Preparing for Winter

ginnyknit

When I worked I hated winter as it meant standing at a bus stop where the most unreliable bus service in Manchester ran from. I have waited an hour or more freezing or soaked to the skin then an hour on the bus and a long walk still dripping or shivering. Last winter despite all the problems it made me happy to think i didnt have to wait for the flipping 42A anymore, that got me through the big freeze.

I adore autumn especially blackberrying round the reservoir down our street. Dont they call it the time of mellow fruitfullness. Im sure living where you do Mardatha seasons are a tad more extreme than in Manchester?

When I visited a friend the other day she had a tree full of cherries and bushes full of raspberries that she couldn't bear to touch as her husband loved his summer fruits - he died recently - and she was still in grief, I couldn't even offer to pick them for her as she was so upset - how hard it is to be widowed, there are things that remind you even in the garden.

sammy_kaye18

I was so born in the wrong month (July) as I love love LOVE winter.

I love being cuddled up, cosy and warm with my little boy, under a fleece blanket, whilst its raining/snowing outside, sipping hot chocolate and eating home made shortbread whilst reading him his story book by candle light.

I love getting him ready for bed in his cosy PJs, snuggling him up in his little warm bed, with his cuddle teddy Merry and knowing that he is happy and contented after a long day pine cone collecting so we can make Xmas decorations.

I love the snow, I love the rain, I love the winter build up. I love the fact that when everyone else has a huge bill and are complaining about the cost of fuel/living etc mine are relatively low and yet we are still happy.

I love my forward planning - of I'm making a roast dinner but there's still unused oven space - what else can I bake/cook to not waste the gas/heat?


SUMMER - I HATE WITH A PASSION, the heat, the bugs, the sun! :eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek: I hide away inside and am miserable especially in the heat waves and even more so at the minute!!!!!!!!!!!

[Deleted User]

I must admit I do like the summer even though I have problems with my arm swelling in the heat because of lymphodema but I'm not too keen when it gets up into the 80s as then its really too warm and I don't feel like doing much.I think an ideal temp would be around 68-70 with a slight breeze during the day dropping to around 60 at night so you can sleep properly.Don't want much do I :) Still we will muddle through and moan when its too hot and again when its too cold but hey isn't it great to be British and what would we have to talk about if it wasn't for our daft weather.Today its supposed to be around 79f which is a bit on the warm side for me but my neighbour has a glorious garden full of roses this year growing wild and I can see them from my window and the riotous colours always bring a smile to my face first thing in the morning .She is 87 and doesn't get to do a lot in her garden anymore but its so beautiful that to 'tidy' it up would be a shame.Then of course there is the compensation of kentish strawberries and they are well worth the heat.
I am hoping that by mid-September it will have cooled down a tad as I have to have my arm bandaged for a fornight to bring down the congestive tissue,I am not looking forward to that, but I know it will make my arm so much better that its worth it. Winter has its compensations as well with warming casseroles and a nice book to read by the fire.Autumn too isn't too bad as although things are dying back a nice walk in the park with my grandsons brings itself all sorts of interesting things The boys love 'conkering' and the little one finds all sorts of treasures to show me.Rain I'm not so keen on as my joints seize up and I creak like a badly oiled gate.But the best bit of winter is the excitement of Christmas and wrapping all the bits I have found during the year .Then a brand new year in January which gives us all time to reflect on our ups and downs and is like a new page in a book on which to write your future hopes and fears .
As I say what ever would we do without our odd, and sometimes extreme weather

parsonswife8

mardatha wrote: »

Noo, Jan 1st is NEW YEAR, a new start, the year when it might all come together. (or fall apart LOL ) Autumn everything is withering, dying. I hate it so much.

Aw, come on Mardatha, you can put on your wellies and go and jump around in all the leaves on the ground.
:rotfl:

dandy-candy

Making a start on winter preps today by clearing out the shelf in the coat cupboard where all the scarves and gloves live - time to get the knitting needles out again! DD starts senior school in September and we have both reluctantly decided that her snake scarf and bunny rabbit mittens aren't really what you should be wearing for a good first impession at "big school".......

twiglet98

I'm starting to get the usual slight panicky 'butterflies' feeling, the longest day has passed and autumn will whizz by until we are back to months of darkness and mud. My youngest has just finished A levels and is undecided about university, so I may never have to think about school terms again - it isn't many years ago that the summer used to be ruined by worrying about the cost of new school shoes for three kids to go back in September.

