we lived in Germany ought to keep us toasty warm in bed. We will be getting the wood stove company out for the assessment sooner rather than later I think and hope for installation before it gets really cold. We're lucky in that I can walk a flat footpath from the house to the town centre in 5 minutes and have Yak Trax so should be able to stay upright in icy conditions and also invested in both a knee length goose down coat and a goose down jacket on visits to Germany over the last couple of years so that will keep me beautifully snug and warm when I'm outside. We need to get wood, having left all of ours, some 4 years worth, in Hampshire with the old house, that and the stove will be priority.

calleyw

Afternoon everyone,


I am starting to look at my winter plans now. Need to get some fleece blankets to use as liners for the windows. I only want cheap ones.


Anyone know of anywhere that have them. Not sure where I got the ones I do have from. Most I have looked at are £4-5 a pop.



Also anyone got any idea what to put under my bathroom cabinet. It has a gap underneath and it blows a gail under it.



Thanks


Yours


Calley x

Primrose

Could you use folded up strips of newspapers under your bathroom cabinet to plug the draughts?

calleyw

Primrose wrote: »

Could you use folded up strips of newspapers under your bathroom cabinet to plug the draughts?

Not sure. it runs the whole width of the cabinet from back to front.



Just had a thought an old towel rolled up and shoved undeath might work. What a dumb bunny I have never though of that before.


Yours


Calley x

MandM90

Have made a wee bit of progress on my list

House
- Get curtains up in the living room. Need to paint it first!
- Have chimney swept,
[STRIKE]- get firewood delivery and firelighters
- Buy scented candles
- Plug Nest thermostat back in when heating comes on again [/STRIKE]
- Guttering repaired/clean - Have got a quote, just organising date - will do windows too
- Boiler service
- Re-silicone shower and bath
- Scrub tiles and get rid of icky stuff - Did the tiles in shower at weekend
[STRIKE]- Put electric blankets and throws on beds[/STRIKE]
- Ideally, decorate dining room so we can enjoy it for the winter!! - Decorator coming to quote for whole house tonight
- Wash curtains

Car
- Look into winter tyres
- Check fluids
[STRIKE]- Clean (just because it desperately needs it!)[/STRIKE]

Self/Family
- Box up Summer/Autumn capsule wardrobe and choose items from what I already own.
[STRIKE]- Buy extra tights (only have two pairs)
- Buy cheapo cold/flu meds (otherwise DH will get sniffles and panic buy a load of branded stuff in London!)[/STRIKE]
- Get out winter coats and wash. Put light ones away (I barely wore my lovely mac this summer as was too warm for coats!)
- Mend any things that need mending, replenish moth repellent thingies
- Sock inventory (DH and DD) - DH has done his
- Polish shoes and boots, send any to be repaired that need it
[STRIKE]- Reorganise Cupboard Of Shame[/STRIKE]

Garden - Autumn
- Do one huuuuge weed before winter
- Move plants we want to move
- Cut back/prune plants that need it then
- Plant spring bulbs
- Turn off outdoor tap
- Cover up/put away furniture
- Change over window box plants to winter flowers
[STRIKE]- Tidy shed[/STRIKE]

Made a bit more progress on my list this weekend! Would reaaaally like some decorating done before it gets too cold but am struggling to even get an electrician out to quote and that really needs to be done first. Ho hum!

pws52

Mardatha..bet you have to be careful when you sneeze!

Onebrokelady

pws52 wrote: »

Although I have been knitting from an early age and consider myself to be a proficient knitter I was totally defeated by the four needle knitting method.
Mum, Gran and Great Aunt tried on many occasions to teach me to no avail.

Five years ago....after knitting for about 50 years...I tried again, very determined not to be beaten.
I bought a set of 8 inch wooden needles...longer than those I had tried with before.
I found a heel flap pattern on Ravelry which has remained my ‘go to’ pattern and set to!

