Preparing for Winter

Athome1

sexki11en wrote: »

One thing I could do with is ordering coal for the bunker whilst it's a bit cheaper but I have no idea where to find this. I googled coal merchants bristol and only came up with commercial suppliers. Anyone in Bristol that can reccommend me someone? And how much should I be paying? We used the small bags from the petrol station last year and at the rate of 2/3 a week, it really added up!

SK x

If you look under solid fuel in the yellow pages it will list all your local coal merchants. I've just paid apprx £8 pr 25kg bag (including delivery) but if we had a bunker buying it loose would be cheaper still. Hope that helps.:)

LJM

i was actually thinking how muggy it is may have to pop my shorts back on lol

beingfrugal

[STRIKE]*curtains for bay windows living room[/STRIKE]
*curtains for bay windows bedroom
[STRIKE]*front door curtain[/STRIKE]
*rugs for living room and all [STRIKE]three[/STRIKE] 2 bedrooms
*candles and holders, matches and batteries
*store cupboard ingredients
[STRIKE]*wellies for both my girls[/STRIKE] One pair bought, need second
*thick coat and waterproof coat for youngest
*fleece hat, gloves and scarves for all
[STRIKE]*thermal vests[/STRIKE] for all 1 pack each bought, need more
*slipper socks for all
*hi-vis jacket for youngest
*thick pyjamas for all
*dressing gown for me
*foil panels behind radiators
*flannellette sheets
*fleece blankets
*raw rice bags for girls infront of TV
*resock cold and flu preparations
[STRIKE]*3 hotwater bottles[/STRIKE]


Just bought 2x cheap cream curtains £10 a piece for bay window. Of course they're unlined but thought I would attach fleeces at £8 total.. still cheaper than the next quality curtains beginning at £25 a shot. i'm happy anyway.

My task today is store cupboard filling, cold and flu preps and meal plans, freezer batch planning.

My list still feels vast and i'm beginning to worry I still have so much to do BUT we survived here last winter without any prep so i'll reign it in

mardatha

We've got a really hot sunny day here at last - but far too midgey to go outside. OH is out cutting grass because they never bite him. (alien blood lol). One thing I would say is NEVER EVER buy coal from a garage, its double the price . Get a coalman !

NualaBuala

It looks set to be a beautiful warm sunny day here. So I hope to finish cutting the grass later. It had got really long because it had been too damp for my poor hand mower. That's one good thing about winter - no need to cut the grass!

jcr16

i used to love the coalman coming when i was little, meant winter was on it's way. mum and dads aga was solid fuel. and if you bought the coal in august it was alot cheaper. they had a brick built shed by side of house and the coal man used to fill it right up and dad had build this sort of wood slide thing that acted as a barried in the door frame. and as the coal got used they could remove some wood and eventually towards end of season the wood barried was gone and you could use a shoval to fill up the coal scuttle. your could also buy different types of coal. some were almost perfect coal shape and very little dust/soot on them, but others were all un even and were covered in a dust and made such a mess. That was the type i liked at 6 yr's old, lol. was good for drawing pictures on the patio in.Although not sure my mum always agreeed. ha ha.

csarina

notjustlaura wrote: »

I'm really impressed! I've been knitting for years but haven't attempted socks yet.

Using the two needle method they are quite easy, much easier than on 4 needles, I got the pattern from Linda's Craftique.

mardatha

JCR, my dad was a miner, and I thought all coal was free up until I got married ! LOL

csarina

Its a lovely sunny day here in East Lothian too, although it was chilly first thing.

No sitting out for me today, I sat out for an hour yesterdy afternoon knitting, OH counted 30 bites on me last night and more came up during the night, damn midges.........

Almost finished another sock, when this pair is done I have to tackle the 4 needle ones!!!

Confuzzled

i figured out a way to make our bedroom windows even snugger than last year, and nicer to look at (last year i simply tucked a fleece over the top of the curtain rail but it kept coming down!)

i have this cover like thing that was given to me with matching curtains (they were given away a long time ago). it's not duvet cover but it looks like a small one, i think maybe it was meant to be folded and laid across the end of the bed as a sort of bedroom dressing thing.

anyway it's quite dark and the back is a black lining so nice and dark the way i like it. i was already trying to come up with a solution for the wee ones room it's both very cold in winter even with the radiator up full blast AND there is a streetlight that shines in. the bed cover thing isn't big enough for her window but it is for mine so i combined two ideas i'd mulled over to solve both of our problems!

i have a large dark green wool blanket, not too heavy but very warm. i'm going to cut it into a piece that is big enough to fit the width of her large window. this will be slid inside an old duvet or sheet (need to dig in the cupboards to see what i have spare) and i will sew on the brass curtain hooks i just ordered from ebay for a mere 1.50 delivered (for 50, seemed a good deal to me).

i don't have a sewing machine so header tape is out but these can be sewn on by hand, they won't look amazing but it looked worse last year so this will be an improvement and will make it easier to open and close the curtains than it was last year.

for my room i will most likely be left with a long thing strip so i'll cut that in to, do a quick few stitches to join it in the middle then slip that inside the dark bed cover thingy i mentioned before. again i'll sew on the curtain hooks and voila, two new pairs of thermal curtains that are nice and dark too!

they won't look amazing but nothing matches in my house and i couldn't give a care less, i sleep and change clothes in my room and it's a rented flat so i don't like the decor anyway :rotfl: at least i'll be warm!