What Preps are you doing this week? Part 8.

[Yorkshire Andy]

Politeness and respect always wins the day. Please let us know how you get on.

It was disappointing - a half-baked apology and apparently the council is worried because they've had a string of tenants who have left the garden in a bad state when they leave, incurring costs for the council. How that's my problem I don't know! I was quite cross for a bit and I haven't responded, because I don't think I could be polite this time. Plus it's a waste of my time and energy: I have decided instead to think ahead. I won't be renewing the lease when it comes round, so I need to plan for another move. Also I'm getting some health issues looked at and that's far more important than a squabble with an arsey parish council.

In other news I think my beetroot have failed rather badly (all leaf, no root), but I'll have some nice, if quite weeny carrots.

Just need so e cuttings of this plant just before you leave

Although I think it's probably illegal to cultivate and plant

Might as well be a pita to them .. any patches of damp / mould / minor building issues ...


Know round here after a year of the great flu shut down the council have been on top form know a few locals that have had the council round complaining about anything and everything from overgrown front hedges to unkept gardens ... They've gone wild on the allotments area wide too sending out snotty letters for anything from uncultivated areas to storage of a small Halfords trailer that the guy uses to collect manure with and take waste to the tip ... He's put it in his allotment shed I help him lift it in nothing we could see in the rules about trailers.. there's no caravans but that's understandable

[Yorkshire Andy]

Got a couple more cheap usb powered AA / AAA chargers should run ok off my usb solar panels / car charger / power banks nothing fancy and a slow charge but another way of charging batteries never go amiss in this house especially when the kids toys are involved....

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/154456869381 ... olid=10001

It adds to the 12v / 240v fast chargers I've already got was looking at the stand alone solar chargers but they were a lot of money and just looked cheap and flimsy ..


Other prep was to get a can of deicer out the shed to lob back in the car tomorrow morning chance of frost tonight if the wind drops.....

Had a wardrobe sort tonight think I'm good for thermals got about 8 full sets

New tyre ordered for the part worn I got slung on mid summer when I got a none repairable puncture in the summer I needed to stay Mobile (by part worn it was one of my old tyres with about 4mm on it I saved when I put a full set of all season tyres on so I know it's history it's Down to about 3mm now and it's noticeable in wet weather how people run them to 1.6mm is beyond me but it was better that than a budget as that's all I could get in my size late on a Saturday afternoon... Guy slapped it on for the cost of a puncture repair...)

Always happens with new / nearly new tyres doesn't it

This weekend the winter car kit will be sorted and the foam in car extinguisher swapped out for dry powder (foam freezes)

[jansman]

Got a couple more cheap usb powered AA / AAA chargers should run ok off my usb solar panels / car charger / power banks nothing fancy and a slow charge but another way of charging batteries never go amiss in this house especially when the kids toys are involved....

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/154456869381 ... olid=10001

It adds to the 12v / 240v fast chargers I've already got was looking at the stand alone solar chargers but they were a lot of money and just looked cheap and flimsy ..


Other prep was to get a can of deicer out the shed to lob back in the car tomorrow morning chance of frost tonight if the wind drops.....

Screenshot_20211020-223314.png


Had a wardrobe sort tonight think I'm good for thermals got about 8 full sets

New tyre ordered for the part worn I got slung on mid summer when I got a none repairable puncture in the summer I needed to stay Mobile (by part worn it was one of my old tyres with about 4mm on it I saved when I put a full set of all season tyres on so I know it's history it's Down to about 3mm now and it's noticeable in wet weather how people run them to 1.6mm is beyond me but it was better that than a budget as that's all I could get in my size late on a Saturday afternoon... Guy slapped it on for the cost of a puncture repair...)

Always happens with new / nearly new tyres doesn't it Screenshot_20211020-225320.png


This weekend the winter car kit will be sorted and the foam in car extinguisher swapped out for dry powder (foam freezes)

I put two new tyres on my car back in the Spring,and within two weeks,one got a nail in the sidewall and had to be replaced,and the other repaired!
I like the idea of those chargers being hooked up to a solar charger. What sort of panel do you use with those?

[Le Mouse]

Got my rear brakes done this morning. My service in August had said they would need replacing within 6 months, and I wanted them done before the worst of winter arrives. The health check afterwards suggests I need new front tires in the not too distant future. Might have to wait till after Christmas in the hope I get some money as a present.

I've discovered that this house takes an age to get warm if its cold outside, so I have a fleece blanket for sitting under on the sofa. I'll stick another one on the back of my work chair so I can sit under that at my desk. Winter duvet is coming out at the weekend and hot water bottles will be unearthed. I suspect that this place will be a freezer when it gets really cold in January / February.

