Staying warm this winter 2022

[Mortblanc]

You say it is going to be a bad winter. Cold, storms, ice, cold fronts? I think I heard that last year, and the one before, and the one before that.

And yes, it will get cold, there will be storms, ice and bitter winds, it is called winter. And if the grid goes down there will be people without enough sense to put on a nice thick jumper and some good socks. They will stand in front of a TV camera in a track suit and trainers with no socks and whine about their misery.

And no, they are not here on the forum. They never were and they never will be. We come here to preach to the monks in the monastery, passing information among the 5 of us about how to avoid the pollutions of the outside world.

SS do you have a good dog? I hear they are a good deterrent to them that nose around other peoples homes.

I am hearing from some German and Austrian friends that people are being arrested for roaming about picking up windfall wood in the forests and parks. Being charged with trespass and theft.

People are installing wood stoves in spite of some EU ban on such devices in urban areas and they are locking down their pile of sticks to prevent theft.

Firewood theft is a serious problem in some areas. Less so where I am, but I have dealt with it in the past.

We had a rash of situations where some fool in a pickup truck would back up to a wood pile while the homeowner was at work and nick his stove-wood!

Not as much a problem when you are retired and hang about the house most of the time.

Last time I bought wood it was $35 US per rick. It is three times that now, not due to lack of wood, just increase in labor cost and fuel.

My supply is low this year, due to me never needing it and the pile going rotten with time. I don't care and I am not worried. I have a thick fence row, you would call it a hedge I suppose, that needs cleaning out. There is easily a winter of heat in that thicket, I'll march out the back door and down the hill to collect it if the need arises. I now find it best to preserve the wood by keeping it alive until needed rather than stacking it by the door to rot.

And yes, the internet is filled with "how-to" articles about emergency heating, blackout situations and how to heat your home with a candle and a flower pot.

There are also some serious "how to" articles about constructing wood burners from salvaged materials and setting up your living space to use them. Some are pretty good designs.

Over here things are not as intense looking as GB and Europe in general. We are still pumping our own natural gas and heating oil and pushing it through the pipelines as always.

Blackouts are always an issue to deal with but that is the case every year. It's winter, things break. Happens every year and every year the media acts like it is a new thing.