winter prep

I agree craftyone it's very cold and damp today, I have my central heating thermostat turned up and I'm tempted to put my gas fire on this evening as well.
My central heating is all mains gas but many years ago I had a multi fuel stove that ran the central heating in a little cottage out in the wilds.
Good idea to check it out and get used to how it works before our "real" Winter though.
Glad your warm and cozy! ? So am i...?

Same! It's like October here.

Nine degrees here at two o’clock!

I was cold all day at work, couldn’t wait to get home and light the fire!

Now I am off to make my hot water bottle and go to bed

Goodnight

Great you've bought kiln dried logs, such great value for money. When you are ready to try your multi fuel stove you should find a 'handle' - if you are going to use coal in it the handle lifts the grate up at an angle, to give more airflow.

I thought I'd mix my order this year with a bag of kiln dried and a bag of hard/softwood unseasoned. The hard/softwood unseasoned was appalling and even had green moss on plus slugs, terrible waste of £60.00. Had to dot it all around the aga to try and dry it out a bit as just went black in the fire and didn't burn for an age.

Can't wait to only have one draught!

Most nights I am still turning the electric blanket on.

I have the gas central heating on most evenings and I would die of hypothermia if I did not take a hot water bottle to bed.
This is mid June, I am not sure what I will do in January!

Charleygirl5 If this year is anything to go by (remember all that lovely warm sunny weather in February and March?), by January we will be sweltering through a heat.

heatwave

That would be good! I am spending too much money on heating.

A better day today but certainly not flaming june, not sitting out with an ice cream weather. So I got busy these past few days, have been stocking up on fuel and baking. Drat, really these are autumn activities but that was what I was wanting to do. If we don`t get summer over the next 10 weeks or so then that will be it, the slippery slide to winter. No good having lovely weather in septenber, the children will be back at school looking pale and pasty

I'm not gloating but am amazed at the contrasts in British weather. The sun is out and it is quiet breezy but today I have driven to the supermarket wearing just a skirt T-shirt (plus undies ) sandals. My car gave the outside temp as 21c.
I haven't had the heating on since end of March begining of April.
I'm in Kent.

No heating on today but we have had for the last few days,
It doesn’t matter what month it is when the house feels chilly we put it on.

Sat in the park shivering this afternoon, whilst three grandchildren raced around saying they were boiling! Baby asleep in her pram, had a blanket over her, and some of the children’s disgarded hoodies!

Now I’m off for a hot bath

Mosaicwarts and Craftyone
You think that was tough.
This was my home for 5 years. Imagine getting the wood onboard.

Where is that Petra?

Sara65
Tollesbury in Essex.

Goodness! Looks freezing

Sara
Freezing but beautiful ?

lovely photo. I remember 6 months during a bad winter, in a very very tiny caravan, was pregnant and sick and me and husband coped, like you do when young. Not any more, give me warmth and cosiness on tap

Logs! mosaics you gave me a flashback, load after load of logs that refused to dry and an open fire that refused to draw, all those logs that were worse than useless. I still remember it. I had an aga once, anthracite and old but I used to get it fired up and make very many loaves. Nice ambient warmth, old cottage in the middle of no-where in n wales, not the best of days and I was only 25 with 2 small children and the water ran dry. Oh the ways we managed, when we were young. The hillside drips I collected in a bucket. I never take being cosy forgranted, fully deserve it in my later years

Petra, I promise I'll never complain again!

Steve's best friend Bernard was from Devon, his Dad was a master shipwright I believe. He lived on a boat in Little Venice and very sadly died in icy conditions - he was drunk and fell from the boat onto the ice and broke his neck. I think he was 49 when he died, so tragic.

Craftyone, sympathise with your bad logs from the past, since moving here I've discovered the 'blazer' you put over the fireplace to help it draw.. Mine was a big sheet of metal with a handle, like a shield. Disappeared a few years ago when I stopped burning coal. Such a mucky business, I hate doing our open coal fire and only do it when it's minus figures.

Our worst experience here was the snow of 2010. Icicles pulled all our gutters off, bulls were able to get out of their fields because the snow was so high, and the oil man wouldn't deliver to us because he thought he saw 'sharp metal' in the snow around our tank. It was actually the silver underlay you use with laminate flooring. I've never been as cold, someone the beast from the east wasn't as bad. I was probably in shock - five days of silence, completely alone here. Found out the fire wasn't performing because the chimney pointing had gone, athletic builder repaired it afterwards without scaffolding. Hope he didn't tell his family, I had to come in, was too dangerous for a cat really.

I made friends with someone on WAYUP and she had her own water supply which froze - I keep old lemonade bottles and always fill them in odd weather, just in case.

Really don't feel like cleaning but must start, I've just had a sandwich and it always makes me feel sleepy for some reason. Two more minutes on here .... !