Living it up by the sea

uralmaid

Thanks @Humboldt.  Yes the move went as ok as it could. Just felt very sad for him.  Nothing much to report this week. Hopefully going for a walk with a friend on Tuesday - just going to walk on the dunes just down the road from our house and up the shoreline a bit. Neither of us are up to walking too far.

  Been checking my outfits ready for July for the Steampunk weekend.  Got everything now. One will be a 1920's day look - not a flapper dress, with a cloche hat and fur wrap. The other is more a Victorian style with a top hat and goggles which are mandatory for a Steampunk look. Hopefully it will be lovely weather by July. 

 Have decided I need to replace my tumble dryer as my current one doesn't seem to be drying very well . Been using it a fair bit over the past few weeks due to the constant rain. Hubby is busy researching the best one to get. Not very MSE but needed. Hope you have a good week.

Humboldt

Hi @uralmaid sometimes a quiet week is just what we need.  I hope that you enjoy your walk and natter with a friend tomorrow. The outfits that you have put together for the Steampunk weekend sound amazing.  Surely the weather has got to have improved by July! Hope that you find a replacement tumble dryer.  

Savvy_Sue

Just to say on tumble driers, I have a condensing one - more expensive to buy, but supposedly cheaper to run. What I find is that there's no point putting it on anything but the longest 'dry' - it says it will take 3 hours but this quickly reduces to somewhere between 1 and 2 hours. However it never feels properly dry at that stage (and I don't iron), so then I empty the water and run it on longest 'dry' again: this once more says it will take 3 hours but it is usually well under an hour. And it feels dry! 

Neither of us is walking much atm. I went for a 6-miler, in my boots, which I don't wear very often. My ankles are so badly bruised I don't quite know what to do with myself, although they're improving slowly. I suspect I am pronating and need serious insoles, but it will be a long time before I try them again! And it will be a SHORT walk! 

The next day, we went to some free off-road e-scooter training - we're in one of the areas where they are testing hire machines. I did not get on at all well, and was just explaining to the instructor that honestly, this was not going to work, and I was quite happy dipping out while DH got on with it, when we realised he was no longer upright. Badly bruised, grazed and shaken, but we don't think anything is broken - he wouldn't go to A&E and he can still move everything, only it's all very slow and some movements are still painful. 

Our friends vary from "how very enterprising to try it!" to "what on earth were you thinking?"

uralmaid

@Savvy_Sue ouch. Sounds painful. Hope you and hubby both soon feel better.  My current tumble dryer is a condensing one.  However, looking on all the retailers sites the ones they are offering are mostly heat pump ones.  Of course this has given my husband the perfect opportunity to study Which magazine reviews and make copious lists which he loves to do.  I can see that the heat pump ones are much better in terms of how much they cost to run, but take a lot more time to dry stuff.  
I am going for a short walk with 2 friends and a dog this afternoon.  We are lucky to have the beach about 500 yards from where we live, so are going to walk on the nature reserve then back up the beach. Weather forecast is looking hopeful too - sunny and 16 degrees.

Phossy

@uralmaid @Savvy_Sue On condenser driers, if the drying rate has dropped off, it is worth opening up the condenser, removing it and give it a really good clean. Even if you diligently clean the filters there will be pass through and build-up over time which reduces the surface area on the condenser. If you don't have the manual, then You Tube will be your friend. Could save you buying a new Tumble drier.

bluenose1

Sitting on a sunbed in Kos at moment, thoroughly enjoying the sunshine and relaxation. Though would it be moaning if I said how windy it was and it is like being in a permanent wind tunnel.  .  
Re tumble  dryers we got  the cheapest Beko condensing one  from John  Lewis that we keep in garage. Been surprised how good it is, though dont use it much. Like your husband I always spend ages researching through Which etc.. 
Your Steampunk outfits sound fantastic.

uralmaid

@bluenose1 - have a brilliant time.  My current dryer is a Zanussi and is 8 years old so has done ok.  I think I have decided on a Samsung heat pump one but will decide this week at some point.  I did like a Miele one which is 3 times the price but excellent reviews but can't seem to find it for sale anywhere.  Only 2 days to go until the next Premium Bonds are revealed so everything crossed for that

Nebulous2

We do most of our drying with a mixture of solar and wind power - or outside. 

We do have a decent condensing dryer for special occasions, which was a cracking deal, somewhere around £70-80. I'm not sure if it was cheating or MSE.

We bought a house which had belonged to an old couple, and their family asked if they could leave some stuff behind. We agreed and said we would take anything we didn't want to the tip. It included a vented tumble dryer. A couple of years later we discovered it was one of the ones which was a fire hazard and was being replaced. We went to the website - entered the serial number and they agreed to swap it out. We could have had a vented one free, but for a contribution they were willing to upgrade it, and gave us a better one. 

Katiehound

I was going to suggest a firm in town that I felt sure would have Miele.
The joke is, not only do they not have Miele tumble dryers (they have other items) but there was a make I have never heard of: Asko @ £1899! (stainless steel. For sum like that I would want gold plated!!)

Savvy_Sue

Phossy said:

@uralmaid @Savvy_Sue On condenser driers, if the drying rate has dropped off, it is worth opening up the condenser, removing it and give it a really good clean. Even if you diligently clean the filters there will be pass through and build-up over time which reduces the surface area on the condenser. If you don't have the manual, then You Tube will be your friend. Could save you buying a new Tumble drier.

The drying rate has not dropped off, it has always been like this! And I am diligent about cleaning the filters, have not probed a lot further. 

I wonder if some people are happy to have their clothes not as dry as I like them. Obviously if I was ironing, then it wouldn't matter.