Preparing for Winter V

MingVase

Like Oct today, wind is howling through the double glazing and the rain is battering down/ Not cold now though.

suki1964

MingVase said:

It's like winter already up here!  I've ordered 2 calor gas cylinders for the new heater.

I was thinking of that heater today, where did you get it from?

helensbiggestfan

MingVase said:

It's like winter already up here!  I've ordered 2 calor gas cylinders for the new heater.

I'm very tempted.....😉

MingVase

Got it because we're totally dependent on the big coal stove - but if coal got hard to get or anything went wrong with the chimney, we'd freeze

MingVase

SUKI it's called the Provence, google Provence blue portable gas heater. I got it from a calor gas company down south.

[Deleted User]

We've finally got some carrot and parsnip seeds to germinate, many sowings didn't but now we've got a few rows of both popped up in the garden.  The new potatoes got very badly wind and frost burned but seem to have more growth on top now so I hope there will be some spuds underneath but the real good thing is the maincrop potatoes look really good and so do the onions and the leeks are growing on, even the curly kale and purple sprouting broccoli seem to be growing on in this warm weather so I have hopes of home grown veg for part at least of the colder months. The potatoes won't be washed but will be dried on paper in the garden before being sacked up for storage, hopefully we'll have enough to see us through and the onions will be dried and made into strings, the rest will stand in the ground until we want them though.  The carrots we grow are funny things but one carrot is as big as a clenched fist and is big enough for the two of us for a meal they're called 'oxheart' and are short stubby things but the flavour is really nice.

Primrose

I,ve had real problems getting carrots to germinate  this year too buts its possibly due to the warm weather earlier in the year  and many seeds, especially lettuce, I find, won't germinate in hot temperatures. It's a nice feeling having colder weather crops growing in your garden when you can just pop out and pick something.  I hope more people will be discovering this pleasure as a result of lockdown. 

[Deleted User]

Laura_Elsewhere said:

@squirrelgirl - that sounds really exciting! I look forward to hearing how it goes... will you be alone once your ds & dil move out? I have always wondered whether people living alone in rural areas need to make extra preparations for back-up of stores and contact methods for help from neighbours in case they eg sprain an ankle or worse (I realise as I type this that they almost certainly do and I'm just being a bit slow to catch up here!)...

I lived til I was 45 with 1880s single-glazing, and the last 6 years in a 1990s flat with good double-glazing, and the difference is AMAZING!!! In blustery weather I still sometimes stand by the windows marvelling at the way all the weather stays outside...!!!

Thanks for the welcome! 😊 No, I won't be alone - I have a long-suffering dh! 😉 😂 
Missychrissy, thank you too! 😊 I still haven't dug out the demijohns from under the stairs yet as the weekends haven't gone to plan but it's on my list so as soon as I do, I'll post it on the wine/beer making thread 😉 
The veg is coming on nicely - I haven't had any problems with carrots germinating but I didn’t sow any until towards the end of May, I definitely didn't sow them thin enough though!! 😂  I've had three blueberry plants delivered this week but can't seem to find any ericaceous compost in my immediate locality - a friend has suggested spraying multipurpose stuff with white vinegar but I'm not convinced so will have to keep them in their baby pots until I find some! 
I'm having my fascias, guttering and flat roof replaced and the work starts on that tomorrow - I'm going to keep any offcuts to use around the garden - I'm hoping that the flat roof redo will help with the heat in the kitchen! I'm basically a reptile and I got a smallish radiator in the kitchen as I used to cook all the time - now that I'm only cooking for dh and I and I always cook enough for several days, it gets pretty cool in the winter!  (ds & dil buy and cook their own stuff but they make little from scratch so the oven is never on for long with them!)
I'm slowly getting through the paper shredding after liberating about 2 reams of stuff from the wardrobe so will start more 'bricks' at the weekend - I'm also seriously considering building a woodstore now - I just need to find the room in the garden! I need to redesign the front garden as the neighbours are extending their house and adding another floor to the single storey which will overlook our front garden (our houses are at right angles to each other) so the plans I had and intended to start in July are having to be rethought 🤔 I'm thinking that perhaps I can incorporate a woodstore into the new plans...
Food wise, I'm pretty stocked up for the winter - I'm vegan and buy in bulk so it's rare for me not to have at least 6 months worth of dried/tinned food, toiletries etc in but I will hopefully get another order sorted at the end of the summer anyway 😉 I'll be making elderberry cordial in the autumn- it was too cold and wet to use the flowers this year- so I'll have a bumper crop hopefully! I don't really use much as far as meds go so will need to check what we have in - I assume that there are dates on paracetamol! I'm definitely going to get some steri-strips though (thank you to whoever mentioned those! ) as dh can be pretty clumsy and they have come in useful previously!! 🙈😂 
This has turned into a bit of a novel so I'll go now!! 😂

boultdj

We had our flat roof done 2 weeks ago, was warmer when we had the couple of cooler day's last week, hope it's the same for you as well squirrelgirl.

[Deleted User]

boultdj said:

We had our flat roof done 2 weeks ago, was warmer when we had the couple of cooler day's last week, hope it's the same for you as well squirrelgirl.

Thanks boultdj!! That's really encouraging news! 😊 
I've just been on a few gardening sites and discovered that you can use vinegar to make soil acidic (I honestly thought my friend was winding me up! 🙈) - as I already have some multi purpose and plenty of vinegar, I'm going to try it -  it will save money 😉