Preparing for Winter

Olliebeak

I have cotton throws on both my sofas with fleece throws folded along the backs of them for if/when needed.

Last year I aimed for not putting the central heating on until 1st Nov - unfortunately caved in around 28th/29th October due to a very early cold spell .

nippyone

Confuzzled wrote: »

actually i checked the big tangle of them i know about yesterday, a few at the bottom were lovely and dark... but def not ripe yet, very sour!

i do plan to make some bramble chutney though so if all i can find is the ones that appear ripe but are a bit tart i can at least use them in that!

i think it will be a few weeks yet so i'll keep checking back, thanks for the heads up though! i know a few people in ayrshire and they normally go brambling far later in the year than this...must have been the hot summer!

My mum used to pick brambles when we were young and make loads of bramble 'jeely' - there's a gid Scottish word for you (jam) which I loved and miss like crazy because she hasn't made it for years.

lm07

I have wooden blinds covering a large window in my lounge but no curtain rail. I don't know how good these are at keeping the cold out. Any suggestions? TIA! I have minimal coverings on windows in 2 other rooms but since they are used much less I just plan to shut the doors to keep any chill out.

zarazara

todays lovely, slightly autumnal morning and sunny now. just great.

westcoastscot

Do the rosehips come after the rose blooms have died? Am wondering if they are the centre of the flower as it were, in which case I shouldnt be dead-heading them? I have a huge eglintine rose outside my window (remember the song from bednobs and broomsticks?) and would love to harvest rosehips from it.
No sign of brambles here yet - still green and bullet-like
Pauline :-)

Gigervamp

lm07 wrote: »

I have wooden blinds covering a large window in my lounge but no curtain rail. I don't know how good these are at keeping the cold out. Any suggestions? TIA! I have minimal coverings on windows in 2 other rooms but since they are used much less I just plan to shut the doors to keep any chill out.

Are you renting, or is it your own place? If it's your own place, I'd put curtain rails up and hang curtains over the top of the blinds.

mardatha

LOL nippy, not heard that one for years. My granny's "jeely piece" was legendary !

Gigervamp

westcoastscot wrote: »

Do the rosehips come after the rose blooms have died? Am wondering if they are the centre of the flower as it were, in which case I shouldnt be dead-heading them? I have a huge eglintine rose outside my window (remember the song from bednobs and broomsticks?) and would love to harvest rosehips from it.
No sign of brambles here yet - still green and bullet-like
Pauline :-)

Yes, leave the flowers on as the hips are part of the flower.

rosieben

Giulliana wrote: »

My recipe for winter is to buy one of those huge thick blankets from Dunelm Mill and batten down the hatches - well it seemed to work up to a point last year; saved me putting the heating on for a while

http://www.dunelm-mill.com/category/Bedding_Blankets%20and%20Throws/

I thoroughly recommend the brown check blanket, its the warmest thing I've ever known. I paid £24 :eek: for mine about 6 years ago but I knew it was worth it after sleeping under one when I stayed with friends for a weekend. :cool:

edited to say having looked at the sizes I should remove the shocked icon, as I have the big big one...

edited again :rolleyes: just been sorting through blankets (winter prep) and realised that I've confused the ones I have; I have the small one as shown in the link. also a huge lighter brown check that I bought about 6 years ago from dunelm for £24; they're both really warm; I've always found dunelm linens etc really good value

ifonlyitwaseasier

ok finally caught up with the thread, all 121 pages!!!!!!!!!

so my prep for winter is to wash all the winter clothes and make sure that we have plenty of warm socks/tights/vests etc, do need new slippers tho...

we have LOTS of fleecy blankets, so i might cannabilise one to make a poncho type thing (hole in top and maybe stitch some kind of split between the body and arms).

have less to worry about as am at my folks place atm so not thinking about the bills, (hw tank in our room anyway makes it very snug!)

need to make sure i have a good long coat as i walk to work now, prob means i need some really good shoes for winter too, i have wellies but i'm not sure if it'll be as bad as last year...

will make my list later and post it up