Preparing for Winter V

timehastoldme

We (🤞) are buying a house with a couple of features that are new to me and probably could do with advice about

1. Sun room with polycarbonate roof
No heating in there at the moment, if I wanted to warm it up for the winter we've got oil filled radiators and heated blankets etc, but could we do something with the roof for now? Insulation and curtains? Or is that going to be a condensation nightmare?

2. Open fire with backboiler connected to water and central heating. I'll get this serviced because I'm super intrigued! It's not the only way of heating the radiators or water, there's oil fired boiler as well (also new to me). Anyone got experience/tips for open fires and/or backboilers?


Many thanks

bellabella

timehastoldme said:

We (🤞) are buying a house with a couple of features that are new to me and probably could do with advice about

1. Sun room with polycarbonate roof
No heating in there at the moment, if I wanted to warm it up for the winter we've got oil filled radiators and heated blankets etc, but could we do something with the roof for now? Insulation and curtains? Or is that going to be a condensation nightmare?

We had a sun room with poly roof in the end we changed to a boarded roof with felt and opening roof windows this made a massive difference and we could use it year round it used to be so hot in the summer it bent the patio door frame  into the house even with the proper fitted roof blinds!!! we still used an oil fire in the depths of winter on a very low setting but we used to put our real xmas tree out there and it lasted for ages

Laura_Elsewhere

I'm planning to get out top-floor flat windows cleaned this week, inside and out, and the grooves of the window aperture too - it's the sort of outward-opening casement where you can press and push bits and the hinge-colum, so to speak, moves a few inches, just enough to get your arm through between wall and hinge and be able to clean the outside of the window - you get skinned elbows ime, but it's worth it to start the autumn with decently-cleaned windows! 

I had just bought some pretty microfibre cloths when all the research came out about how horrifically bad they are for releasing millions of plastic fibres into the water-system and oceans every time they are washed, so now I keep them for the final polishing of windows and mirrors, and cleaning screens, so they don't need washing - they really are good for smear-free polishing!

sammy_kaye18

@Primrose I am doing my best to get myself ahead with things. Having a husband who works 6 days a week and is sometimes away for days at a time, as well as two kids and 6 pets. I like to know Ihave a stock of things in that can help us get by if we need to. 

@boultdj thank you for the tip. I will have a look at that! That sounds right up my street though.

Well, Yesterday I got outside and enjoyed the garden for a bit. I pulled up my strawberries carefully and have put them into a raised bed I have where I will be able to monitor and thin them out easier as well as taking off any runners that I need to. Husband did suggest next year training the runners down into pots and then selling some for a few pound a tray, that way I can make a little bit of cash on the side to either put back into the garden or do some preps with. 



Today I decided to tackle the blackberries in my freezer though, I took them out yesterday to defrost and today cooked them all up and have made them into jam.. I have managed to get a good few small jars, half a larger jar of seedless that I'm planning to give to a neighbour as a thank you and then I put the pulp into another jar which i may use in a pie or pasty later for dessert with a few apples I have that need using with some custard. 



Which reminds me when I was moving strawberries I noticed that one of my bags had some dead foliage in, so I tipped the bag out and found a nice little haul of potatoes. I have another 2 bags and 2 tubs going as well so that should be handy. I will cook some of these up tonight for tea with a fray bentos pie we had tucked away in the cupboard.


I think I will spend today sitting in the garden, enjoying some sunshine and making a list of thing to stock up on ready for the winter incoming. 

YorksLass

@sammy_kaye18 - Good idea to plant up the strawberry runners, no doubt you know how easy it is.  And you'll have some to replace your older plants too.  Lucky find with the potatoes.  

@Laura_Elsewhere - My windows are like yours and, as you say, you do get skinned elbows and scratched arms - and my arms aren't fat either!  They're a real pain.  We used to have ones that turned over - much easier to clean - but when the Council were doing window renovations they decided we had to have these.     

Speaking of windows, today I've cleaned the kitchen and living room ones, inside and out, as well as washing the voiles.  I'd rather not have these but, being on the ground floor and having communal grassed areas all around, need them for privacy.

Tomorrow I'm planning on washing a couple of sofa throws and getting them outside to dry.  I had already done these earlier in the year but they had to come out again since the weather during the last two months has been so chilly here.  Other than those, all our winter gear has been done and is ready.

sammy_kaye18

YorksLass said:

@sammy_kaye18 - Good idea to plant up the strawberry runners, no doubt you know how easy it is.  And you'll have some to replace your older plants too.  Lucky find with the potatoes.  