My favourite day of the year is when the clocks go forward and there is a chance, some days, that I can get home from work before it's dark. Then even just 15 minutes out with the dog, watching the sun set, is such a tonic. Generally though, spring is disappointing. I plan so much for my veg patch and am so useless at gardening that it never goes well. Summer is exhausting because I'll stay outside with the animals or tending the veg until dark, then supper and shower means more often than not it's a midnight bedtime, and the alarm goes at 6am. After harvest time summer is over, we'll be blackberrying, preserving, gathering wood, getting hay in for the animals, all with a sense of running out of time - or at least, daylight and warmth.

The advice on this thread was absolutely brilliant last winter - lining the curtains with cheap fleece throws made a massive difference, we all had old duvets under the sheets, and I was glad to have stockpiled things like flu remedies, matches and candles, pet food, larder essentials and long-life milk, loo rolls and shampoo. I had a tree pollarded and have stored the wood in the barn, chopping a bit each week, so hopefully I won't have to buy many logs, also thinking of getting a paper log maker this week (on Homebase special offer). The tumble dryer broke last year and we got through most of the winter without it, if I do get it fixed it will be strictly for towels as we have clothes horses, a pulley airer in the kitchen, and a lot of things dry on hangers on the curtain rails.

Colder tonight, will pull the fleece up from the end of the bed!

Winged_one

I love winter!!! Well, the thought of it anyway. I don't actually get to sit long enough in front of a crackling fire and just read and do not much.

Life is just too hectic nowadays in all seasons. Spring is trying to get the garden planted, summer is trying to keep the weeds from taking over, and using up all the produce (including lots of preserving). Autumn is about trying to get lots of trips "down home" to go blackberrying, damsoning, and sloe-ing. But Winter is about hunkering down and enjoying those squirreled away supplies!!!

I got a nice batch of blackcurants at the farmer's market at the weekend, and I am planning on turning that into jam tonight (I had to buy sugar last night). I already have redcurrant jelly glowing in the cupboard, and I still have a couple of pots of apple and blackberrry jam from last year. I might even end up with enough to give some away for Christmas presents.

We forgot to bring the brushes from DH's parents' house at the weekend, so we'll have to bring them next weekend and return them in about a month. Cleaning the chimney is the only major job needed, I think. I am gathering wood when we are "down home" at weekends, so there is a little heap building up that i will move later in the year. Biggish sticks and small logs that are fallen along the roads when on walks. And FIL keeps offering logs from the trimming they did earlier this year (of loads of trees) so we'll probably take a few logs there too. And they also have a man who comes with bags of turf, which you just can't get in our area, so he always buys a few extra bags for us - it really stretches out the smokeless coal we have to use.

beingfrugal

I yearn for a real fire I rent an old house, the chimney is 'there' but covered by a false electric fire and surround. Why o Why? Landlord won't budge on it.. a real fire will ruin the carpet.

Never mind.. I may get the chance to get my own house again when I'm qualified.. till then dream!

rachbc

I saw a beautiful pure wool throw for only £20 at the weeknd - I so wish I'd bought it as just seen a similar one online for £50 - was soo much prettier and cosier than my primark fleece one I've used for the last 3 years

tara747

mardatha wrote: »

Noo, Jan 1st is NEW YEAR, a new start, the year when it might all come together. (or fall apart LOL ) Autumn everything is withering, dying. I hate it so much.

Oh right, I get you. But isn't autumn a beautiful season? The colours are amazing, the light is ethereal, there is also the renewal of the new school/university year and the anticipation of Christmas. I definitely think that preparing for winter is more enjoyable than winter itself!!! :rotfl:

And also think of how much daylight you get in September/October compared to December/January. Lack of daylight is my least favourite thing about winter. I love to be outside and I love natural light. Winter hibernation is NOT for me, yuk!!! I'm not saying I don't like to spend an evening by the fire and cosy up but not for months. If winter last about 3 weeks that would be enough for me lol.

pumpkinlife wrote: »

Summer is OK in the UK. I used to like Norfolk in the summer because it was bone dry with wide open skies and beaches. I think I like extemes seasonal weather, none of this temperate nonsense . High desert ranch here I come!

I do think we need a prepping for summer thread. I think one briefly appeared here last spring and then never took off?

I like extremes and proper seasons too - crisp dry (short) winters, warm dry (long) summers and mild spring and autumn in between would suit me just fine.

p.s. a 'preparing for summer' thread next spring would be fab, count me in.

sammy_kaye18 wrote: »

I love the rain

:eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek: :eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek: