Preparing for Winter V

Primrose

MrsLurcherwalker wrote: »

I made 12lbs of damson jam from the tree on the allotment last night, it's a loose set but tastes nice and will go into store for the colder months.

Damson jam is lovely but a lot of any variety can feel overwhelming. Luckily it's delicious with porridge. I was told by a Russian friend some years ago that when many items like tea and sugar were in short supply in the old Soviet Union many people would pour boiling water on a couple of spoonfuls of jam to make a sort of hot fruit syrup drink in winter. Have never tried it though !

cuddlymarm

My mum used to do that with blackcurrant jelly

cuddlymarm

A good little stocking filler at Xmas is a small wind up torch. We got one years ago and it’s still going. You can get kids decorative ones so everyone has one in case of power cuts.

phoebe1989seb

Looking forward to having the new larder in place and ready to use next week sometime - it's going to be about 1.6m wide by 2.3m high, so loads of extra space for storing stuff I've already started stockpiling dried and tinned foodstuffs in readiness, but as it's going to be roughly twice the size of our current larder I think more will be required, lol!

DH is in London today collecting a new sofa for my 'book room'. It's supposed to be a summer space, but with the reclaimed cast iron radiator that we're having fitted next month (and all the extra celotex DH put in the ceiling when we had the new slate roof), it should be useable as an extra winter living room. Just need to find (or make) some throws......

Got some more wood chopped yesterday, but there's tons still to do - the tree was 60'+ tall - and we're going to need another log store (at least) to contain it all

Primrose

I've found that wearing a really thick pair of opaque tights under trousers indoors helps to keep the lower part my body feeling much warmer, and a fair of woollen fingerless gloves are useful when sitting down reading for any length of time.

The trick in winter is to get up from your armchair every 15 minutes & walk about or do a few squats to aid your circulation !

PipneyJane

mummygems wrote: »

6 - See what we can do about my sons bedroom which is always bloody cold! His is the box room and its above our front door/open porch so I am not sure if this makes it colder. Its painted blue which my mum says makes it colder (old wives tale) so might re-paint that lol

My betting is that there is no insulation between the ceiling of the porch and the floor of your son’s room. Can you lift a floorboard to check? Also check for drafts within the void and coming up from the floor. If you have a thermometer, lie it on the floor and check the temperature first thing in the morning.*

A quick fix would be to line the ceiling of the porch with insulated plasterboard. A better fix would be to do that AND insulate under the floor in your son’s room.

HTH

- Pip


* I’ve spent the last three winters working in an ancient portacabin that didn’t have insulation under the floor. Even with the heating at full blast, the floor was icy, never getting above fridge temperature. (A colleague measured it with a thermometer. It averaged 3C.)

fuddle

I do something similar Primrose but use leggings over tights, tunic or dress long woollen cardi and always a shawl or scarf around my shoulders. These days I will nip the heating on if I am cold during the day but generally this works well for me.

On that note I have hunted my leggings out and given them a bit of a stitch. I don't think they'll last another winter but they're ready for the start.

Lucy5781

Though I appreciate the dry weather now the preschool run has started again, I miss the chill of last week! Was so nice not to feel hot and sweaty all the time, I swear the kids slept better as well!!

Finally into our kitchen yesterday. Busy weekends coming up so going to do some fridge and freezer sorting next week.

fuddle

The chimney has been swept, the fire bricks replaced, the flue cemented and the carbon monoxide detector has been tested. There's wood (I need more) in the store, kindling, matches, paper and firelighters under the stairs. Winter you may adorn my doorstep.

Eenymeeny

I haven't posted on the thread for this winter as I find that once you have all of the 'gear' in stock use of it it mostly slips into place as the temperature drops.
Just wanted to say thanks to those posting as I'm still learning lots of tips and tricks. (Never too old to learn!) Oh, and was annoyed at myself as I woke this morning to realise that I'd left the heating on all night! I put it on for a few minutes after we sat out for an hour last night and came in feeling chilly. Not going to earn any money saving points that way am I?
Looks like a nice day here, better get out and make the most of it. Lots of gardening jobs to do out there