Inconvenient Annoyances

I asked my husband to try and find applesauce yesterday, and everything had multiple types of sugar added! I think I am done with the UK food system. Or I need to start shopping at waitrose. He brought me "British apples" (not even a specific variety!) to make some in the instant pot today.

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Margo, I make applesauce and apple butter on a regular basis.  This is the best recipe I've come accross for apple butter (following). It is tart and intensely "apple" flavor so a little goes a long way. I modified the recipe, and only use muscavado sugar (instead of the brown sugar) and no white sugar at all in it. You might be able to even drop the sugar entirely, or add a substitute after it's cooked if you think it's too tart. It's really amazing on toast. Best part is, you don't even peel the apples. It just all goes into the crock pot and cooks forever. And then gets blended and strained before use.

https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/268029/chef-johns-apple-butter/

Only just got back from working in London. I’m exhausted, have a headache, and am so past hungry I’m not even hangry. I know he did the morning dog walk but sometimes I wish my husband would think about a situation and choose to be a bit thoughtful in a situation and do the night dog walk for me (and even ask me to do both tomorrow) so I we can just sit down and eat before 8 (as he’s not started dinner yet - the person who does morning walk also does dinner I’m not expecting him to do it all).

I know I’ve done it for him and made dinner when he’s worked late and I was home because it makes it easier for us both. I don’t expect it to be one sided

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Guys... Our stupid boiler is broken and we've had no heating since last night. Boiler/plumber guy came today and told us the boiler was emitting carbon monoxide. We don't have a carbon monoxide detector so God know how long we've been breathing that in. Decided on a combi boiler, as currently we have the old system with the huge hot water sistern in the attic and airing cupboard. ONE WEEK UNTIL IT'S INSTALLED. We're going to freeze. I need to go to Argos and buy all the fan heaters. This is a nightmare. Thankfully we do have an electric shower.

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Oh no exr0se I hope argos isn't too far away! Amazon Prime next day delivery is also wonderful for things like that.

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Oh no exr0se I hope argos isn't too far away! Amazon Prime next day delivery is also wonderful for things like that.

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Argos is closeish, but checked amazon and they were cheaper! Didn't think of that one so thanks!

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Guys... Our stupid boiler is broken and we've had no heating since last night. Boiler/plumber guy came today and told us the boiler was emitting carbon monoxide. We don't have a carbon monoxide detector so God know how long we've been breathing that in. Decided on a combi boiler, as currently we have the old system with the huge hot water sistern in the attic and airing cupboard. ONE WEEK UNTIL IT'S INSTALLED. We're going to freeze. I need to go to Argos and buy all the fan heaters. This is a nightmare. Thankfully we do have an electric shower.

We haven't had a boiler for two years... electric shower, kettle for the kitchen, two fan heaters (one in the lounge, one in the utili-kitchen), a portable convection heater and a far-infrared heating panel in the bedroom (we didn't want fan heat in the bedroom because of noise).  The far-infrared panel is new this year.  We don't plan to replace the boiler. 

For your emergency situation, I recommend these fairly inexpensive fan heaters.  I've brought mine out to the workshop and back countless times last winter, I use it nearly every waking hour in cool/cold weather, and it has never let me down.  Nearing two years of use.  We turn them off at night, then I turn them on when I get up in the morning, and the house is cozy before long.  I can even pad about without my slippers by lunchtime.

£29.99 at Argos: https://www.argos.co.uk/product/4152590

Guys... Our stupid boiler is broken and we've had no heating since last night. Boiler/plumber guy came today and told us the boiler was emitting carbon monoxide. We don't have a carbon monoxide detector so God know how long we've been breathing that in. Decided on a combi boiler, as currently we have the old system with the huge hot water sistern in the attic and airing cupboard. ONE WEEK UNTIL IT'S INSTALLED. We're going to freeze. I need to go to Argos and buy all the fan heaters. This is a nightmare. Thankfully we do have an electric shower.

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OMG! This is a nightmare! You are so lucky though that you appear to not have carbon monoxide poisoning. Glad you caught that before any weirdness started happening. Combi boiler is obviously price-y and a lengthier process, but it is so worth it in the end. Can you see if you can pick up heaters second hand on gumtree or on a facebook car boot page?? Might just save you money.