I had another lovely surprise today too when I went to weed part of the garden that I have just used to store used compost etc and noticed a few things growing there. As I was weeding I realised I had clearly put compost in there that Id planted in and it must of been knocked over by the wind of something and I swept it up and put it in the pile. Well I pulled out a nice little bunch of carrots.


I am now sat looking at what I can grow over winter either outside or in my greenhouse to try and keep it productive and supplying us with a fresh veg. 
Tomorrow though I think I will be following suit with you though @YorksLass and getting some blankets/throws washed and dried and possibly the sofa cushions as well when I pick up some washing powder tomorrow. 

Laura_Elsewhere

@sammy_kaye18 - I'm about to sow lambs lettuce (corn salad) on all clear soil in my tiny kitchen garden (a single raised bed, guerilla-gardening by my flats' communal car-park)... from past experience, sown in the first week of Sept (in W.Midlands) it will grow enough before cold weather to sit there all winter to be picked for a little fresh green salad all through til spring. 
Also, when you have celery, instead of pulling stems off, cut the whole lot off leaving two inches at the base, and just shove that into the ground. It will re-grow leaves and stems, not as impressive as the first lot but completely useable all winter as salad or finely-chopped to be used like parsley on a bowl of soup or over veg. Spring onions are the other thing I re-grow - again, leave two inches when you use them, shove it in the ground and it'll re-grow to cut and use... the leaves tend to have a liquid/gel inside them but it's completely harmless and you can just squeeze it out when chopping them for use. 

I have to get the heavy curtains down off the poles in the next two weeks: the sitting-room ones need their curtain-rings adjusted, and the bedroom ones have their tape sewn on wonky and drove me up the wall all last winter hanging unevenly! So it needs taken off and re-sewn - straight...! (no, really - it's bad, about three inches difference!)

newlywed

After getting caught in thunderstorms on Thursday, my winter prep includes losing some weight so my walking coat will zip up…. Thankfully it has some poppers too so I could popper it up over my slightly smaller areas!

I have bought 2 mini jigsaw puzzles from charity shops (worlds smallest brand) and some dvds for winter days when you want to hibernate. Mostly I still go walking in different weathers (if my coat fits of course).

I have washed the autumn quilt and when we swap over I will wash the summer weight one ready to pop together for winter.

I need to wash hats gloves scarves…. I have a lot of those…. Thankfully they always seem to fit 

I need to wash the blankets and throws too - sofa cushions are done already.

the car needs some work from the main dealer (£180 just for a diagnostic to find out why the engine light is on ) it’s booked in for end October and OH needs new glasses too so I need to concentrate on the budget.

I am also interested what veg might grow over winter. We have a small raised bed with mostly sage and tomatoes in just now, as well as a sprouted onion I split and planted (2 sprouts seem to have survived).  I seem to have more success with rocket and rainbow chard planted in autumn than in spring as whatever eats the young shoots must be sleeping in autumn! 

Currently trying to beat the snails to the ripening tomatoes and have trimmed some leaves to let more light into the toms.

sammy_kaye18

I had to rearrange a dentist appointment today for myself and husband as now he's manager he couldn't change his shift to accommodate it at short notice so we are going at the end of October now so thats saved us about £70 until a later date. 

I have been out in the garden and split up some chilli pepper plants that looked a bit over crowded - they were planted late - not until around May so are only just flowering now - I'm hoping now I've given them more space and a better watering method that they will produce and my poor strawberries are throwing a right tantrum. They are not looking happy so a good watering is on the cards tonight for them too. Had I of known we were in for tropical weather this week I wouldn't of moved them! 

Daughter is back to school tomorrow so I am going to shove her towards a bath and a hairwash in a minute and son just brought a large portion of chips home so we split it between us all and have chip butties. 

Husband is out riding tomorrow so I think I will use that day to focus on getting the house cleaned and back into some kind of order / routine. It feels so unkept over the holidays! I also have some bits to pick up and clear up in the front garden and in the morning will be best when its shaded but at least its done then. I do have a questionable game of flower or weed to play though in my border and need to somehow transplant a morning glory plants from a crack in the pavement to a pot!
 

mumtoomany

Hi, @sammy_kaye18. The chilli plants will over winter as pot plants inside, then you can get them started earlier next year. Hugs, mumtoomany.xx