Here the mountain caps have now turned and stayed white and the jays have returned from the forest so winter is on its way. So this last week we slipped into winter mode like most on here. Car first with the winter tyres put on and all the usual fluid checks done, winter bag and snow shovel, sand etc. in the back, also spare car battery checked and charged. Next up dismantled the rabbit watering system and reverted to single bottles then added their winter cage insulation. Goat benches moved inside and a good initial layering of straw down. All bird pens disinfected, DE sprinkled (on birds as well) and winter bedding down. Final hive checks completed and merged all the weak hives then put winter feed packs in them. All beds in the field cleared of weeds and turned over. Compost bins emptied, compost dug in, remaining stuff aired and returned to continue composting process. Lots of other small jobs along side these but as always you start one job and run straight into another!
So just an insight into our winter preps.
What Preps are you doing this week? Part 12
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Yorkshire Andy
- Posts: 9853
- Joined: Thu Oct 03, 2013 4:06 pm
Re: What Preps are you doing this week? Part 12
Cold weather usually upsets the tyre monitoring its that ruddy sensitive cold = pressure drop = beep and the idiot light coming on
If your roughing it, Your doing it wrong 
Lack of planning on your part doesn't make it an emergency on mine
Lack of planning on your part doesn't make it an emergency on mine
Re: What Preps are you doing this week? Part 12
Experimenting with central heating settings. No lodgers here now, so things are a bit different. I was planning on heating the house less, and using an electric rad in my room. But the prep room is cold and humidity is high, and I don't want mould. Using electric rads in two rooms would be more expensive than turning up the C/H, so I've done that. Getting the TRVs right is another thing. So I was pleased to find the rads in the two empty lodgers rooms were only luke warm when I checked them.
Re: What Preps are you doing this week? Part 12
Got my blind for back living room (the lower window Venetian). The blue Roman is either up or down - neither is ideal for if I'm away or out during the day. This Venetian I can just tweak with the wand to let a bit more or less light in and keep burglars from easily seeing in. Bit of a nightmare to fit - sticks to glass rock solid, so you have to get it right first time. Mine is a couple of mm high on the left at the bottom (you stick that down as well), but could have been worse. You can raise the slats up similar to a normal Vention, but I'll probably mostly leave it down.
This is a good option if you have curtains, although in that instance you can also use a normal venetian that covers the whole window - I have that in my bedroom.
This is a good option if you have curtains, although in that instance you can also use a normal venetian that covers the whole window - I have that in my bedroom.
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Last edited by Frnc on Tue Nov 18, 2025 3:06 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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diamond lil
- Posts: 10282
- Joined: Sat Nov 27, 2010 1:42 pm
- Location: Scotland.
Re: What Preps are you doing this week? Part 12
Hail here now.
Central heating is keeping my room nicely at 19.7-20.0, so not gonna mess with it. I need it to keep the relative humidity in the prep room reasonable. It's a cold room - no insulation above ceiling. Running one electric rad instead might be viable (ie in my room only), but not two. I did run the dehumidifier in there for 2 hours, and one hour in mine.
Central heating is keeping my room nicely at 19.7-20.0, so not gonna mess with it. I need it to keep the relative humidity in the prep room reasonable. It's a cold room - no insulation above ceiling. Running one electric rad instead might be viable (ie in my room only), but not two. I did run the dehumidifier in there for 2 hours, and one hour in mine.
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Yorkshire Andy
- Posts: 9853
- Joined: Thu Oct 03, 2013 4:06 pm
Re: What Preps are you doing this week? Part 12
Send it here
If your roughing it, Your doing it wrong
Lack of planning on your part doesn't make it an emergency on mine
Lack of planning on your part doesn't make it an emergency on mine
Re: What Preps are you doing this week? Part 12
Forecast for next 2 day here in Manc would be very cold, even in Jan/Feb, and it's not even winter for another month. Minus 4 on Thursday night. I'm not gonna worry about saving money on heat for a few days.
Chat GPT advised me not to have thermostat P2 lower than 17.5 anyway. I think the reason was the fabric of the house would cool, so I'd use a lot extra at the start of P3, like I do first thing in the morning. So I've got it on 18.5 for P1 and P2, and 18 for P2. Maybe I'll shave half a deg off after this cold spell.
Chat GPT advised me not to have thermostat P2 lower than 17.5 anyway. I think the reason was the fabric of the house would cool, so I'd use a lot extra at the start of P3, like I do first thing in the morning. So I've got it on 18.5 for P1 and P2, and 18 for P2. Maybe I'll shave half a deg off after this cold spell.
Re: What Preps are you doing this week? Part 12
Yikes! Here in the south, it's 2 degrees, "feels like -3" according to the Met Office. But definitely none of that white stuff
Stay warm, Lil!