I use a space heater in the kitchen and I thought they are expensive to run? My electricity bill is high enough but what I find is as soon as I start cooking, the kitchen gets warm anyway so I only have to run it for a few minutes.


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We don't have a carbon monoxide detector

Please pick one up when you're buying your heater.

They save lives. 

Definitely picking up a carbon monoxide detector. It's scary to think that was happening! I've ordered through amazon a couple of fan heaters and are arriving today. I'm sure they're expensive to run but we have no other option until Thursday I'm hoping to "make the money back" with the combi boiler. That thing is expensive enough, and so close to Christmas. We're going to struggle a bit! Poor but warm

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Definitely picking up a carbon monoxide detector. It's scary to think that was happening! I've ordered through amazon a couple of fan heaters and are arriving today. I'm sure they're expensive to run but we have no other option until Thursday I'm hoping to "make the money back" with the combi boiler. That thing is expensive enough, and so close to Christmas. We're going to struggle a bit! Poor but warm

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We were faced with potentially having to put in a new boiler...We've been dodging that for as long as humanly possible because it's definitely not cheap. Needed...but not cheap as you said hahah

We haven't had a boiler for two years... electric shower, kettle for the kitchen, two fan heaters (one in the lounge, one in the utili-kitchen), a portable convection heater and a far-infrared heating panel in the bedroom (we didn't want fan heat in the bedroom because of noise).  The far-infrared panel is new this year.  We don't plan to replace the boiler. 

First time I've heard of someone not having a boiler! I'm interested in finding out about the far infrared heating panel. I'm going to Google.
How are the electricity cost compared to what you paid when you had the boiler?

£29.99 at Argos: https://www.argos.co.uk/product/4152590

Will definitely take a look at this one! We just bought two cheap ones from Amazon so if those are crap I'll replace them.

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We were faced with potentially having to put in a new boiler...We've been dodging that for as long as humanly possible because it's definitely not cheap. Needed...but not cheap as you said hahah

Keep pushing it as much as you can (as long as it's safe of course)! Definitely recommend getting the serviced often-ish. We moved in here 4 years ago and didn't service once. Completely our fault. Perhaps the issue would've been found earlier.

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First time I've heard of someone not having a boiler! I'm interested in finding out about the far infrared heating panel. I'm going to Google.
How are the electricity cost compared to what you paid when you had the boiler?

I can't compare, because we had oil at the old house and the house was so drafty we only turned on the water heater for about a half-hour before we wanted to shower, and we used the heat for an hour or two in the evening.  Our last winter there was so mild (and I was so cheap, and acclimated to the UK climate by then) that we barely used any oil.  Earlier winters, we used £500 over one winter.

Googling the far-infrared heaters was a bit like reading too-good-to-be-true "scientific" claims.  They have very bad marketing.  But now that we bought one on eBay to try it out, we're really impressed by the technology.  They're really thin (about an inch thick) and can be flush mounted to the wall or ceiling.  Ours isn't on a thermostat, but they can work with one so once it's powered you just set a temperature and it'll come on and off just like any thermostat-controlled heat.  And the heat is like sitting in a sun beam, but without the light.  It's just a gentle basking kind of warmth.  No fan blowing air and dust around, no noise.  And it's not as hot to the touch as a radiator.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infrared_heater#Far-infrared

This is the brand we have:  https://www.herschel-infrared.co.uk/  We bought ours as a shop display one on a steep discount, and we're still a long way away from being ready to put in permanent heating, but our plan is to have one mounted to the bedroom ceiling, and two panels on the ceiling of the lounge/dining room.  I'm not sure about the kitchen... it's a small space, and we'll be cooking in there.  Plus, it's open to the lounge/dining area, so if we keep the house a nice ambient temperature, the kitchen shouldn't be able to get too cold.  We're also going to have a wood-burning stove in the fireplace, for aesthetics, and in case of power disruption, since our heating will be electric.  Right now, if we lose electricity, we're pretty much screwed.

In the states I had several of the SUNHEAT infrared heaters......absolutely awesome! Reasonable to run and heated everything in a three bedroom house. Big claims about their product......and every single one true. I even bought one for my mom. Wonder if I can get one here?.... hmmmmmm


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