Preparing for Winter V

Primrose

Watch out anybody who lives near Mrs.Lurcherwalker and who has trees She's going to be out there any time soon now with her axe and her woodchopper !

mardatha

Those Lakeland sachets sound just what I want Primrose, ta pet xx

mardatha

You can cook on top of freestanding ones MrsL .... boil up a stew then plonk it on the top of the stove and leave it . Low-tech crockpot lol

[Deleted User]

Oh yes Primrose BRING IT ON!!!

Seriously though we're arch scroungers of wood and never let an opportunity pass us by. I work on the principle that if you ask and they say no you're no worse off than if you hadn't asked but most times people say yes, thank you, we wondered how we were going to get rid of it!

Mar, I've longed for a flat topped wood stove to keep a kettle ticking away on all day, I only had a little shelf on the inset stove but still managed to make soda bread in rectangular mess tins, warm up tins of beans, soup, spaghetti etc. and mull cider on the shelf and when the tank needed replacing in the airing cupboard back in February and we were without hot water or central heating when it was at it's coldest the stove kept us warm and the camping kettle would only need a couple of minutes on the hob to come to full boil, so it kept us tea'd, washed and washed up too. The man said if we were quick with the ordering we'd probably have it installed and working before Christmas WOOHOOHOO!!!!

Cheapskate

Well, I've given in and put on the CH for a couple of hours - after a couple of weeks of breezy weather, and last few days of below 10C temps in the house, it's a bit parky here even when wrapped in a big blanket! Only going on long enough to bring the temp up, though, and then off it goes. I'm going running after tea, and then going in the bath, so I'll be warm enough for the rest of the evening! HWB need replacing, so that's this week's job - probably from B00ts as I've bought cheaper before and they've not lasted.

A friend gave me a bin bag full of Bramleys last week, which need cooking and freezing before they turn - if I'd bought the same quantity it would have cost a small fortune! She's given away twice that amount and still had plenty left for her family - what a harvest! That'll be a winter's worth of pud and pie filling ready bar heating up/finishing off...

I've got a humongous wool stash to crack on with, to make new bed/sofa/car blankets. Also going to make some to take to football practice and matches for the other parents to use when it's perishing (about 90% of autumn/winter matches/training sessions...)

A xo

Primrose

mardatha wrote: »

Those Lakeland sachets sound just what I want Primrose, ta pet xx

They,re little square tablets actually so easy just to strap a strip of sellotape over them and stick them to inside of wardrobe doors. You can of course put some of them in any drawers where you store woollens but it,s easy foe them to get lost amongst them and then you wouldn,t l remember when their effectiveness expires.

Nothing worse than finding a favour woollen coat or sweater ruined by moth holes. if you,re looking for them online they're called Mothstop

Living_proof

mardatha wrote: »

You can cook on top of freestanding ones MrsL .... boil up a stew then plonk it on the top of the stove and leave it . Low-tech crockpot lol

We used to do that on our multifuel stove in Perthshire but the experience was that it created it a lot of condensation and was a rather unpleasant clammy feel on one's skin. It would be ideally used in a power cut or emergency I think.

carrielovesfanta

Still going heating-free chez Fanta - we're not at the point of needing it yet.


We have had hot water bottles for bed the last couple of nights and I swapped our summer dressing gowns for the thicker winter ones.


The blanket that I crocheted for the bed is keeping us very toasty - we're still on the summer duvet! Bedroom temps are down to 17c... 14c is a very nippy temp for us.

silverwhistle

Primrose wrote: »

Watch out anybody who lives near Mrs.Lurcherwalker and who has trees She's going to be out there any time soon now with her axe and her woodchopper !

Not for this winter I hope!:D Moisture meter needed to check on what you're burning! I'm fortunate in that this year's supply is all nicely under 20% and even the stack of big rounds for next year is on the cusp of readiness, and that's before it's been split, which I'll do next spring.


Edit; just seen that Mrs LW is a scrounger! And yes, flat top stoves can even be used to boil a kettle, though it does take a bit of time..



The secret of wood-burning, particularly if you scrounge wood like me, is to work a couple of years ahead. The benefits come like they did yesterday afternoon; in from playing footie and then warming my aching muscles up in front of the stove. Tired and relaxed contentment.:-) [Plus we won!].

[Deleted User]

We left 4 years supply of perfectly seasoned ready to burn wood back in the old house as we didn't know if we'd be able to actually have a woodstove out in here. Our buyer has a little treasure trove and many happy hours of processing went into it. We'll get some wood in this year, no alternative as we don't have the village contacts here yet but next year.....whole new ball game, scrounge on MrsL scrounge on !