Severe Winter Weather: ESSENTIAL PREPARATIONS, TRAVEL ADVICE, DRIVING TIPS & CLOSURES

Colser

Whispered wrote: »

Oh and while I'm asking questions, how do you deal with feeding the different sizes. The bigger ones here are scaring the little ones off. Currently have the toddler on "crow duty" but union rules say he will need a break soon.

Have asked my husband to get a bag of coal on his way home. He's gonna hate me

I asked for more coal and blocks to be bought today because we only got 2 of each at the weekend and you'd swear I asked for gold fecking nuggets...some people still in denial and think that we're mad..well I won't be sharing duvets or the hot water bottle so they can freeze..lol.

Whispered

[Deleted User] wrote: »

I honestly don't know - its a huge problem. The crows are very intelligent and seem to be able to figure out how to knock feeders down and take the top off! They mill all my food but the little ones are getting a bit braver and cleverer too.

Its a hierarchy..... its been going on all Winter and its fascinating to watch. I live near the coast so have seagulls, pigeons, magpies, crows, and all the lovely little ones too including a pair of robins. But its bloody costly at this stage!

We have a few groups that visit but I'm so attached to our three robins. Really hope they make it through this!

Chrongen

Whispered wrote: »

We have a few groups that visit but I'm so attached to our three robins. Really hope they make it through this!

If you leave food out for birds don't forget to wet the food/breadcrumbs.

Water is just as scarce as food for birds in cold weather.

JJJJNR

Bird's are eating wet crushed up complete dog food and they can't get enough.

snow_bunny

Whispered wrote: »

Oh and while I'm asking questions, how do you deal with feeding the different sizes. The bigger ones here are scaring the little ones off. Currently have the toddler on "crow duty" but union rules say he will need a break soon.

Have asked my husband to get a bag of coal on his way home. He's gonna hate me

I just put out another 'course' there myself, I find if you break up the nuts by crushing them (used a large bread board) and finely dice the apples or whatever, the smaller birds have a much better chance of getting their fair share. A lot of birds like Thrushs and Blackbirds like to feed on the ground and forage so I scatter it for them rather than using the feeders.

aidanodr

Just to say guys ... been out and about round cork city and surrounds today at clients etc. The general attitude for some bizarre reason amongst those i talk to re the up coming weather event is YEAH SURE. The amount of cynicism is unreal. ALL thinking this is just being built up out of proportion and many dont believe a word of it.

YET I was in and around a few Dunnes Stores, Tesco's and strangely they are all doing a brisk trade with many shelves empty. Also coal merchants are booming, my wife had to Q, which is not usual where she goes.

So my thought is in public people seem to be saying ah yeah sure, but at the same time stocking up big time. Whats that all about?? Why be like that? Why not take the warnings, prepare, and then just be actually delighted IF THE EVENT Doesnt happen or is not as bad as thought.

Its just pure cynisism and fck you jack me fein society we now have ..

Grandeeod

arsebiscuits82 wrote: »

flying out Friday myself for the weekend, first trip out of the country in nearly 4 years. The wife suggested it to me to head away for a weekend away from work/wife/kids as with no.3 on the way it will be my last chance for a while. She's been abroad a few times and basically kept telling me to book something so I booked it.

Just my f##king luck! Had to book a hotel on Dublin for Thursday night to ensure I get to Dublin at least. Hoping for the best, but more than likely i'll be back at home Friday evening.

Sickened

Think positive. Hope it works out for you.

david75

Stupid question but are sesame seeds any good for birds?
We have two big packets of them and wouldn’t want to put them out in case their harmful

tupenny

Most likely a dumb Q!!
But re. Feeding birds, has any1 any advice on how to do so without attracting mice / rats?
We always used to feed the birds til we had a mouse prob and were told to get rid of bird feeder.

