It is that time of year again when it is getting cold outside and I want to just curl up in front of the TV and roaring fire with a mug of hot chocolate, or snuggle under the duvet with a cuddily toy monkey and a good book. I am Chuckles 'Bah, Humbug' Bear and I'll show you all how to be a hibernating beast like I am!
The truth is, I enjoy winter as long as I don't have to go out in the freezing cold! I hate crowded shops, Christmas music, trying to find a parking space, falling on my face on black ice (my paws have no grip and I have no sense of balance) and that terrible wet bear smell when your fur gets wet or damp. Yuck! I ensure that in the months before winter I stock up on everything I need to last our family through to about February/March next year. That means we only need to nip to the local shops for things like bread and milk and can avoid the shopping chaos!
SEPTEMBER
Week One-My dad was in for a handful of items in the supermarket so I picked up the cheap bottles of no frills salt-eight of them. This will be used for clearing the garden path in case of winter snowfall. I already have four left over from last winter so I'm ready to go in case the forecast of harsh winter weather is correct. Pity I don't have a House Elf to actually do the shovelling when the snow comes!
Week Two-Along with my normal shopping this week, I picked up the extra stock cubes that I'll need for my batches of winter soup. I grabbed six packets of chicken, four beef, four ham and two vegetable. This is added to my stock that I haven't used this year. I tend to make soup every three days for myself and my dad. I also picked up packet sauces with a use by date well past next year. This stocks me up on all my casserole sauces, bread sauce, cheese sauce, fish sauces, curry sauces that I'll need for all the meals I'll be making over the winter. I also bought a few extra bags of toilet rolls. A bear must have butt comfort y'know!
Week Three-Amazon ordering time! I got in a supply of AA, AAA and D batteries which we use in our clocks, MP3 players, and the lanterns I have set aside in case of unexpected power cuts so we have light. I also bought a couple of boxes of latex gloves, face masks and mob hats ready for any kind of flu outbreak or pandemic. Us bears are sensitive to germs and after getting a mild form of Aussie Flu earlier this year I'm taking no chances! I also bought a few bags of charcoal.
Week Four-Dug out my two camping stoves from storage and checked them. One is run on gas (the cannisters are well stored as bears can be pretty flammable) and the other burns wood, alcohol and charcoal. We have a tree right beside our property and a public park five minutes walk away plus a pile of wood in the garden. I bought charcoal last week too. This means we have two sources to make hot meals even in the case of a prolonged power cut.
OCTOBER
Week One-Aldi. I did my big shopping list of tins-tinned fruit, vegetables, pasta, fish, meat, soup, custard. This tops up the cupboard tin supplies I already have. I don't like vegetables but I do blend them into liquid form to use in the soups. I also bought tins of chicken and beef curry, minced beef and onion and chicken in white sauce (all great tasting on toast for a filling dinner!) I also topped up on jars-curry and pasta sauces, tuna pasta bake sauces and other stir in sauces, coffee, tea, hot chocolate and chicken bovril to ensure a variety of hot drinks for the discerning bear. Six full bags of messages for £70 is pretty good to fill a cupboard shelf or three! My cupboard is nearly full again!
Week Two-Checking the cleaning supplies. I have a second cupboard where I store cleaning products and I'm months ahead on soap powder and fabric softener, washing up liquid, air fresheners, furniture polish, shampoo, shower gel, cleaning products, dusters, cloths, scouring pads etc. I checked my tin inventory and I'm happy that I have everything. I also checked the bedroom cupboard to ensure my spare sleeping bags, furry blankets and warm weather clothes are easy to grab if required. I repaired a few rips in the sleeping bag in case it is needed and cleared space to store the water. I checked the first aid kits are full-one in the car, one in the kitchen, one in the bathroom and one in the living room. I also ordered extra bulbs for all the lamps we use, a few bags of candles and vitamin C crystals to boost the immune system. Got my flu jag at the doctor this week too.
