Preparing for Winter V

London_1

Primrose I know exactly how you feel, I too am disabled ,a little more so after my time in hospital (still waiting for the nerve blocker in my left leg to wear off after 5 weeks  ), but like yourself I too enjoy any snatch of sunlight available

At the moment in north Kent it is actually shining and it certainly does lighten your spirits a bit, rather than the grey dark dull skies.  I know at some point today and tomorrow we will get the storm that's forecast and then I shall batten down the hatches, shut the dark skies out, and probably put something cheerful on the wireless or TV.

I also treated myself to some chocolate eclairs yesterday which will certainly cheer me up . Hopefully the storm will pass over and not cause too much damage to folk.

Today I shall cheer myself up by listing what things I want to get for Christmas presents for my family. I shan't be shopping for them just yet, but I like to have a good think about what to treat them to.

 My two DDs especially who have been absolutely fantastic this year through all my trips and stays in hospital. They have been really great and goodness knows how I would have got through it all without them truly both stars bless them.

So far I've done a small inventory of foodstuff in my cupboards, and the tinned stuff seem to be fairly full up at the moment. But I will also be looking at the freezer stash today.

 I am away over Christmas and New Year plus I'm away for a few days later this week so my actual winter top up may not be too bad.
 I also check the medicine cupboard for things I may need in the winter , cough mixture and throat lozenges and a large box of tissues just in case.
 When the weather gets really grim in the New Year I tend to stay indoors rather than venturing out on icy pavements and risking falling over as I don't bounce back up as I once used to, age sadly catches up with us all.

I've just checked my energy supplier and its in pretty good shape credit wise at least . I must put on my list of bits to get some more light bulbs as well as batteries, as my grandson changed the last one for me yesterday and I hate it when a bulb blows and there's not one to replace it. 
Hopefully we may have a mild winter ,but who knows the weather seems to be all over the place at the moment but no matter we will all get through and I look forward to the diffs coming up in the garden and the lighter evening .Gosh doesn't it get dark quickly now  

Onwards and upwards chums 

JackieO xx

catz4m8z

I was ok at 16C but its Novemeber and I decided that its officially fine to put the heating on then! Just for an hour either end of the day, although my house doesnt get much beyond 18C though (I have a window that is stuck partially open so its a losing battle TBH).
Just moved into my winter wardrobe though. Leggings and t-shirt for base layer (and being seen in public!LOL), then a set of twosies, topped off with an Oodie and giant furry slipper boots. I basically carry my heating around with me!

cuddlymarm

Hi guys 
Don’t forget to check your smoke alarm for dust and to make sure it’s working ok. With more heating and candles about it does no harm to check.
We have started shutting our curtains as soon as it goes dark but still haven’t had the heating on yet. I did put the dehumidifier on for a couple of hours yesterday because it was wet outside so although I like to freshen the air by opening the windows for a few minutes a day it wouldn’t have got rid of lingering moisture ( if that makes sense)
Our flat is tiny so we can get mould in corners if you don’t keep on top of it.
I bought cough medicine yesterday but decided to try a own brand one as Benolyn was sooo expensive ( it’s worth trying and as long as it does the job it saves quite a few pennies)  When he has the lurgy OH has to stick to paracetamol as he’s on warfarin as we have to be careful for extra things such as ibuprofen in which he’s not allowed.

Primrose

If you have an Age UK charity shop near you check their winter staples. Our has just received a new supply of insulated socks, hats, gloves 

Primrose

Also forgot to mention, if you live on your own, even if you like cooking, there may be days when you feel unwell and just can't face the hassle.  For such times it's worth perhaps keeping a few pots of non cook stuff in your winter storecupboard like mini pots of rice pudding, or other staples.  Topped with some jam or similar, they will get some nourishment into you when you don't feel up to making the effort.  Packeted powder soups are good too as you just have to pour boiling water onto them in a beaker.  And even mini tins of unheated baked beans will tick the box!

dreaming

I was always a person who preferred to be cooler and would not really think of putting the heating on until mid-November. Working was a nightmare as people were always asking facilities to turn the heating up but laughed when I suggested wearing a cardigan. This time last year, however, I was facing a major operation and when I came out of hospital realised I needed to keep the house temperature up as I was unable to walk about much. This year, although recovered from the op. (but also with an auto-immune diagnosis), I have found that my body seems to feel the cold more and so I did turn the heating on a couple of weeks ago. I do wear layers and add/subtract them throughout the day but I cannot stand wearing socks. My feet seem to overheat and I end up ripping them off as soon as I can. I have solar panels so can save a bit on electric but seeing my gas consumption increase with the central heating is quite eye-opening. I have a fairly good credit balance though so although I will keep an eye on it I am not going to worry too much about it

Cherryfudge

We had a bit of sun this morning! It was so nice and seems to have switched my internal energy back on. It's also 13 degrees and breezy so I've been getting as much washing on the line as possible. I'd been wearing things an extra time if I felt I could get away with it, to save having things on the airer or running the tumble dryer - well, now I know they are all fresh again!

I threw windows open to let as much air through as possible. They are shut again now and the heating is on 17 degrees which is as much as I need when busy; it can turn up later when DH gets in as his hands are always freezing. I might just treat him to a hot water bottle (which he wouldn't get for himself) while he's watching TV.

Thank you @cuddlymarm for the reminder about smoke detectors. I'd better get mine done.

MrsCD

Don't forget a carbon monoxide detector, too, if you're burning candles. Our daughter had a near miss because her neighbour's chimney flue was blocked and the CO came through into her house!! The CO alarm was going off, but her gas combi boiler was ok, and she hadn't had her fire on, so she asked us to change the batteries in the alarm, but it still went off with new batteries. We called the emergency helpline, who advised us to get out of the house, and they came within an hour. They have to check the houses on either side too, and discovered the problem next door. They told him he would have been dead overnight if it hadn't been caught. So....please check your flues, boilers, gas hobs etc, and always have a carbon monoxide detector when you have any naked flame in your house.
Gas/ carbon monoxide emergency number...0800 111 999

Floss

My carbon monoxide sensor went off at 3.30am one cold December morning. The Cadent engineer came out, did his testing & decreed it faulty and it was replaced free of charge within 48 hours.

Cherryfudge

Ours went off at about 1 am during a storm in January! Only the downstairs one went off but the chap tested everywhere, even the loft. In the end we got a sticker on the log burner and couldn't use it till it had been serviced. We hadn't used it for a few days before the alarm went off but it looks as though maybe the chimney was leaking CO back into the house. Our fault for burning rubbish and not having it swept.