Animals at the change of years

It's almost december 31 with the turmoil on the streets and the fireworks.

Are you aware that many animals are terribly afraid those hours?

It helps to have a meeting with the people in the neighbourhood to see if there could be a central place to ignite the fireworks.
Those who live near that place and have animals in the house could consider bringing them elsewhere or leaving for that time.

What do you do with your animals?

When snow on the roof melts

After such an intense time of snow higher temperatures generate their own features of winter.
The snow on the roofs melts, but when the high temperatures are only for a very short while, the water freezes again.
A layer of ice is created that way. Ice under the snow.
It doesn't stick as well to the roof as ice and the result is that the whole lot comes down.

Be careful!

A draft in the house?

Right now we're entering the coldest night of the year. Minus 15 celcius is announced.
You have to keep the warnth in the house as well as possible and ventilate at regular times, for those with lungproblems preferably with the heating on.

To prevent warmth from leaking out of your house, and even more to prevent a cold draft, make a round at a cold night like this and just feel the cold air coming into your house.

Keyopenings of locks, beside doors, but also woodwork around windows can be nasty.
Have you ever considered controlling the place where the antenna enters your room?

Ofcourse I would love to hear the most drafty places of your house.

Snow and by car?

Know the laws of the country you're in.
You can get high fines when you don't have winterties on your car in Germany. The Dutch dont mind.

When bad weather is expected it's announced on the radio. So know on which radiostation it's broadcasted.

Check if your car has got the legal stuff available and put in what might come in handy: like a battery lamp (check the batteries), an emergency sign, a first aid box. Don't forget food and clean water.

Throw a few sleepingbags in the back.

And luxuries, like a book.

Snow and train

We're dealing with lots of snow here, so it won't be bad to share some advice for those who travel by train.

Always take your phone with you, so you can call.
Take enough money to stay in a hotel. Why wait at drafty stations for hours when you can be warm and safe in a hotel nearby.
When the trains come to a stop you can claim your money back.

Take a warm cardigan with you, enough food, with for instance chocolate. Some drinks. And warm socks.

Bonnets

In the old days women and men had a sleep bonnet (or how do you call it?).
Not only were they used to keep the lice away.. or near the head. LOL!

They also provided warmth in the drafty houses and beds.

Now people get olders and the winters seem to be colder the night bonnet might start a new life.

People loose a lot of warmth through the head and it's wise to wear a bonnet not to get too cold.

Do you wear something on your head in winter when you go to sleep?
Or do you wear bedsocks?

Drying clothes outside in the winter

No, I don't use a dryer to dry the clothes of my large family. Not even in winter.

I use the clothes to get the right humidity in the house. You know that the heating causes low humidity, so drying clothes will act against it. Your clothes need to be rinsed well, and to do so I put them an extra time through the rinsing part of the laundry program.

When I dry the clothes outside I put half a cup of salt in the last rinsing water.
That prevents the clothes from freezing.
My gram taught this to me a long long time ago.

Clean boots and shoes

The salt used to remove the snow and ice from the roads is not good for your shoes and boots.
When your footwear dries ugly white circles stay.

There's an easy way to get rid of them.

Pour a bit of vinegar in a cup and put water on it.

Take a cloth and use the solution to rub off the circles.

Don't put your shoes and boots near the heating, but put them at a place where the air goes by. Let them dry there.

Good luck!

A little extra warmth

We got stuck with the train in the snow and when we finally were brought back to a large station all shops were closed and all we could get was coffee or tea.
And the coffee was bad.... It was terrible.

Those who wanted tea got hot water and at that moment I craved for soup.
If I only has one of those one cup bags for soup.

So my tip for today is: always have a few of those packages in your pocket.
They hardly take any place and with hot water they are perfect under all circumstances.

Ice roads

We've had lots of snow this week, and we're starting to get used to the slippery roads.
But mash of snow is different from roads made into mirrors by ice rain.

And ice rain is expected.

To be able to walk a bit safely on your shoes you need a trick or two.

My grandmother used to binds old socks around her shoes, but nowadays we have better things.

A clasp of a sodacan, taped under your shoe can make a huge difference. But it can also damage the sole of your shoe.

More convenient is the bag, the plastic maze, of the unions ans certain oranges.
Take a string and get it through the mazes that are not under your shoe, pull the string and fix it. Ready.

Animals and snow

Well, the tile should have been different.
Cats and dogs can deal with snow if they have to.
The problem lies in the salt on the roads and pavements to prevent humans from slipping and falling.

Many animals lack proper protection against the salt.
It hurts them and some animals even refuse to go any further and lie down to prevent their feet from touching the ground.

You can buy little boots, or make them yourself.
Or just don't leave the house beyond the snowarea.

As soon as the animal comes home rinse their feet with luke warm water to get rid of the salt.

The cold and the paper

It could have been a title of a short story: the cold and the paper.
But it's just a tip so you can keep warm on your motor or bicycle.

It's a very old tip, my grandfather used it, my dad, and even I.

When it's very cold and you need to go outside through that freezing winterstorm you should dress properly.

Good underwear, layers of clothes, like a T-shirt, sweater and cardigan and a coat.

But you can protect yourself even better with a paper.

Put it between cardigan and coat, all over the front area, and then close the coat.

It works perfect!

Winter salt

Now it's time to buy winter salt. You know, the salt you use on your driveway when it's slipery?

You need low quality salt. Often the shops where they sell farm equipment can sell you this salt for a very low prize.

When you keep it outside your house, you need to make a box which allows no rain or other moisture to come in.

Mix the salt with sand before storing. In case moisture gets in, you can still use it. And it also works against sliding when the temparature is too low to work.