If you lose your heat in the middle of the winter, it can be more than just an inconvenience—it can be a life-threatening event. Here’s how to stay warm.

To complete this How-To you will need:

Plastic wrap
Duct tape
Towels
Clothes
Blankets
Food
Water

Step 1: Shut doors and windows

Make sure all doors and windows are securely shut. If you have storm windows, make sure that both the interior and exterior windows are closed.

Step 2: Seal windows

Cover windows with clear plastic wrap and secure with duct tape. This will reduce heat loss through the windows while allowing sunlight to warm the interior of your home.

Tip: Before sealing windows, make sure that your home’s ventilation system is unblocked and that your carbon monoxide detector is working.

Step 3: Draft-proof your doors

Draft-proof doors by rolling up towels and lining them along the bottom of your doors.

Step 4: Dress in layers

Put on multiple layers of clothing. The extra clothing itself will provide warmth, and the air between the layers acts as an insulator.

Tip: Wool, flannel, and synthetics will keep you warmer than cotton or silk.

Step 5: Accessorize

Don’t forget hats and gloves. Your objective is to minimize the amount of exposed skin.

Step 6: Use blankets

Now wrap yourself in a few thick blankets.

Step 7: Eat and drink

Don’t forget to eat and drink. Your body needs fuel to produce heat, so stay well fed, and don’t skimp on the fats. Also, drink water, which will help your body process those calories.

Tip: Stay away from alcoholic and caffeinated beverages. Both will dehydrate you, making it harder for your body to generate heat.

Step 8: Stick together

If you’re in this with other people, stay in the same room, or huddle together, so that you can benefit from each other’s body heat.

Here is the video on Youtube:

This video was inspired by beautiful winter landscapes. The look evokes a snow eye with delicate snowflakes on the lashes. The snow flake design is optional, something fun, but the look is beautiful without it.

Here is the video on Youtube:

• Give your lawn a good raking.
• Apply a winterizing fertilizer to promote root growth during the winter months.
• If you have any perennials or plants that are going to come back in the spring, be sure to cut them back.
• Some plants may need to be protected by the cold weather. If you have tulip or rose bushes, for example, it’s a good idea to cover them with 2 or 3 inches of mulch, which will protect them from the colder winter weather.
• If you have tall roses (roses with a height of 6 to 12 inches), cover their tops with styrofoam caps and cover the rest of the plant with mulch. It may look a little dorky but it will ensure that your roses will come back in the spring.
• Pruning in the fall will help promote root growth.
• If you’re in a colder climate and are going to be using ice-melting products, avoid using products such as rock salt, which can be harmful to the vegetation. Choose instead a blend of melting agents such as potassium chloride and calcium chloride, which is milder and can cause less damage to your landscaping.

About the Author

Lou Manfredini is Ace Hardware’s “Helpful Hardware Man”.

January Home Maintenance Projects

These projects that are ideally undertaken in or around January:

1. Clean rain gutters. Leave and other debris will hamper drainage and may promote rusting and roof damage. Make sure that water flowing from down sprouts is draining away from the foundation.

2. Inspect crawl space after rain for water accumulation or excessive moisture, as well as indications of water damage on the sub floor and joists beneath bathooms, kitchen and laundry.

3. Compost the leaves

4. Look for signs of pest or dry rot damage. do not block perimeter wall vents to a crawl space in winter.

Also look over the projects suggested for November and December to ensure your house is well maintained, safe and sound.

Oh I know. In some parts of the country, this season is short, for others it’s looonnnggg and quite severe. We all have one thing in common: we need to take precautions to save money and protect from potential harm and disasters in this cooler season, so we can enjoy all the fun parts of Fall and Winter.

How to Winterize Your Home

Here are 7 tips for (little) winterizing projects for us all that my local real estate agent, Sam McCall, alerted me to:

1. Seal cracks and gaps around doors and windows with caulking and weather strips. Those little drafts can add to an unwanted hefty 10% to our heating bills !! A priority project for some…
2. We all know the gutters and down sprouts need cleaning when they fill with leaves. Again, this is a good preventative project to do as it prevents water from seeping into our homes ~ Which would be much more work to take care of, and it would cost more money…
3. Fire safety: inspect your furnace and replace or clean dirty filters.
4. Another fire safety tip: test that smoke alarm and replace the batteries if necessary. Some of us are blessed with a carbon monoxide detector, so check that one also if that is the case.
5. Just before it really gets cold, it’s time to drain our outdoor hoses, faucets and sprinklers. This prevents bursting pipes.
   
