Preparing for Winter V

Nonnadiluca

I love boiled egg and soldiers, one of my comfort foods. DH always knows if I`m feeling under the weather if I`m eating that. If I`m really poorly with a cold I always want cornflakes with really hot milk and lots of sugar which is strange as I don`t usually eat cereal. very odd!!

Wednesday2000

I felt a bit chilly yesterday and had to go and put on some socks when I was on the sofa. That reminded me to get out my foot cream as I haven't used it in months as it was too hot to wear socks in bed. I'm going to start doing some feet pampering at home.

I have switched our bedrooms over and we are in the south-facing room as it is much more cosy when it is cold. I bought a new dressing table and mirror to put in there too. I also bought some new red bedding and it looks really nice.

Cherryfudge

The bedroom sounds very warm and welcoming, @Wednesday2000 .

You have reminded me of a winter holiday we once had in a cottage, where a storm blew in - literally. It was a beautiful place but while most of the family was out walking, a snowstorm began to white-out the landscape so they came home and we were all set to snuggle down and enjoy the drama outside, when a gust caught the two velux windows and tore them off the roof.

The red bedding in the room affected looked truly picturesque with a dusting of snow!

PipneyJane

@Laura_Elsewhere May I suggest Welsh Rarebit for a light supper? (I hadn’t realised your DH retired. When was it?)

All the plants have gone a bit weird around here. The hyacinth in the front garden is developing blossoms again, two-ish months after it last flowered. We still have tomatoes and chillies growing. Harvested another load this afternoon. If there are any green tomatoes left when the weather turns, I’ll add them to the bag in freezer which is destined to become chutney at some point. My biggest problem is that while I make jams, jellies and chutneys, a batch will last us years.

• Pip

sammy_kaye18

Afternoon all from a sunny but breezy south Wales

I do love cheese on toast, dippy eggs, eggs in a cup or a warming bowl of soup. Comfort food.

I am busy putting some of the house warming plans into place. I spend the majority of time in the day downstairs ( bathroom is downstairs along with living room and kitchen) so I dont need to heat upstairs so much in the day. My daughter spends her time off in her bedroom, usually cuddled up in her bed and I have moved her into the slightly bigger room which is near the wall that adjoins to the house next door. My next door neighbour is bed bound with a heart condition and has her heating on 24/7 and the excess heat seems to keep her room and our bedroom at a steady temperature. nndays she is in college and goes back to her dads work to get a lift home.

I have

• found a basket to keep on the shelf out the back for blankets for the sofa etc ,
• need to double check and probably buy a few more hot water bottles.
• Put cushions on sofa to snuggle in
• Kids have fleece bedding on their bed
• about to measure the living room window to get some curtains on the main window - it has a vent on it (council property and did have a gas fire) and currently just a blind with blown double glazing.
• On the look out for a rug to warm the room underfoot.
• Might invest in hand warmers for daughter for when shes on the bus or waiting.
• Have found out a flask for drinks and a thermos food flask so DD can take something warm to college. She does have access to a microwave in her rec room so that could be a bonus.
• Need to clean the electric fire to make sure its working its best
• Stock up on candles incase of power cuts

Also need to restart building my spares cupboard for food items since I ran it down to give it a clear out over the summer whilst the weather was good.

MrsCD

@sammy_kaye18 just remember, all tea lights are not created equal! Ikea seems to have the best reviews and they're the ones I've used in the past. I prefer battery/USB lights nowadays because we're getting older and more prone to knocking things over! £4 for100 at Ikea for comparison. Keep candles in the cold until you use them; they'll burn longer.

sammy_kaye18

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82164370#Comment_82164370

Our nearest ikea is over in Cardiff and I dont get into that neck of the woods very often but I have been investing in some solar lighting - not only for the back garden for the dogs in the evening and safety but also some string lights etc to keep places to use as lighting. Whether it makes it cosy or is used as a practical solution is yet to be seen. I do have some long string lights that I can use as solar and put into a vase on a table to add ambience but could also be used if the power was out for a few hours.

Even more so that we have a small window on a landing mid way up the stairs, I can put the charging unit on the windowsill and guide the lights in and wind them round the bannister for lights to help us get about because my son can be quite clumsy and tripping over dogs coming down the stairs in the dark is not fun

Doveling

Have a look at the wireless bottle lights on A*a*zon. I actually bought mine from the garden centre and think they're great.

Got one on the kitchen windowsill in a Forest gin bottle. Had to drink the gin first 😁.

You can re-charge them from a power bank. HTH

villagelife

I have an electronic lighter which works well.it comes in useful when run out of matches

Laura_Elsewhere

The weather has really changed this last week or so, in temps here in the W.Mids., and now this week it's likely to change further to windy and wet for most of us…!

We're drawing the curtains in the evenings now (come the cold, we'll be drawing them late afternoon, for best warmth retention), and it's sausages and mash season :)

@PipneyJane he retired almost exactly a year ago- when he was made redundant, we worked out we could just about manage without him working, and then they called him back to maternity-cover and nineteen months later (!) he was still there so eventually someone noticed and said, "er…"! So he gladly and happily stepped away a second time from a company that had been decent to work for over 15 years until it was bought by a private equity company in the US, after which it became worse and worse in utterly needless ways, simply because the PE people had no understanding of the company's products or the sector its clients were in…

Very happy to be free of them!!