Preparing for Winter

mardatha

OOOOOh SammyKaye I like that !! I will get the husband or sons to do that !! yaaaay TY. My daughter makes candles ! LOL I was thinking of going outside the back door to make a wee fire inside old bricks--nobody overlooks us--but the husband went mental LOL

zarazara

LOL mardatha

mardatha

Ok, we have done it and it works. On the draining board, on an old oven shelf sat on top of ten tealights. It took 30 mins to boil a big 4 pint kettle...which is ok as you can go away and do summat else until it boils.
So now its official--SAMMY_KAYE IS AWESOME ! lol

ceridwen

sammy_kaye18 wrote: »

mardatha - can you not make a candle stove for boiliing water?? it would save then and is fairly cheap to make and run as you only need tea lights!

http://www.bioenergylists.org/en/bollmtt

see if you were to get a large tin say the big baked beans industrial tin (ask in mr t cafe mayeb if they have an empty one) and a small wire rack or square of wire then put a few tea lights int eh bottom - you need to poke a few holes in teh bottom f the tin to allow good air flow but then light the candles, put the wire over the top, put small pot or kettle on top and leave it - it will eventualyl heat your kettle or saucepan. Not sure how hot it would get but if its relatively near the candles im guessing it could boil it nicely, which is maybe a cheaper alternative to using the electric kettle all the time

Hmmmmm....now wondering about whether its possible to make one of these with one of those large biscuit tins with the rack from my grillpan over the top? Whaddya think? (I'm not going to try getting the oven shelves out of my new cooker - duh! shoulda checked the ease - or otherwise! - of getting them in/out BEFORE I bought it...and woulda found they're a right hassle to do!:cool: ). Think that could work - 7 tealights inside the tin, rack on top, saucepan with lid on on top of that? Save the thought of freezing my butt off outside experimenting with the Kelly kettle/storm kettle I have yet to find the nerve to unwrap and have a go with:o

I'll mention this on this thread as well as the "not using electric" one - people might like to take a look at the 12 August entries on the following blog:

http://sharonastyk.com/

mardatha

Ceridwen I thought of that too but then the kettle is too far above the flames, it needs to be close to the heat. Maybe a very shallow biscuit tin ...but it works fine just with the tealights plonked on the sink drainer, and the grill thingy sat on two spars of wood to make it the right height. Too low and the flames go out--too high and yull wait forever for it to boil !

sammy_kaye18

mardatha wrote: »

Ok, we have done it and it works. On the draining board, on an old oven shelf sat on top of ten tealights. It took 30 mins to boil a big 4 pint kettle...which is ok as you can go away and do summat else until it boils.
So now its official--SAMMY_KAYE IS AWESOME ! lol

thank you very much

mrsbaker_2

slm6002 wrote: »

In our lounge and bedroom we have really long curtains that cover our radiators. Am i being silly or would it make more sense to cut them shorter so the come to windowsil so that the heat doesnt escape - although think my OH might think i have gone barmey

Mine are like yours , In the winter we lift them up and sit them on the window sil, It makes a lot of difference.

carriebradshaw

sammy_kaye18 wrote: »

mardatha - can you not make a candle stove for boiliing water?? it would save then and is fairly cheap to make and run as you only need tea lights!

http://www.bioenergylists.org/en/bollmtt

that's agreat link thanks Sammy it's such a simple idea but brilliant.:D I would have a go at that if I wasn't lighting the fire in the Winter & could source a cheap supply of tealights,wonder how many you'd get through in a day?

Gigervamp

Ikea do bags of 100 tealights cheaply.

SmileyS_2

Just wondering,I have bought new curtains for my bedroom but they aren't lined.Can I cut the lining form my old curtains and attach to new ones without much effort? I REALLY can not sew to save my life and wondered if there was an 'idiot proof' other way of doing it?
Thanks ss