6. Consider this: you may want to invest in a programmable thermostat to vary the temperatures in your home at various times of the day/night. If you program it right, you can really safe a lot of money on heating while you’re sleeping or away from the house, and you can be nice and warm while you’re awake.
7. Now, if you really want to be ‘good’, drain the gas from your lawn mower to prevent costly service problems next summer.

OK. And when we’ve done all this, let’s bring in the hot chocolates!

‘Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!’

p.s. Don’t forget to also winterize your vacation home. This might mean a special, last trip to that wonderful place… Bring the hot chocolate and cookies along!

To take the sting out of the overwhelming arrangements for a grande family Thanksgiving get together, I’ve come up with a fool-proof plan for a successful Thanksgiving dinner. My plan is to ensure there is fun in the entire process for all, but particularly for me, who’s doing all the prep and the this and the that. The secret is: start early! That is: start NOw!

My Traditional Thanksgiving Dinner – Planning Schedule

First week of November
I flip some magazines at the checkout stand to get some visuals, I browse through my favorite cookbooks for recipes & ideas, and I research recipes online. Then, I choose my menu. Weeks ahead. These days I love picking an upscale restaurant and I try to choose the entire meal (nibbles and all) from their recipe books.

Determine how many people will be coming to your Thanksgiving dinner party. The closer you can get to the exact number, the better. It is a good idea to call and confirm regulars, but also if new girl friends will come along, and that sort of thing.

Make a shopping list right away and keep it in your wallet so you can pick non-perishable items up, during your regular shopping routine. Particularly if you need specialty items from those ‘at the other side of town’-kinda places. Cross off what you have bought. Store your Thanksgiving dinner items in a special (marked) section in your pantry, so that everyone knows it’s ‘hands off’ and so that you can easily find them when the day comes.

Second week of November
Now is the time to order, if you want to have a fresh one.
Talking about ordering, I have a huge garden which I like to bring inside in the festive season. However, some of my friends want fresh flower arrangements for Thanksgiving. If that’s you, order your floral centerpiece and other arrangements now so that there is no panic at the florist later.

Third & fourth weeks of November
Buy your frozen turkey. If you leave it till the last minute, you may find that they are all the wrong weight (too small, too large). Also, you typically need about 3-4 days to thaw the turkey in the fridge. Give yourself the good part of a week, and you’re fine.

One week before Thanksgiving
Buy the remainder of the non-perishable items on your list, and a bread for the turkey stuffing. Cube the bread and dry on a baking sheet. If you are baking pies and pastries, now is the time to prepare the dough for your desert and other recipes, and keep them ready in the freezer.

Three – four days before Thanksgiving
Put your defrosting frozen turkey towards the back (i.e. the coldest) part of your fridge. Prepare your cranberry sauce and store in the fridge to let the flavors set.
Prepare your entire table setting. Get your nice cloth table cloths and napkins washed, ironed and ready.

The day before Thanksgiving
Pick up your floral arrangements or ensure they are delivered. Do all your fresh food grocery shopping: a fresh turkey (if ordered, or perhaps at the market), fresh breads, diary, seafood, etc.

Given the size of your turkey and the nature of your recipe, now is the time to work out the exact time required for the turkey to cook in the oven. Allow an additional 30 minutes at the end. Calculate backwards from the time you would like to have dinner, and determine the time the turkey needs to go in the oven.

Defrost your pie dough, prepare and bake your pies.
It’s finally time to prepare the stuffing (omitting any raw eggs till the very last minute). Make stock for the gravy from the giblets that come with the bird.
Wash and prepare all vegetable and other side dishes, so that it is very easy to either reheat of finish them off tomorrow.
Pre-peeled potatoes won’t turn black if you refrigerate them in cold water.