Week Three-Aldi. This visit was about a stock of bottled water which you need the strength of a bear to bloody lift, a few more items of meat and fish to freeze for winter and collecting a couple of turkey and stuffing rolled joints for the festive period. This fills the freezer section nicely. Poundland was next. They have a great medical section so I bought a bit more paracetamol, ibuprofen, antiseptic cream, boxes of fabric plasters etc. I also got a few tubs of salted caramel muffins and double choc muffins to use later this winter. A bear has a sweet fang and the beast must be sated!
Week Four-ASDA. This week we'll be stocking up on my favourite cough bottle Covonia to ensure we have a few extra bottles as soon as a cough gets started. Us bears can't be too careful with our throats as it restricts our roaring ability. I'll also be starting to stock my dad's Diet Pepsi and my Barr's Limeade so we have plenty in the house. We also intend to recycle the tap water that we've been storing in the hall for a few months so that the supply is nice and fresh. The discarded water will be reused in the garden. I'll be doing a check to see if there is anything we've missed for food and drink. We will try to get the last of the painting done for this year but it depends on the weather.
NOVEMBER
Week One-Supermarket. Diet Pepsi and Limeade to be bought and Pot Noodles for my dad. Maybe more bottled water just in case we need it and maybe a few boxes of our favourite chocolates for winter treats! I love Roses, Dairy Box and Thorntons! I love Lindor but it is really pricey. Get in 4 bottles of Buck's Fizz (a family tradition!) a chocolate and maybe a cheese advent calander for me for fun, and my Terry's Chocolate Oranges! Visit the dump to get rid of the last of the rubbish for the year ie empty paint cans and bleach bottles. Go to the local shops to stock up on their noodles and those packet pasta things you just add hot water to.
Week Two-Charity Shop. Need to get rid of quite a few bags of unwanted books that I'm finished with. This will probably take more than one visit as I'm having a mass clearout this winter. This lets me get space back for phase two of the clearout which I'll be doing over December and January. I'm determined to get space back to get stuff off the floor. My dad and I plan to clear the hall and get it looking less like an atomic bomb went off.
Week Three-Order any remaining stuff I need from Amazon-the last of my book buying until mid January, and any other odd things I need for the house. The cleaning will focus on the mess my dad loves to leave in the living room so I have it nice and tidy for winter.
Week Four-Last Amazon packages will be arriving before the Black Friday chaos. I'll use one more supermarket trip to stock up the fridge and ensure it is full and ready to use. Any bits and pieces can be grabbed here like cheese, margerine and other stuff with shorter dates on them. The kitchen will get a deep clean just to make sure everything is nice and tidy and we're not living in a germfest hell hole. I'll be looking at videos of the Black Friday chaos online. Honestly it looks like the Running of the Bulls in Spain!
DECEMBER
Week One-Our repeat prescriptions will go in to the local pharmasist and be filled this week, which means we won't need anything else until next year. Start using up all the supplies in the fridge before their dates are up. Relax as the Christmas shoppers go mad at each other and get stressed out while we relax in our bear cave and watch films and TV!
Week Two-Continue with using stuff from fridge and freezer for meals. Continue to smugly sit indoors and watch TV in front of the fire as everyone else rushes around like nutters to buy in a few days of food! Doing nothing except the necessary housework needing done.
Week Three-Ensure we have two big jugs of milk which will get us ahead of the dumb panic buy of milk that seems to go on despite the local shops being open on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day morning and Boxing Day! Seriously why would you wait until Christmas Eve to start buying in your Christmas food???
Week Four-Around the 27th or 28th we'll buy more milk to last until New Year is over with. Maybe bread but we shouldn't need anything other than that. This bear hates New Year and sees no point to it so I'll be in my bed before midnight and hopefully will sleep through the stupid fireworks!
