Preparing for Winter V

sammy_kaye18

Evening all
Im going to be making a start tomorrow on winter prep. 
I have been stocking up on dried goods, tins, packets etc and making sure our freezer has been run down and cleaned out and I am hoping to get a good stock of meat in there etc to hopefully last us through the winter along with some bits of frozen veg and desserts. 

This week I will mainly focus on 
- finding, washing and cleaning all the comfy blankets out ready for the colder weather and get them freshened up.
- find out knitted socks for husband since he is a freezer and feels the cold.
- make a peg storage bag - Im fed up of losing them every winter. 
- measure and order pressure poles for the front door and doorway between kitchen/back porch to hang curtains come winter. 
- Put up hooks so I can put curtains up in the kids bedrooms to help keep heat in/cold out. 
- order net curtain wire. 
- find out our hot water bottles. 

Siebrie

@sammy_kaye18 Maybe you can make a peg apron? It's similar to a French waitress' apron, with a large pocket at the front. There are examples on the web. The important bits are that you can easily reach the bottom of the pocket (so don't make it too deep, because the pegs will be at the bottom) and that you can access it from the sides/corners rather than the real top.

sammy_kaye18

Siebrie said:

@sammy_kaye18 Maybe you can make a peg apron? It's similar to a French waitress' apron, with a large pocket at the front. There are examples on the web. The important bits are that you can easily reach the bottom of the pocket (so don't make it too deep, because the pegs will be at the bottom) and that you can access it from the sides/corners rather than the real top.

Thank you for the suggestion! 
Off to have a look now. 

katkin

I have started to buy coal early to build up a stock. We have a good amount of logs still, but I'll be on the look out for deals or freebies.

The coal is now £18.75 per 25kg bag an increase of £4.25 from March.

We have gas central heating but the fires really take the chill off the whole house and mean one room is kept super toasty. It helps us to keep the heating off for longer and at a lower temperature when it does need to be on. 

I've not worked out the financials (yet) of heating with coal/logs against gas and the electric that's needed to make the boiler work, but my gut instinct is telling me it's worth having all bases covered. 

Have been wondering if I can keep a gazebo up for longer this year and use it on rainy days to hang my washing outside under it. Can see that potentially turning into a disaster in high winds! But I've been doing well not using the tumble drier and would like to keep that up.

sammy_kaye18

katkin said:

Have been wondering if I can keep a gazebo up for longer this year and use it on rainy days to hang my washing outside under it. Can see that potentially turning into a disaster in high winds! But I've been doing well not using the tumble drier and would like to keep that up.

I actually brought a big parasol for exactly this reason. 
It is 3m wide and a square shape so I plan to put it up next to my back door which is a small space and it will fit snuggly. Then using my patio table to help stand it up.

So then hopefully it will be multipurpose.
1. It covers the back door so no matter the weather I can sit out and enjoy a morning cup of tea
2. It creates drying space for clothes etc to hang out and undercover if I can get an airer to dry clothes. 
3. It also means my table/chairs/parasol and in a small nook so if there is high winds, they will be protected. 
4. I have a plastic greenhouse that I can also use to dry clothes in too.

I have a whirlygig too but I dont think it will do much good come winter. I remember seeing pictures of long lines in the snow with washing blowing on them. Id love that but our council removed them all and fitted whirlygigs. 

Laura_Elsewhere

I've spent half this evening darning my way through four pairs of boot-socks that have been waiting since Spring...! 

I still keep knitting them, but not getting round to darning them... 

amber03

Going to stock up on bags of smokeless coal the next few weeks. DH prefers the logs as less messy but I think you get more heat from the coal. We live in a smoke free zone so have to be careful what we burn, we do have busybodies around here who will tell if anything is burnt that shouldn’t be. We also live in an area of high industry that produce a lot of pollution that get away with it, so you do wonder at times. Blankets washed, need new HW bottles and starting to stock up on tinned food.

Primrose

sammy_kaye18 said:

katkin said:

Have been wondering if I can keep a gazebo up for longer this year and use it on rainy days to hang my washing outside under it. Can see that potentially turning into a disaster in high winds! But I've been doing well not using the tumble drier and would like to keep that up.

When we had a gazebo we bought some really sturdy iron weights which anchored down the legs and kept it firmly in place in a strong wind.   They were massively heavy.
Drying clothes outdoors is obviously cheaper than using a tumbler dryer.

If you have a garage which has enough space in it you could also perhaps erect your whirligig rotary dryer in there with the central post anchored in one of those heavy round cast iron weights for putting parasol umbrellas in. 

Primrose

Was just having an idle browse online about waterproof covers for whirligig rotary dryers and came across this Chimney Sheep cover.   Not cheap at around £50 though

Chimney Sheep Laundry Mac rain cover for laundry on rotary dryer with clothes prop : Amazon.co.uk: Home & Kitchen

cuddlymarm

Hi guys
Normally I don’t start on Christmas ( sorry I know it’s still August) until the end of September but I’m spreading it a bit further this year. So I’ve made my food , drinks, crackers and a vague idea of presents list ( the direct members of the family do a list each which comprises of needs, would likes and just downright silly ( I usually ask for world peace, unfortunately I’ve never got it yet ) which we then have various WhatsApp pages so that we don’t duplicate.
Today I’m going to clear a kitchen cupboard which no one apart from me can go in to start my collection.
I have a couple of bits I need for winter. A very slim floor lamp for behind the sofa so that we don’t have all 4 ceiling bulbs burning at night, a food flask to take my lunch in and I got vouchers for my birthday and have seen a coat I like so I’ll see if I like it in person tomorrow, as it’s my day off. I’ve also put a small torch on my online shop this week.
Anyway I’d better get on, lots of little jobs to do so I’ll just keep plodding and see how many I get through.
Have a lovely day guys
Cuddles