Preparing for Winter

sammy_kaye18

Agreed - well done Annie Isn't it nice when you get something for nothing.

Have decided to try and tackle one section of my preparation list at a time now so I can get things done. Having a bit of a saga at the minute with money issues but that's another story so doing this asap and as cheaply as possible is a must.

winter preperations (house)

rug for living room floor (currently laminate) found a nice rug for £34 in Argos but its lovely and thick and will last for ages but will keep looking as I have access to a B&M store too and I know they sell rugs too.

fleeces for sofas ---- DONE found 3 chocolate brown ones hidden under bed - cant even remember when I brought them but sofa is cream with a brown edge so they'll go nicely. Also in the process found a turquoise blue and a bright pink one which I have given to my mum, she has the blue one and my sister who has just moved in with her now has the pink one (sister having money issues and best thing was for her to move home to mum again with her 4 year old daughter)

new curtain rail holders (ours stick out a foot from the window so big
gap means lots of breezes!)

new longer curtains (ours dont quite touch window sill) my sister found some old heavy long red velvet curtains that my nan had in her bay window so shes sending me those for my big window in my living room that's single glazed and bloody freezing in winter so they will go there. Then spoke to my mum and she said she had the same set of curtains and did I want them for my second window (I have a huge window then a smaller more normal window) so I said yes and the excess will hang down the back of the sofa

line other curtains with old fleeces Went through my airing cupboard and found some old curtains I must of brought last winter - 3 sets in a weird minty green colour but they will do to line other curtains with.

emergency box made

stock up on candles/matches etc realised I have a gas cooker with an electric spark so will get a gas lighter thingy and then can use that to light candles at so just need candles now. Boyfriend did use to make them as a hobby but specialised in giant candles with 4+ wicks so will see if i can sweet talk him into making me some big scented ones

board games/jigsaws incase of power cuts/mudslides

so am getting there slowly.

midnightraven3

i use a lot of candles
mainly tealights as you can get safe containers to use them in very cheaply and have them wherever you want them

best place to get them, very cheaply, and they last 8hrs+
is either a chinese or indian wholesalers
they are open to the public (no card etc required)
they use them in the table warmers in restaurants, they dont want to keep changing & relighting them during the course of the evening sitting, so they are taller than normal and last longer, and of course cheap
(same places are always mega cheap for spices too, and cooking utensils & pans)

i get a bag of 50 of these for 99p
and they do last the 8 hours

mardatha

Muffin man - get down to the second hand shops and start trawling ! tons of cheap winter woolies and coats in there

Winged_one

I have my oil burner with a tealight in it most evenings in winter, and I often light a few more candles too. I have 4 clear glass tealight holders that I got in Habitat years ago, and another few from Ikea which were 50c each I think last year. I Never put tealights or candles down on sufaces directly - the candles have small holders to keep them off the proper surfaces in case of damage.

And I keep the leftover wax too, and melt down for other candles. Between the ends of pillar candles, and the bits from nightlights, you can get a decent amount of wax reasonably easily. And depending on the sources, the result can have intersting colours too (or you could add some dye to make them different colours yourself).

Winged_one

Sorry, I forgot to add that there was a DISTINCT chill in the air yesterday evening - we all retreated from the garden at about 6 (everyone was in shorts as the weather was sunny for a change) and we ate around the dining table after all (neighbours were in for an "end of summer" glass of wine and nibbles).

This morning, the car was 9.5 degrees when we came out - and it felt it! It had warmed up to 11 degrees when I got to town though and it looks like being a nice day today.

NualaBuala

Ok, autumn is definitely here this morning! It is chilly and I am really cold despite being tucked under 2 fleece rugs. I hope it will warm up later.

So my preparations:

• Fill buckets with coal and store till needed
• Break up the garden prunings in the garage into small bits that can be used as kindling
• Make HM firelighters with old candle wax, toilet roll tubes and shredded bills
• Make a draught excluder for the sitting room door with old pyjama bottoms.
• Start stocking up non-perishable food - will have separate list for this
• Order YakTrax from Ebay
• Knit some fingerless gloves/wristwarmer type things for when I'm on the computer
• Wash poncho I made last winter for around the house
• Get central heating sorted (it works, but needs something done to it)

missychrissy

ginnyknit wrote: »

I put a night light in a tin in the shed to keep the chill off the guinea pigs in the depth of winter and I always freeze them first as it makes candles last longer. I melt all the leftover bits of wax in a tin over a pan of water and make new rough candles out of it. Wick is very cheap and they are simple to make.

Where do you buy your wicks from? I have been saving left over wax for a while now but not sure of the best place to buy wicks.

mardatha

Yes Ginny pet. I suppose if you freeze the guineapigs first then the candles would last longer cos the GPs wouldnt need them

ginnyknit

:rotfl:If you saw our geriartic guinea pigs you would think they were best off frozen. Our animals live so long even the vet is puzzled. Course they do live in the lap of luxury ie candle lit winter evenings :rotfl:

Its a bit cold in Manchester today, I have a feeling we are in for another long winter. Thank goodness we are all planning for it unlike the rest of the Uk trying to stretch out their summer. Think its nearly hot water bottle weather. How is it in Scotland Mardatha?

determined_new_ms

Hello everyone :wave: so yesterday I was ill with a stomach bug. While laying on the sofa feeling sorry for myself & extremely bored I made some lists in prep for winter. These are the things I will be doing/have started:

1. dry clean coat
2. purchase coats for myself oh & dd (I have a winter coat but it wasn't sufficient for the really cold weather last winter :eek:)
3. purchase winter PJ's (me)
4. purchase thermal long johns oh (currently watching on ebay )
5. I have started a xmas food savings fund (any surplus I can eeek out of monthly budget is going in there. So far £20 )
6. heal & sole boots x2
7. purchase winter slippers me & dd
8. hat, gloves (me, dd & oh) scarfs (dd & oh I have at least 1 million, just need to find where I "stored" them )
9. winter tights x 4 (me)
10. get lining for lounge curtains
11. bleed radiators
12. get landlord to come & resolve pressure on boiler as it drops constantly
13. thermal socks for all
14. make a draft excluder for lounge
15. look into winter tyres
16. get a portable heater
17. make curtain for over front door
18. get some sealant for around front door to reduce draft
19. make emergency box for car (last year I was trapped in the snow for 4 hours, no heating in car as it broke, dress inappropriately for the weather, mobile battery dying :eek:. I never want to experieice the horror of that again!)

ok can someone please advise me re the heater? Earlier this year someone posted a link for a heater that was efficient & only costs 1p per min to use. I clicked on the link the other day and now its no longer valid would really appreciate this as we live in a big house but don't use all of it & the heating system isn't really efficient. Thanks! x