Preparing for Winter V

nicki_2

I still need to catch up on this thread as I've not been on the forums for a while but I wanted to post quickly to say we have finally got new windows (glass only) and a new upvc front door :j:dance::j:dance::j There is already a noticeable difference in the noise from outside and I'm sleeping much better due to not being able to hear peoples conversations outside :rotfl: I'm just going to be touching up the expanding foam/sealant as I decorate rooms.

Also a week or two back I was in a charity shop looking at prices for reselling stuff and spotted an old style wool blanket for £4 so I grabbed it It needs re-trimming as the soft material edge has worn through, but I'm doing the same job on a cellular blanket I have that was my nannas so it's not a big deal.

AND my landlady has had the bathroom tiled :j No more fighting black mould every day in the winter due to condensation. Now I just need to sort out a cloth or something to wipe the walls with each day after DS has had a shower :rotfl:

I've had the heating on for a trial run the other day, and to help dry washing as it was so wet. Everything seems to be okay. Now if DS could just get his bedroom decorated then I could set up an office upstairs in my room and get selling stuff to fund a new washing machine as ours died last week. I'm not carting stuff up and down the stairs constantly, my knees won't take it :rotfl:

pattypan4

yay, it looks like a drying day outside today. They cannot get the weather forecast right at all, yesterday it said wet all week. I bought new bedding, dd is having the other bedding, from JL, This new one is a temperature control cotton. I am going to be extra careful with it, always low temperatures. I remember me at a young age, washing good white high count cotton at much too high a temperature, naturally it shrunk and became very stiff and almost impossible to iron. I ruined it all


Maybe I will actually get to wash my plant pots today, I like to have clean plant pots ready for spring. Hate doing these jobs when it is cold and nasty. Maybe some weed hoeing, they have appeared like magic

Primrose

pattypan4 wrote: »

yay, it looks like a drying day outside today. They cannot get the weather forecast right at all, yesterday it said wet all week. I bought new bedding, dd is having the other bedding, from JL, This new one is a temperature control cotton. I am going to be extra careful with it, always low temperatures. I remember me at a young age, washing good white high count cotton at much too high a temperature, naturally it shrunk and became very stiff and almost impossible to iron. I ruined it all

/QUOTE

Patty Pan. I'm intrigued by your comment about washing high count white cotton at too high a temperature ruining it because I,ve inherited two such pairs of these sheets from my mother.
I,ve always tended to wash them at high temperatures. They're always stiff and rigid - in fact my OH always calls them "The Shrouds" .

We only ever use them in winter when they mightily add to our bedding warmth. i'm wondering now whether washing them at a much lower temperature would "loosen them up a bit? I always thought it was the thickness of the cotton which contributed to their stiffness rather than the heat of the washing temperature.

Does anybody else have these really thick quality Eqyptian cotton sheets and can comment on how best to wash them?

I have to say, I've never seen sheets of this thick quality before in any of the stores. . They could probably be used by three generations without ever wearing out ! Incidentally my mum never had a washing machine - she washed her sheets in the bath then used an old fashioned spin dryer, the action of which I would have thought might have weakened the cotton threads but doesn,t appear to have done so.

pattypan4

Didn`t we all used to boil wash white cotton? My egyptian bedding was ruined, time after time of washing at 60 in the washing machine and always on their own, they reached a point when I couldn`t make any impression with the iron. I remember buying them, I got the highest count I could and that was also a big mistake. The easiest bedding since then was an easy care mix from JL and the new ones are 400 count from JL I washed them at 30 today and they mostly dried, finished them in the tumbler on the bedding setting, just took 2 loads at 30 minutes. They are now airing, nice and soft and floppy with a bit of creasing which would only need a light ironing


I got those expensive high count sheets at king of cotton and not blaming Kof C at all, their stuff is lovely quality. Blaming myself. The bedding all ended up slightly yellowed too, I could not get it white again. Kicked myself, I was expecting it to last a lifetime and beyond

quintwins

I rarely wash anything on higher than a 20, maybe a 40 if it's stained. Even our towels are only used once so not hugely dirty or anything. I"m still trying to avoid using my drier, my washing in mounting up but we have a weather warning for thunder!

I"m planning to get hubby to silicone my kitchen window at the weekend, it has a drafty bit down the side and do the last cut of the grass if it's dry enough.

My nudist youngest slept in pj's last night so thats how you know the weather is changing!

pattypan4

outside has to have winter prep too, I cannot say how much I hate going out to do mucky jobs in the freezing cold. Tulips planted in troughs and every pot is washed and all garden hoe`ed. Feeling virtuous. Still got to find where homefire eggs are sold, only need a few bags to help the fire burn all night, if needed

pattypan4

I don`t believe me, I haven`t got a single match in the house!! on my shopping list pdq


Candle stocktake done and plenty for winter and eventualities, whatever they might be. Safe candles in jars and lanterns only


Torches re-vamped with good batteries yesterday and rescued from here and there, now safe in a basket in the hall, including a very good and charged-up headtorch


Short hosepipe ready to part empty the water butts, to prevent freezing and splitting if we have a severe winter. No need for a while but I am aware of winter weather changes. I have a handy drain

pattypan4

well america is having huge falls of snow now, seems early and I have seen warnings for us sooner rather than later. Ok they may not come to fruition but I want to be fully prepared. I have a big sofa that I could sleep on downstairs if the power went off and I have a multi fuel burner. So I did it, this morning I loaded up my coal bunker, I got a plastic one which stands on a base, getting the fuel out will be easy at about waist height. 6 x 20kg bags in and I could have fitted 7, it is quite wet, think it has been hanging around outside, so I`ll leave the lid up for it to dry on nice days. The only thing I haven`t got is tongs but I did buy long matches

Lucy5781

First real cold night apparently due here tonight. Turns out I only have one 2.5 tog baby sleeping bag for her and it's not very long (she is however).

Will use it tonight but will look in TKMaxx for a bigger one tomorrow (usually good prices for the bigger brands line Gro Company etc). She's almost 18mnths but a bit dainty despite her length and isn't happy to switch to duvet and pillow yet.

New insulation and render aren't finished on the house yet and her cot is actually above the ally/tunnel from the front to our back garden, and above the bathroom so once the heating goes off at 10pm it gets a lot cooler in the kids room around 1am through until 6am heating back on- not that we've actually had it back on yet!

Both kids good coat and welly wise though. Must ask DH to ask his ex if a new winter school coat is needed for DsS. He's now 13 and almost my height at 5'7. He probably needs more boot like winter shoes too, he walks to school and his mum doesn't drive so never gets a lift etc.

MingVase

Snow for the Cairngorms forecast tomorrow