Success! Longer needles mean that stitches don’t fall off the ends.
Wooden needles aren’t as slippery as metal so stitches stay put.
Heel flap method suited me better than the other heel turn method.

I have now taught two friends how to knit socks...one is in her 80s.

As mentioned before sock knitting is so addictive.
As a project it is easily transportable.

So give sock knitting a go.
You will always have a gift for others which will be much appreciated.
And you will receive requests for them!

HTH!

Have you ever tried using a circular needle,the blogger I'm going to follow to teach me how to knit them uses a one

Onebrokelady

MrsLurcherwalker wrote: »

I learned this lunchtime from the Sky engineer who was fixing our system (he lives one road over) that winters here are much harsher than those back down on the South coast and usually involve quite a lot of snow! a useful thing to have at the back of your mind in a new home in a new area. Luckily a few years ago we invested in some recycled wool blankets from the National Trust shop at Mottisfont Abbey near Romsey in Hampshire which along with our goose down 15tog duvets from when we lived in Germany ought to keep us toasty warm in bed. We will be getting the wood stove company out for the assessment sooner rather than later I think and hope for installation before it gets really cold. We're lucky in that I can walk a flat footpath from the house to the town centre in 5 minutes and have Yak Trax so should be able to stay upright in icy conditions and also invested in both a knee length goose down coat and a goose down jacket on visits to Germany over the last couple of years so that will keep me beautifully snug and warm when I'm outside. We need to get wood, having left all of ours, some 4 years worth, in Hampshire with the old house, that and the stove will be priority.

Hi Mrs LW, what are yak trax

Onebrokelady

I'm compiling a list of things to stock up on for the house,the first item is very important in case we have snow again,however last year I found the easiest way to get it up was using my garden hoe,I just pushed it along the ground and it shoved the compacted stuff to the side,I even helped to get a neighbours car unstuck with my trusty hoe,the blade is sharp though so you have to be careful with it
Snow shovel
Foam lagging for condensate pipe
Batteries
Grit for the steps ( I used cat litter as an emergency last year and it worked well)
Candles
Matches
More sock wool
Cold and flu remedies
I can't think of anything else at the minute but will be reading back through the posts to get some ideas,I'm also going to try and stock up on tinned food and freezer stuff as the weather gets colder,then if I can't get out or I'm ill I will have something in.
Ive normally got eggs at least because I've got my own chickens so can always make a meal from these but it's nice to have other bits as well,I'm also thinking of having a go at baking my own bread and if I'm ok at it I might buy in the ingredients to bake a basic loaf, this will avoid the problem I had last year of going to the supermarket and ending up with a box of egg custard tarts and some chocolate puddings to eat because there wasn't any bread to be had anywhere
I'm actually still so traumatised from that one that I always buy two loaves at a time now and bung one in the freezer,my freezer isn't massive though and is shared with my DD and her boyfriend so I'm limited to what I can put in there,we have a drawer each,he is going to uni in September though so there will be a bit more space then
We have a camping stove and gas canisters if we need them and a stove top kettle,I'm always reassured if I know I can at least rustle up a fry up:)

babyblooz

Regarding draughts, if the gap is sizeable, you could make up some paper mache and use that to plug the gap. Even a small gap lets in cold air when it's cold and windy. If a gap is small, use something to plug it, could be a blob of blue tac if its a tiny space, or use paper mache or little scraps of insulation material pushed into place with a wallpaper scraper, perfect for gaps around skirting boards etc.

I waited until it was a cold, windy day and I crawled all around the skirting boards until I felt a draught. I was amazed how many cold draughts, albeit tiny ones, there actually were. I plugged all the gaps with some of that rockwool stuff, using either a thin knitting needle or my wallpaper scraper, and worked it into all the little gaps. The result was well worth the fifteen minutes or so it took me. Most of the gaps were around the skirting boards but there were some around the fireplace as well. It made a huge difference to the comfort of the room.