Tzardine

tupenny wrote: »

Most likely a dumb Q!!
But re. Feeding birds, has any1 any advice on how to do so without attracting mice / rats?
We always used to feed the birds til we had a mouse prob and were told to get rid of bird feeder.

Bird feeders that have suction thingys so you can put them up high on window.

mobil 222

Whispered wrote: »

We have a few groups that visit but I'm so attached to our three robins. Really hope they make it through this!

Don't forget Robins are ground feeders.
I had a few robins,finches,two doves before Christmas now the garden is full of them.
Also be careful with feeders because any seed that falls out can attract rats and mice.
I set up a make shift feeder for the birds using a old table with 4 plastic sweet tins.I cut out an opening on each end and they fly in and out
Happy birds but expensive hobby.

blanch152

spookwoman wrote: »

Birds do need large amounts of saturated fats to replace the vast reserves of energy they use up, especially in winter, but soft fats like this are dangerous, because if clotted on feathers they can damage their insulating and waterproofing capacity.

Dont feed them plain bread, we usually break up bread and leave it soak in the weekend roasts pan.. A good way to make fat cakes is lard melted into a pan add any left over meat diced small, cat / dog food, bread broken up, crushed peanuts, seeds etc and put into a xmas pudding container and left to set. one of these lard masses will last about a day. Once they get a taste of it they will come back in their droves.

A big bag of fat balls from Dealz, only costs €2 will do the business.

Vxlks

Does anybody honestly think school in dublin will be cancelled? or is the 6cm on tuesday night not enough?

snow_bunny

david75 wrote: »

Stupid question but are sesame seeds any good for birds?
We have two big packets of them and wouldn’t want to put them out in case their harmful

Yes, they're fine, fair play to you.

However, the gang in my back garden have turned their noses up at them for some reason?!

Top picks seem to be:

Diced apple & pears
Mixed nuts
Porridge oats (dry)
Soaked dried fruit like raisins (should be soft and plump)
Brie rinds
some wet catfood
leftover sausages
Any leftover berries
Peanut butter smeared on all of the above

NinjaTruncs

Vxlks wrote: »

Does anybody honestly think school in dublin will be cancelled? or is the 6cm on tuesday night not enough?

Our school has emailed to say if there is a red warning they will be closed, so regardless of how the conditions play out if ME call a red warning schools will be closed.

Mrsweasley

Can anyone make a guess as to what time the East will be worst hit on Friday ? Have to travel M50 then M9. Many thanks is advance

shotgunmcos

JJJJNR wrote: »

Bird's are eating wet crushed up complete dog food and they can't get enough.

They will eat anything. Saw a half dozen crows at the queue in Supermacs earlier..

vistafinder

spookwoman wrote: »

Birds do need large amounts of saturated fats to replace the vast reserves of energy they use up, especially in winter, but soft fats like this are dangerous, because if clotted on feathers they can damage their insulating and waterproofing capacity.

Dont feed them plain bread, we usually break up bread and leave it soak in the weekend roasts pan.. A good way to make fat cakes is lard melted into a pan add any left over meat diced small, cat / dog food, bread broken up, crushed peanuts, seeds etc and put into a xmas pudding container and left to set. one of these lard masses will last about a day. Once they get a taste of it they will come back in their droves.

And bird feeders need to be cleaned regular + the area they are being fed from needs to be moved fairly often.

They dont eat from the same table in the wild.

mobil 222

Tzardine wrote: »

Bird feeders that have suction thingys so you can put them up high on window.

I had set up a fat ball container in the garden back in October.
It was placed about two foot off ground using blocks
I put two holes each side where they could fly in and out.
Everything was going great until one day I happen to look out the window and there was a rat doing his best to climb up and get in the hole.
He had succeeded to get as far as the hole but it was two small for him.

What I done since is described in a post above using chicken wire around ground level around the feeders

seamus

Vxlks wrote: »

Does anybody honestly think school in dublin will be cancelled? or is the 6cm on tuesday night not enough?

