Preparing for Winter V

Novice_investor101

After spending the last 2 weeks being pelted with torrential rain in Scotland, I decided it was finally time to splash out on some decent coats & outdoor clothes for my 2 mile walk to work, & for hiking.

I hit the online sales & got a Mountain Equipment goretex waterproof jacket for £195, reduced from £270 - I can definitely feel the quality & wish I'd had it 2 weeks ago, I would have been a lot drier & warmer! This will make my weekend rambles & mountain climbing a lot more pleasant when it's wet & cold out. It's a lot to spend, but considering I would fork out about £100 every couple of years on a new jacket anyway this is a good long-term investment as it will last for years.

I went out this afternoon to go outdoors & bought a Montane insulated jacket for £100 reduced from £150. I desperately needed to replace my very old, falling apart, "day to day" coat that I use to walk to work, go to the shops etc & decided I'd invest in a good quality down puffy coat for Autumn/Winter. I also still have a really warm sailing jacket from Decathlon that was £40 & comes out in the coldest temps as it's so warm & cosy.

The not very effective decathlon puffy jacket I'd bought for £20 last year will be used indoors in winter in the daytime as a jumper when the heating is off & I'm sitting about, or stuffed in my rucksack when hiking as an emergency layer.

I also spent the afternoon washing & reproofing an old waterproof Montane jacket that has seen better days. I'm loathe to throw it away as it's still a great quality, warm, breathable windproof layer (it gets cold & windy on mountain summits even in the sun) so it'll be good for in the rucksack in the summer months.

Lots of the outdoors shops have sales on - getting rid of last seasons stock to make room for the new winter season stuff. Worth checking out if you are after some good quality coats, jackets etc

fuddle

I've made a wood store. I'm no carpenter and have lost a lot of my strength but it's there awaiting the wood delivery.

The chimney sweep is booked.

VintageHistorian

Bought two 100% cotton jumpers from Cotton Traders, they were both half price. I don't like wool as I was allergic to it as a child, so cotton it is! They should arrive early this week so I'll see what kind of quality they are and then they can be put away ready for winter.

We're getting our double glazing replaced a week tomorrow (hopefully - need to chase up the company to confirm the installation dates). It'll be interesting to see what kind of difference they make. The current ones are very old, one has popped so it's misted up instead, and the two in our bedroom are difficult to close properly so I'm sure we lose a lot of heat as a result.

And then I need to wash the blanket on our sofa and our cushion covers and dry those while we still have warm outdoor drying days.

Also need to book a boiler service. First company I've emailed haven't got back to me. I hate talking on the phone with people, email is so much easier DX

silverwhistle

fuddle wrote: »

I've made a wood store. I'm no carpenter and have lost a lot of my strength but it's there awaiting the wood delivery.

If you've the strength for a hatchet it's easy enough to make your own kindling from old pallets. I've demolished a few pallets but the wood is still in lengths in my store awaiting a real need. Hampshire must be a lot warmer than some of your locations on this thread. :-)


PS: Pallets with HT on the blocks.

Frith

Very much looking forward to trying our replacement wood burning stove. We had the chimney repaired in February (it leaked from the top) then I bought an identical (but not cracked!) stove and fitted it earlier this month.

No central heating so we’d be stuck without it.

fuddle

Silverwhistle thank you. I have a DH who could also split pallet wood so that wouldn't be a barrier. We can get hold of pallets via DH's work but sadly they're marked with MB indicating they've been treated with chemicals and a no go.

The thermostat has been set to 18 degrees as of yesterday. I don't expect it to click on any time soon. It's more than bearable here this morning but if we were to have a sudden drop in temperature my girls won' t be getting ready for school feeling chilly. They're very lucky. My Mam grew up in a breeze block house with icicles on the inside and I have vivid memories of getting ready under my bed covers. We had heating but once the back boiler had been taken out in favour of gas my Mam became very conscious about accruing gas debt so rarely had the heating on. Subsequently I developed black mold in my bedroom and now have respiratory issues but that's another story.

Nargleblast

My son is feeling a bit cold on a night, so tomorrow I will put the second part of the duvet on his bed taking it up to a winter weight of 13.5 tog. I have told him I will put the heating on a bit later this month. I look at the weather forecast for the next ten days or so, and night time temperatures will be anywhere between 8 and I think 11. I will probably add the second part of my duvet in the next week or two, I have the luxury of 6kgs of ginger cat curling up next to me every night.

Working_Mum

I use pine cones for kindling - I have a tree down my drive so collect them throughout the year!!

fuddle

Our heating clicked on this morning. It must have been below 18 downstairs. It's not come on again so it must just need a boost in the morning. I'm leaving it as starting tomorrow we'll all be up for school come 7.15am

I have two pairs of 200 denier fleece lined tights. They hardly go along with my wanting natural fibres but I admit defeat along with admitting my love for them. Last years will be house tights.

I ordered the wood this morning and large bag of kindling.

My freezer is defrosting at the moment and soon to be refilled with small amounts of meat, fish, veg and dairy. It hasn't taken long to defrost and is a reminder never to rely on it.

I now have a hand knitted hot water bottle cover.

[Deleted User]

I think the weather forecast is for a colder night tonight and then the weather turning cooler because of a change in wind direction from the north at the end of the week. We haven't felt cold in the mornings yet but went for a meal last night and walking back to the car at 9ish I was shivering despite having a jacket on. I shall tomorrow get out my winter hats, gloves and scarves and chuck them through the washing machine along with a couple of varying weight fleeces to freshen them up as I think I may need them before the end of the month is here.