#surviving winter

[drafty-castle]

I don’t have cash to send you right now but I do have some “surviving the cold” advice after living in a 1800s house without insulation - in northern Maine - for 13 months san furnace.

• tape up plastic over the windows/doors to prevent drafts or heat exchange

- bubble wrap also works as insulation and allows light in through the windows

- a lot of draft comes from around windows/windows frames rather than the glass itself in modern windows whereas the draft in old windows comes from broken seals

• if you don’t mind holes in your walls, nailing rugs against exterior walls acts as extra insulation and works like medieval tapestries

• they make insulated door curtains that keep out the cool and keep in the warm while allowing you entry and exit off the door

• pick a “warm room” (preferably but not necessarily an interior/windowless room because that’s hard to come by) for the family to bundle together on bad days/nights. Have this room be extra insulated if possible.

• Add a winter tent to this room if you can. Plus blankets-blankets-blankets. They make tents for beds but they’re fairly expensive and mostly for darkening not for the cold. Hiking/mountain tents probably work best

• You can zip two, three, four, and even more sleeping bags together to make a frankin-bag to fit the whole family - sharing body heat is the best way to stay warm

• Heat rises, so putting the warm room upstairs (if you have one) is preferable.

• The drier and the oven give off heat when in use - cook and do laundry when the family is home to enjoy the heat (as a lover of all things slow cooker, this was hard for me)

Will this cut into your furnace funds? Yes, probably. But you won’t freeze in your own bed either.

Also, weird thing I noticed. My kitchen would get so cold everything froze downstairs - cat water, canned food, freezer food - so I’d just use the kitchen and pantry itself as a freezer during the winter and put things I didn’t want frozen (like milk and bread) in the fridge. That way no raccoons or bears could get to it and yet it stayed frozen. Don’t know if this will be applicable to you but I thought it was a slim silver lining to an otherwise miserable two winters.

I’m so sure this is happening to you.

Good luck. When I’ve got some extra cash I’ll try to help that way as well.

My Furnace Broke :(

Hi kids, it's your favorite storytelling chicken, and my Furnace has decided to die. It also decided to take the A/C unit out with it.

This is both very expensive to fix, and also kind of urgent: the more observant of you may have noticed that it is November, and getting onto winter here in the Rockies.

Look at this little man, huddling on my feet for warmth.

I have *some* emergency funds, but not enough to cover even a temporary fix, and that's also the fund that vet, medical, and car repair bills come out of, all of which I've had too much of this year.

I'm currently pitting four HVAC companies against each other to get the best offer possible, and getting the paperwork done for state subsidies, refunds and other discounts, but I still need your help.

Thank you all, everything you can do helps.

[free-shevacadoo]

And then one day you realize you've been mourning a love that you never actually had and you pick yourself up and you look around and you see the actual thing... Staring you in the face. The thing you thought someone else had for you.... That they repeatedly told you was yours. The thing that had dangled like a carrot just out of reach. That had you betraying yourself and falling for lies and making excuses for someone to hurt you and not care about you at all. That thing shines so bright in someone else's eyes for you, just for you and just for being you. You think back on what it cost you... Almost everything... From the wrong person. You realize, life is good again and that there is hope and you can't believe how fortunate you are just for being treated like you matter.

for Taylor.

[journiland]

9/21/2022

Hey, Me. Findest thy post on "Gardeny Things To Do In Winter, read it, and do.

You don't have to like it...do it anyway.

[sallyjadlow]

It's Spring!