Probably won't be cancelled on Wednesday, but Eoghan Murphy said on the radio that a red warning automatically means schools close. And going by the charts, that seems likely for the East towards Thursday and Friday. Unlikely we'll see it upgraded until some time Wednesday though.

Calibos

ps200306 wrote: »

People battering each other out of the way for parking spots in Dunnes Stores Cornelscourt at midday today. Drove around for fifteen minutes, then gave up. The news has filtered through to the masses. Post count on boards snow threads hotted up too:

Family thought I was mad doing a big shop for 8 days of dinners yesterday morning. I told them that I wasn't doing it because I thought the snow would be too bad to walk the 5 minutes to Dunnes and Tesco. I was doing it because when Met Eireann upgraded the warnings to Orange today like I expected and everyone started taking this seriously, the shelves would be emptied of anything decent nevermind emptied of everything and deliveries of new stock would be slow due to the roads. Family will be fed in the manner they are accustomed to even through a potential Blizzard and there will be no Cornflakes for Dinner at the weekend in this house!

mobil 222

blanch152 wrote: »

A big bag of fat balls from Dealz, only costs €2 will do the business.

Homebase were doing 50 fatballs in a plastic container for 8 euro.

Grandeeod

seamus wrote: »

Probably won't be cancelled on Wednesday, but Eoghan Murphy said on the radio that a red warning automatically means schools close. And going by the charts, that seems likely for the East towards Thursday and Friday. Unlikely we'll see it upgraded until some time Wednesday though.

Got a text today from my daughters school saying they will close if a red alert is issued. Last December 10th there was a snowfall under a yellow alert in our area. The school did not open on Monday 11th or 12th until the snow had melted. Sometimes I really wonder.:rolleyes:

PukkaStukka

Bus Eireann and their contravtors will not school buses during Red warnings

aidanodr

Check and see if your car is Rear Wheel Drive - RWD ... eg BMW. Amazing how many people are not aware of this.

RWD is generally not great in ice and snow .. ??

Calibos

Don't brag to people that you have a 4WD if its on Summer Tires. A FWD Nissan Micra on All Seasons, Winter Tires or with SnowSocks will embarrass you!

gandalfio

What do people think the condition of the M50 will be like tomorrow at 5pm?

david75

gandalfio wrote: »

What do people think the condition of the M50 will be like tomorrow at 5pm?

Theresa mannioned out if it

mojesius

gandalfio wrote: »

What do people think the condition of the M50 will be like tomorrow at 5pm?

Sluggish, like a wet sponge.

Schwanz

gandalfio wrote: »

What do people think the condition of the M50 will be like tomorrow at 5pm?

Done it in 2010 - took me 4.5 hours to get from Coolock to Lucan.

my3cents

aidanodr wrote: »

Check and see if your car is Rear Wheel Drive ... eg BMW. Amazing how many people are not aware of this.

RWD is generally not great in ice and snow .. ??

Calibos wrote: »

Don't brag to people that you have a 4WD if its on Summer Tires. A FWD Nissan Micra on All Seasons, Winter Tires or with SnowSocks will embarrass you!

I had a woman stuck in a Nissan Patrol on our verge. She was trying to turn and missed our 15m wide drive by about 5m and ended up with the back end going down the 30 degree grass slope to next to our drive.

She called to the house to ask my help and didn't even know the vehicle had 4WD or how to engage it :eek: :rolleyes: I just put in 4WD and drove it straight off.

Anyway point of this is that if you have family that are driving a 4WD then make sure they know how to use some of the get out of jail features like the 4WD Also a good idea to let family know that you have all the gear in the car like shovel, blankets or whatever as no point them standing on the side of the road shivering leaving a boot load of useful stuff unused.

shamrock55

I'm due to fly from cork to Liverpool on sat morn,what are the chances of it being cancelled

irishfeen

For anyone who are worried about freezing pipes - especially service water pipes (from meter to your house)

For internal pipes/service pipe/meter box you would probably be safest to actually turn off your stopcock at night when you are finished with shower, washing machine etc and wrap the meter/stopcock with homemade insulation (something like old clothing) or attic insulation into the box itself... then run your taps and empty out the pipes completely.

