Preparing for Winter

ChocClare

nicki wrote: »

I'm not happy. I've just gone to put up my winter door curtains and they've shrunk :eek: They stank so I washed them before putting them away and must have put it on too high a temperature Fortunately the one for the backdoor still fit just but the others are a good 12" too short I can use them for other things though

How annoying! CAN you use them elsewhere? If you, for example, let down the hem completely, would that give you any leeway? I mean, let down the hem, stitch a piece of fabric a scant 1/4 inch from the bottom, turn this to the inside and press so your SEAM actually becomes the bottom of your curtain rather than being hemmed on the inside (not sure that's clear, but I know what I'm talking about).;) Failing that, could you open the curtains out flat, stitch a piece of fabric some 6-8 ins deep to the TOP over the curtain with eg beads or fringe attached so it looks like one of those self-pelmet-type things you get on posh curtains, and sew matching fabric to the bottom to make up your length, but then it looks like it was MEANT to be like that? If you've got enough length of new fabric bottom AND top it might look like a design feature...

purpleheather2810

Lots of curtains in shops like Next look like this. Might be worth a try.

missychrissy

nicki wrote: »

I'm not happy. I've just gone to put up my winter door curtains and they've shrunk :eek: They stank so I washed them before putting them away and must have put it on too high a temperature Fortunately the one for the backdoor still fit just but the others are a good 12" too short I can use them for other things though

Why not add a contrasting piece to the bottom?

pickle92

rhubarb and ginger jam.[/QUOTE]

Hi how do you make this, my gran would love it as a christmas present.:)

Annie56

Hi
On the recommendation of Sammy Kaye18 and Northwest Ive popped in here to have a mooch as Ive just moved into a one bed flat in an old Victorian house, I was too impressed by the lovley plaster cornices, high rooms and beautiful fireplace to think logically and the old doors and newly fitted kitchen and bathroom made me decide this was my new home.

NOW despite it bieng a lovley place I reckon it will cost a bomb to heat as it only has storage heaters and an electric towel rail in the bathroom, but its nicer than living with a moaning shouting ex husband anyday:rotfl:

So Ive jotted down some ideas to do and will read this thread from the begining but am deeply impressed with all the ideas I have read about especially the fleeces behind the curtains and even though my curtains have only just gone up there coming back down later and I will try some of the fleeces I saw in Asda yesterday plus they will make nice coloured linings for them.

Door curtains are a brill idea too, my new flats main kitchen door is the original wooden one, beautiful to look at but draughty, Im all for ventilatiom but not when my kneecaps start to shiver .

Any other ideas would be appreciated, I am all electric so when theres a power cut thats it total darkness, no phone Ive just realised when reading some of the above posts and no TV...Im nervous of using candles, do they do wind up torches? I know they do radios.

How long can a frozen food survive when the powers off?, as I am on a quite strict financial budget and will be relying heavily on my freezer to keep bargains in and batch cooking in etc but dont want to see it all go to waste due to power cuts.

This thread has been an eye opener, and Im a willing learner, many thanks to all that contribute, your ideas are excellent and make me sure I will survive my first winter of independance in my own place, though dont know why Im worrying Im sure Im made of stern stuff and will be ok
Thanks all...
Annie56

[Deleted User]

Have a good look at the internet site called raintoday. I actually paid to get the premium sub as it is so accurate eg it showed that it would rain yesterday at 10 am for about half an hour and it was absolutely correct. I dried my washing outside this morning because no rain was forecast. It is cheaper than the electricity for a tumble dryer in winter

We have been in our new eco house for 2 months now and am sitting here in short sleeves as the internal temperature seems to stay at 22-24. Outside it is tremendously windy and absolutely feels like autumn is coming quickly

I just ordered a camp stove and gas cannister as we are totally dependent on electricty, we generate about 50% of what we use but it all goes to the grid and we get it from the grid like everyone else. We have a wood pellet stove but that needs electricity to ignite and control it. I have no doubt that the house will stay warm just due to body heat and maybe a candle but we`ll need a hot drink if we have snow like last winter

Sunnyday

parsonswife8 wrote: »

It is lashing it down here in Kent and so windy too. OH has just hung a load of wet washing on the large clothes airer in the spare bedroom.
One of the pigeons is sick...it looks like paramyxovirus to us as it is showing all the symptoms of it.:eek:
It is sat outside, feathers all fluffed up, very lethargic and can't pick up seed properly. We are trying to keep it away from our tamer pigeon as I don't want that one to catch whatever this poor thing has.:(

Oh well, 20 seasons in a day here. Now the sun is shining.:D The poor bird has moved into the sunshine and is just sat there, as still as anything. I don't really know what to do to try and help it.:(

Have a read here http://www.defra.gov.uk/foodfarm/farmanimal/diseases/atoz/pigeons/

more info and apparently its notifiable too

SD

Confuzzled

ok here's a question about the storage heaters...

one would assume then that by controlling the amount of input you can regulate how much energy it uses to warm the house up... but is that true?

it seems obvious but storage heaters don't work the same way a thermostat does so it it more cost effective to leave it at the mentioned 75% input ALL the time or to vary that depending on how cold it is (ie the colder it is the higher the input)

i would be inclined to believe that would be the case but then since i've been here this long and asked many people and this is the first straight answer i've received thus far about the mysterious ways of teh storage heater i thought i should check... i'd like to keep it as tightly managed as possible as we are big consumers of electricity from our computers as i work from home and home educate my daughter. we need the heat obviously being home most of the time but the heat seems like an easier place to cut back on energy consumption than the computers as they ARE needed and i can't just put on an extra layer to save on that electricity

babyboysmommy

We have wind up lanterns & they are really good. One we bought from [EMAIL="Arg@s"]Arg@s[/EMAIL] & the other from The Range.

NualaBuala

Confuzzled, the instructions on the storage heaters I used to have said to turn up the input dial in very cold weather and turn it down when not so cold. I tended to leave it low and only turned it up during cold snaps.