Miracle of miracles, my bees made it through the terrible -20 degree temperatures this winter. They are busy gathering pollen and gearing up for warmer weather. Hopefully, this year I’ll be able to harvest some honey. I think I hear someone saying, “How did they survive such cold? Bees are so fascinating. When cold winter hits, they gather around their queen in a cluster. The warm bees move to…

[brunhielda]

Revlog to survive winter- might do the frozen veggie bit. I need more veggies in my life.

remember everyone. soup does not have to be hard to make. soup saves my ass at least three times a week. you don’t even need broth. and you can make it single serve. in like 15 minutes.

get some water put it in a pot. add a little bit of bullion or use broth if you have it. (one jar of bullion lasts me like months you don’t need a lot) add to that whatever the hell you want. soy sauce. oyster sauce. black vinegar. sesame oil. hoisin sauce. garlic powder. onion powder. salt and pepper. want it spicy? add chili flakes or oil or smoked paprika. literally whatever you have floating around in the cabinet or fridge will do. don’t forget! add something sweet (sugar honey maple syrup etc) to balance out the salt.

let it get hot. add in some vegetables. again, literally anything. whatever you got. can be frozen stuff. onions. corn. peas. edamame. broccoli. carrots. green beans. mushrooms. literally whatever. put in something with protein. tofu. meat of some sort.

wait until it boils. add some noodles. any kind of noodles. cook until the noodles are soft.

top with whatever you want. and there you have it. soup.

[a-very-cute-snake]

[thestarfishface]

“There is no platonic explanation for thi-“ Sprays u with water. Sprays u

[fluoritegalaxy]

Last time the power grid went out, people posted tips to stay warm:

Put everyone in one room, pets too, and put a tent with blankets in it if you have one. If you can, push mattresses up against the windows, or cover them with blankets.

It's about to hit us here in Oklahoma and the rest of the southern states that are not used to this level of cold.

Please take this seriously if you live somewhere this is going to impact significantly.

I just sincerely hope texas' power grid doesn't fail them again.

but at least a small blessing is that this isn't bringing much precipitation with it and the worst of it will be the wind.

Anyway. Stay inside, wear layers, and bundle up. Get your cold weather shit prepped now if you haven't yet.

[goljie]

davejohn in the summer (one is sweating, one isnt. you decide)

summer city date

[is-this-yuri]

help me move out of my tiny car and into a vehicle like this!

i'm disabled and homeless, and while i'm in the process of getting approved for disability, i need more safety and stability.

with a larger vehicle like these, i could have enough space to install a kitchen, bed, electricity, shower, etc, and essentially make a home out of it. if you've ever wanted to help house a homeless person, please consider donating to my fundraiser!

the goal is 10k, but vehicles like this sell for much cheaper! as soon as i can, i'll purchase a suitable vehicle and start the project immediately. i'll use whatever i don't spend buying the vehicle for maintenence it might need, the tools and materials i'll need to convert it, plus the legal stuff surrounding registration, first year of insurance, etc. anything still left after that will be used to just allow me to live longer and have a safety net while i get income.

this is something i've been dreaming of for a long time, and as the housing market gets crazier i've realized it's probably the only way i'll have a stable home. i've been researching this project for years and i'll have some helping hands, so your money will be used well to create a home for me.

we're on pace to get me into a van by the end of summer or early autumn, and i could finish the conversion before it starts snowing! this is way sooner than i ever expected. please consider donating, and/or boost this post to keep up the momentum!

GFM

$733/10k

[rharyx]

This is the current state of affairs, right?

[sharlaynyans]

hot take but i think hating any of the bg3 companions is weak pussy shit. all of them are beautifully crafted and written, they feel REAL and ALIVE!!! they're gonna have facets of themselves that aren't 100% agreeable, and that's what makes them loveable!!!!!

[stutterhug]

The Long cold dreaming

[sssaturnsnake]

smoke break

[luka-is-slightly-odd]

headcanon that sqh spent an inordinate amount of time writing headconons abt mbj which means that mbj is ABSURDLY good at the most unexpected things. He is an expert ballet dancer. he plays the pipe organ. his flower arrangements stun and awe. he cant cook for shit but man does he know how to make a margarita. he is god’s speciallest favourite little boy. he knits like a motherfucker and his passion for violin making is unmatched.

[crumb-crumblet-s-crumbington]

attempt to return to normalcy