TOP BEAR TIPS
1-have at least one source of light that can safely be carried room to room in event of a power cut ie battery torches, oil lanterns, candles inside a glass cage etc
2-have at least one source of non gas/electrical cooking in case of power cut ie camping stove with bottled gas, wood burning stove etc
3-stock up on your cold remedies NOW so you don't need to go hoofing out in crap weather when you feel terrible
4-stock up on food and bottled water to do you through winter just in case you get a spell of bad weather or family illness to deal with
5-instead of electrical blankets, put a sleeping bag on top of your bottom bed sheet. Lying on top of a sleeping bag with a warm duvet on top keeps you cozy and if you go to the loo in the night, the sleeping bag retains your body heat so no cold bed to get back into!
6-stock up on batteries and other essentials
Have a Beary good festive season!
And here I thought I had done a good job of stocking up on stuff for the next couple of holiday months. You did amazing. My first aid kit is all stocked up too and I have two smaller ones with other things we might need. But we don't get snow here so we can still get around pretty easy and the market is right next door to where I live.
ReplyDeleteI'm always looking at being ready for anything that might come along. It would just take a week of power cuts here to throw some people into a panic!
DeleteIt's always good to stock up on the essentials. I love the way you've planned it out week by week. I woke up to snow on the ground here where I live. Not a lot, but enough to let me know winter is definitely on the way. Sigh. I just want to be like that bear and wrap up warm and stay home all winter reading. Oh, well. Maybe in my next life. :D
ReplyDeleteI like the security of knowing that anything I might need over the winter is at hand and ready for use. I hate having to rush out and get something I need! I plan winter like a military operation!
DeleteFlipping heck... That's crazy organised! I'm not a fan of food shopping so I tend to do it all online and get it delivered... Helps with trying to avoid the peopling.
ReplyDeleteP.S - Messages! The only time I hear food shopping referred to as the messages nowadays is when I'm talking to my mum! I always forget my Scottishisms living down here. I often tell people it's like I understand a language, fluently, but have lost the ability to speak it. :(
The problem we have is that Aldi and Morrisons don't do house delivery and I can't get everything I want in the supermarkets who do! If I could get delivery it would be much easier! Yep I always buy messages rather than groceries! *grins*
DeleteI love your tip to stock up on medicine before you get sick. I remember going to the store with a 103 fever on Christmas one year. I was so sick and nobody was around to get anything for me. I keep a variety of things in the house now since you never know.
ReplyDeleteYeah it's much easier to just go to the cupboard and get it rather than hoof out in the cold to the shops! I like knowing I'm pretty much ready for most things!
DeleteMan, you are the woman! I'm impressed with all you do and you've given me some things to think about. I guess because I have to work and there's no way I can stay in all the time, I don't do much to prepare. But I want to be a hibernating bear too!
ReplyDeleteI LOVE being a hibernating bear! I like seeing full cupboards of food, cleaning supplies, water and medicine! It makes me feel I'm ready for winter! Obviously my plan needs to be adapted to allow for work but it does leave winter weekends free if you shop in advance!
DeleteI just stocked up on cold and flu stuff but not much else. I'm so behind on everything! You sure are prepared!
ReplyDeleteI approach winter like a military invasion! Getting all the important stuff done while the weather is still good makes me happy. I detest shopping so being able to avoid it for 6-8 weeks while the mad shoppers are out makes me happy!
DeleteI need to restock emergency supplies once we move into the new house. We had always kept hurricane kits in FL but now we need earthquake kits and some weather gear. We don't get a lot of snow here in WA but we live on a hill so there maybe the occasional ice or power outages due to wind.
ReplyDeleteKaren @ For What It's worth
Urgh starting all over again will be hard especially with winter slithering closer already. I really hope you get into the house very soon so you can feel you have a home again and really get settled!
DeleteYES: "3-stock up on your cold remedies NOW so you don't need to go hoofing out in crap weather when you feel terrible." I get teased for how many medicines and such I stock. But there's really nothing worse than heading out to buy meds when you're sick!!
ReplyDeleteIt's just as well I did! My dad has had to get stuck into a cough bottle and throat drops already!
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