[diamond lil]

That's miserable Mouse, I hope you get it as cosy as poss soon.

[Yorkshire Andy]

Got my rear brakes done this morning. My service in August had said they would need replacing within 6 months, and I wanted them done before the worst of winter arrives. The health check afterwards suggests I need new front tires in the not too distant future. Might have to wait till after Christmas in the hope I get some money as a present.

I've discovered that this house takes an age to get warm if its cold outside, so I have a fleece blanket for sitting under on the sofa. I'll stick another one on the back of my work chair so I can sit under that at my desk. Winter duvet is coming out at the weekend and hot water bottles will be unearthed. I suspect that this place will be a freezer when it gets really cold in January / February.

Just in time for the bad weather usually get it worse mid Jan / march...

Look into all seasons tyres, much more UK weather biased over the usual "summer" tyres ..

All seasons are usually a slightly softer silica compound and shaped to scoop water and slush away. Not as good as true winter tyres in snow but far better than summer rubber likewise not as crisp handling as a summer tyre on a hot road but not as bad as a winter tyre... Means you can keep mobile and have better stopping / setting off in bad weather.....

And more often than not they are similar priced to their equivalent normal summer tyres

Wife until recently was running maxxis ap3 all seasons.. sisters on continental all seasons.. and I'm on the Nexen 4 season offering. We live in a mixed small town / rural area ..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GlYEMH10Z4s&t=110s

The German adac (AA/RAC type firm) does regular independent tests if you open it in Google Chrome it automatically translates..

https://www.adac.de/rund-ums-fahrzeug/t ... resreifen/


As for Keeping warm you can get a electric heated blanket they really keep the chill off and are cheap to run compared to a fan heater. Don't know what you have already but hit the charity shops for some thicker curtains and a thick floor rug every little helps

If I keep the living room door / kitchen door shut (when the kids are in bed) a couple of candles really do seem to keep the chill off really need to do a test with a decent digital thermometer to see if it's all in my head .. but after a hour the "fireplace" is very warm so will be projecting some heat out...

[diamond lil]

Cockbridge - Tomintoul road this morning - early winter I think Better get a move on with winter preps!

[jennyjj01]

I've discovered that this house takes an age to get warm if its cold outside, so I have a fleece blanket for sitting under on the sofa. I'll stick another one on the back of my work chair so I can sit under that at my desk. Winter duvet is coming out at the weekend and hot water bottles will be unearthed. I suspect that this place will be a freezer when it gets really cold in January / February.

Hi LeMouse,
Time for a 'speriment:- Tomorrow, I'll be trying out the idea of an emergency tealight heater.
This guy on youtube Tries to debunk the idea, but his design was wrong and he debunked overlooking that without the plantpots, the heat from a tealight would convect uselessly to the ceiling.
Anyhow, plenty of designs.
I fancy this one.

but not this DANGEROUS one

[Medusa]

Ordered and received 12 bottles of de-icer just because it was cheaper to buy 12 on Amazon rather than from the supermarket and we can always hand them out at Christmas as Mother in law did a few years ago Put another PIR light up on the garage so that the drive now lights up and have a metal panel ordered for between us and next door to close the gap so that people (milkman, postman, delivery people) will stop using it as a shortcut. We have been lucky enough in the last few weeks to have been offered lots of wood FOC so have been doing lots of collecting and chopping to top up the wood stores even more. It has been about 12 years since we had a really harsh winter here and think that this year will probably be the next. Emergency power banks will all be checked this weekend and charged as required as will re-chargeable light sources. We have also sighted rats in the vicinity and so traps have been set to get rid of the little blighters. My store room is in a bit of a sorry state at the moment and needs sorting, that is this weekends task.

[jennyjj01]

If it counts as a prep, I did a load of BIR curry batch cooking. Almost a whole freezer dedicated to prepared Indian restaurant meal components. Base gravy, precooked meats, assorted samosas, sheek and shami kebabs, some blanched okra. etc. etc. Should save us a fortune on take-aways. Also replenished some mason jars of herbs and spices, from local Asian supermarket.

Dehydrated a mass of beetroot.

Defrosted and inventoried the last of the garage freezers, which led to a rather weird evening meal.
I thought I'd found a portion of leftover minced beef and onion, so I mashed up some spuds and made a shepherd's pie. Hmmmmf!

I've never had a Seitan Chicken Dopioza Shepherd's pie before!!!

The re-heated seitan dopiaza was ok, if a bit spongy. Didn't really work with mashed spuds.