Fwd: [thesimple_life] Get ready for Winter..BRRR...

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The Simple Life

 

Button up – for winter. We all dread the thought of winter, if only for the thought of heat bills. Money just going up the chimney is not anyone's idea of fun. I've heard people say they spend as much as 3-5 thousand (!) a year, just to heat their home. Yikes! But there are some very simple ways to save a few bucks.

 

Use a lit candle to check for drafts, or lightweight piece of paper, or even a dollar bill. Check near windows, doors, outlets – anywhere there might be a draft. When the candle or paper flickers, you have a leak.

 

Cover single paned windows with plastic kits, or buy a roll of plastic and make your own. These can be applied inside or outside. It's incredible how much a simple piece of plastic can save energy. If you have extra blankets, you can use them to cover windows, as well, especially when no one is home, or after dark. Friends of mine made panels of Styrofoam to cover windows. They used cheap but colorful fabric applied with spray adhesive to cover windows at night and during the day when no one is home.

 

Weather stripping will save much more than it's cost when used around windows or doors that don't seal tightly.

 

Look over the draft stoppers available at the store. I've seen them for a much as $10 each, but when you look them over, you can easily make one, even if you don't sew. And once you make them, you can use them for years. One model is a simple tube of fabric, about 5 inches across. Sewed down the middle, it becomes two tubes. Stuff with a piece of pipe insulation tube, and it slides under the door bottom to catch drafts. If you don't sew, use glue. Works just as well.

 

For a stairway you don't need to heat, hang a comforter, quilt or door to keep the heat where you want it.

 

Bedrooms do not need to be heated during the day when no one is home. Keep the doors closed and close the register. Turn down the heat during the day, and use an energy efficient heater in one main room during the evening. If you go away, you only need to keep the water pipes from freezing.

 

In the well pit, something as simple as a light bulb can keep the water from freezing on a cold winter night. Make sure you remember to plug in the heat tape! An ounce of prevention…

 

In the garden, deer and rabbits are fighting for survival. They don't know they are eating your prize rosebush! Go online, or check in a book to see what kind of plants they love to munch on in winter. Some of our yards are like a buffet table to those pesky critters. For young trees, cover stems with pipe insulation, burlap, tree tape, anything to keep small rodents from chewing the bark. This will kill a tree in no time. Protect the treetops by fastening with something resembling a pillow case, or again, burlap. If a deer can reach it, it's fair game for dinner. They do love to eat the tender branches of that young apple tree you just planted. Eating the top off the tree may not kill it, but it will certainly set it back.

 

There are lots of alternatives to protecting your garden. I never liked rose cones, because my roses are much too big for those small little cones. I never did figure out how you are supposed to fit a large rose bush in such a little cone. My friend protects his roses by making a tube of chicken fencing, and stuffing it with leaves for insulation. He has beautiful roses.

 

For incentive, plan how you would like to spend all that dough you save each winter. Many families are saving as much as a couple thousand.

 

There are even tax credits for energy saving woodstoves and pellets stoves, and insulation. So you are getting paid to save money! See what you can do to save a few $$$ this winter.

SIMPLE BREAD AND BUTTER PICKLES

 

2 cups cucumbers (I use the small pickling cucumbers. About 3 - will yield 2 cups, sliced.)

1 medium onion, sliced and rings separated

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup white vinegar

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp mustard seed

1/4 tsp celery seed

1/4 tsp turmeric

 

Mix all ingredients in a 2-quart casserole dish. Microwave on HIGH for 8 minutes. Stir twice during the cooking time. Let pickles cool, then put in containers with tight lid and refrigerate. (May add a tiny bit of cloves if you like that flavor)

 

These pickles will taste as good or better than the ones you buy in the grocery store.

 

Keeping it Simple,

Sheryl