Thanksgiving day – early morning
Set the table for the dinner and chill your white wine.
Take the turkey from the fridge to bring it to room temperature (which may take 2 hours).

Thanksgiving day – late morning
Just before you will put the turkey in the oven, complete your stuffing recipe and stuff the bird.
When you are doing the stuffing, preheat the oven.

Put the turkey in the over and bast it every 30 minutes.

Thanksgiving day – early afternoon
Do more prep work, such as boiling the potatoes and mashing them. You can heat them up just before dinner time. Grind the coffee, and set the coffee maker. Do not make the coffee until just before serving.
Prepare garnishes for all your separate dishes.

Thanksgiving day – late afternoon
Remove the turkey from the oven when it has an internal temperature of 180 degrees. About 30 minutes before your calculated time for the turkey to be ready, start checking the internal temperature at the thickest part of the turkey, which is the thigh. If it is not yet done, check back every 15 minutes.

When you remove the turkey from the oven, it needs to rest for about 30 minutes. Use this half hour to round up the gathering to start getting ready for dinner and move to the table. Get a helper for serving. Instruct someone else to pour the drinks. Make the gravy and complete all your vegetable and other side dishes. Garnish and serve.

Happy Thanksgiving Dinner!

Your outdoor plants have worked hard for you all summer, making your yard a place you’re proud to call home. Properly winterizing your lawn and garden is an important step toward healthy soil, lush grass, and happy plants next year. Remember to take care of your outdoor accessories, including your lawn equipment, gardening tools, and all of your lawn and garden decor. A little time spent this autumn will make your gardening and landscaping efforts easier and more enjoyable next spring!

Let’s start with the easy jobs – First remember to store all of your lawn and garden decor including fragile planters, gazing balls, and your deck furniture. Unglazed terra cotta planters left filled with soil outside will often break in the freezing temperatures so it is best to clean them and place them in a storage area where they are protected from the elements.

Autumn is the time to find your birdfeeders and to start stocking your winter feeding pantry. Soon your many feathered friends will be flocking to your feeders for that nutritious morsel. Remember to keep your feeders full through the winter as the birds need reliable food sources through the winter months.

Now that you’ve done the easy tasks, let’s move on to the more mundane winterizing chores. Start by simply cleaning up the vegetable garden. After the first hard frost, remove the year’s annual plants and the dead vegetation. You can add this material to your compost pile, but make sure you’re not adding material from diseased or pest-infested plants. You’ll want to pull perennial weeds before you mulch your garden down for the winter.

The best part of fall landscape chores is planting the spring-blooming bulbs. Crocus, tulips, and daffodils are a beautiful addition to the early spring landscape.

In the yard there’s the major job of raking leaves. These are great either in the compost pile or as direct mulch on the garden. Perennial flowers may be smothered by a heavy layer of mulch, however. Also, wait to prune your trees until later in the winter.

After the ground freezes you can mulch your perennial flowers and newly planted trees. Certain shrubs will need to be wrapped in burlap to protect them from wind damage, sun scald, and other winter injury.

Moving on to the mechanical tasks of winterizing your lawn and garden – While you might try to procrastinate on these jobs until spring, you’ll be well rewarded for the maintenance you perform this fall. Drain the gas from your lawnmower and string trimmer. Actually it’s best to let your mowers and trimmers simply run out of fuel. If you don’t want to ‘waste’ that little bit of fuel, add a gas conditioner before the long winter. Be sure to follow directions. Also, take the same care with your gardening equipment such as your rotary tiller.

Clean all of your landscaping equipment before you store it away for the long, cold winter. Wash with soap and water, clean the air filter, and change the oil. You’ll find that first lawn mowing job in the spring a little bit easier if you take time to sharpen the blades now. You can protect that freshly sharpened blade by applying a little spray oil to the blades. You can also apply light spray oil to other moving parts such as cables and the throttle controls.

Lastly, drain all of the water from the garden hoses and turn off the taps. Be sure to store your insecticides, herbicides, and fertilizers in a safe storage area that will not freeze. Make sure these materials are kept away from children and pets!