Preparing for Winter

goldcroft10

Beccha: I am getting cavity wall insulation installed in ten days. The best quote for my 3 bed semi was £235 via British Gas. Another was £275. I may have got a discount as I am a dual fuel customer of British Gas. As you probably know, anybody in the house over the age of 70 means no charge as well as certain benefits people may be on.

The firm doing the work are using "granulated glass wool fibres, treated with an inert water repellent and milled down in order for it to be blown into the cavity wall ... it contains a high % of recycled glass".

Two other people I know have had the same firm and the same method and were pleased. The holes they drill are relatively small and filled afterwards. There is a problem with dust from the drilling.

BigMummaF

Whilst having a nosey around the charity shops this week, I've discovered some really good bargains that help others too :j

I think it was Help the Aged--or else it was Age Concern--that have fleece covered hot water bottles for £3:50 and matching blankets for £4-something...lovely baby-blue with little white snowflake pattern or browns & creams retro circle pattern.

Definately in Help the Aged for £1:65 each, are little probably big enough to fit inside the palm of your glove reuseable heat pads! Shaped like a little HWB, you pop the metal disc & it warms up, then you put it into boiling water for ten minutes & let it cool & you can use it again! I've bought one each for the offspring for crimbo to keep in their cars or for taking the pooch for a ponder

Beccah_3

Thanks for the reply Goldcroft, I've popped over to the BG website and requested a survey and quote. I'm an EON customer and annoyingly they don't even consider houses of this age...its only a 1920's.

victoriajj

sammyjig wrote: »

When I was at Mr T's yesterday, they had wine coloured throws. Think they were about £15 though.

If you've got a QS near you theyv'e got fleeces big enough for a sofa for £4, wine, beige, baby blue and white

mardatha

Three different people here have told me there's a dusting of snow on the hills. I'm not sure which hills as we are surrounded by them LOL but it would seem to be true.

Pandora123_2

mardatha wrote: »

Can anybody suggest something to keep my cat cosy ? He's a big ginger stray who adopted us. Somebody has been bad to him because he has no teeth at all on one side and is very wary, esp of men. It's taken 2 years but now he is very cuddly and will lie in the porch in the sun, and roll around to be tickled. Won't be picked up though.
The husband doesnt liek cats and wont let me bring him inside--plus he sheds hair like nobodys business and he wont come in anyway, so all I do is feed him far too much and made a wee bed on an old rug inside my stick box. I have got him proper cat beds but he wont go inside even in snow and howling rain - he seems to need to be free and open where he can see all round and do an escape if need be.
The stick box is big, almost 5ft high and 4ft wide --so its not cosy . We took the sticks out for him LOL. Would hay do for him , or hamster bedding ? I tired old jumpers but they get damp quick .

I wonder if a haybox type of thing would work... two boxes, one inside the other, with hay stuffed in between the boxes. (No lid, obviously!) Most cats like to be snug, so I wouldn't make the inner box too big (my 12-pound cat is partial to stuffing himself into shoe boxes).

For bedding, I would suggest perhaps a fleece blanket, as cats LOVE them (well, at least my cats do), and they are very quick to dry. If it's particularly cold, how about one of those microwave heatpad things, warmed up and put underneath his bedding? (Not sure how long it would stay warm, but would probably take the edge off a particularly cold night.)

p.s. Was your DH a mouse in a previous life?

anguk

I don't know if it's already been posted but Lidl have got wind-up torches for £3.99 in their specials from 9th October.
http://www.lidl.co.uk/uk/home.nsf/pages/c.o.20081009.p.Dynamo_LED_Torch.ar10

I'm going to give the bubblewrap idea a go. I've got a curtain for my front door but there's a single-glazed pane of glass above it, my OH had suggested making a curtain that covers both the door and the glass but I would need a far amount of material because the ceiling is high. So I'm going to try bubblewrapping the window instead, the glass is frosted so you shouldn't notice from outside and I'm going to do it when nobody is in and see how long it takes them to notice!

moneysavingfamilycomp

i cant remember who asked about wine coloured throws but the ones in tesco tonight were reduced to half price £7.50 instead of £15

mardatha

p.s. Was your DH a mouse in a previous life?
**********
quite possibly. He can also be a bit of a rodent in this one !! I tried a box, he wont go into it.
The cat, not the husband...am thinking of how to do a box without him knowing its a box...

egon

I have been reading this thread for a while now.

We still had not heating on. The little ones don't seem to mind (they are 3 and 1y)
But I thought, I would air the radiators, ready for when we need the heating.
So, I switched the CH on, and realised, there was no pressure on the system. Ok, no problem (or so I thought). Turns out, there is a big leak in the system.
It is a problem from when we had DS2's room replastered. We thought, the problem had been solved last time it leaked, after the builders put the radiators in place. So, now I have a damp downstairs room (where all the water leaked into) and can't get hold of the builders or a plumber right now. :eek: :eek: :eek:

We are off to ikea tomorrow, to get some curtains for the front door. They have to be at least 96". Hoping to pick a few other things up too.

Then I am hoping to get this curtains and the curtain polls(sp?) for the back door on the wall before OH goes away for a month next weekend.

Egon