In the morning go back out and remove the insulation and turn back on the stopcock - the councils water main will not freeze unless its extraordinarily cold because there will be water moving all night long, the problem for most people is the service pipe (from the box to your house) because most builders just threw them in not burring them deep enough. You can never guarantee it but this should work in the vast majority of cases.

spookwoman

blanch152 wrote: »

A big bag of fat balls from Dealz, only costs €2 will do the business.

They will do as well.
Remember to remove the plastic mesh on them little birds often get their feet and legs tangled in them.
The lard cakes are good if you have left overs. Our birds turned into cannibals this morning with the leftover roast chicken

iLikeWaffles

Danno wrote: »

Don't forget the bog-roll lads!

Or today's Herald. Just don't flush it and you'll be grand.

iLikeWaffles

Mrsweasley wrote: »

Can anyone make a guess as to what time the East will be worst hit on Friday ? Have to travel M50 then M9. Many thanks is advance

13:52.27

spookwoman

iLikeWaffles wrote: »

Or today's Herald. Just don't flush it and you'll be grand.

Or expose your ass to the elements and chip it off

iLikeWaffles

spookwoman wrote: »

Or expose your ass to the elements and chip it off

I will knot...

cnocbui

Deleted User wrote: »

apart from cannibalism do you realise how much duck fat costs??

sorry I am trying to feed a multitude - they will have to do with "stork"

I occasionally buy Duck breasts in Lidl. After I am done cooking those, there is so much Duck fat rendered I scarcely know what to do with it all. I keep it all and use it for cooking. When I run out, Duck reappears on the menu, for some reason. ;-)

Hydrogenated vegetable oils are not fit for human consumption.

Fuko200

Does anyone have any idea regarding flights to england?
Im due to fly to manchester early thursday morning and returning saturday and i cant get a refund on the hotel i booked.
Would the weather possibly stop the flight from happening or will i just monitor the airports newsfeed for any news?

Dev84

RichardoKhan wrote: »

Snowcoplyse hits Aldi Clonee. Milk and bread gone. All fresh salad gone. Veg not far behind. Slight fall of small flakes around 8.

Beer?

4068ac1elhodqr

http://winterready.ie

- pretty much covers all eventualities. The 52pg PDF winter booklet covers most snowmagedden events.
- for driving preparation: https://www.winterready.ie/en/guides/road-safety

goat2

snow_bunny wrote: »

Yes, they're fine, fair play to you.

However, the gang in my back garden have turned their noses up at them for some reason?!

Top picks seem to be:

Diced apple & pears
Mixed nuts
Porridge oats (dry)
Soaked dried fruit like raisins (should be soft and plump)
Brie rinds
some wet catfood
leftover sausages
Any leftover berries
Peanut butter smeared on all of the above

I ust bought a big bag of dogfood, do I have to wet the food before putting it out, and then will it freeze it if it is wet, but thanks for all the advice, plenty apples hanging round, and porridge oat also, great, love those little critters, they look in window as if to thank us for doing this

Spanish Eyes

For the birds.... dry porridge oats and grated cheese. That's all you need. Well some water too of course. I have never seen anything left TBH so they like it and it's easy.

Someone else will provide the fats and fruit, well that's my of looking at it anyway. I do my bit!

An Ri rua

goat2 wrote: »

I ust bought a big bag of dogfood, do I have to wet the food before putting it out, and then will it freeze it if it is wet, but thanks for all the advice, plenty apples hanging round, and porridge oat also, great, love those little critters, they look in window as if to thank us for doing this

Haha, yes the birds love that catfood ! Gocat kibble My blackbirds eat it dry Pinch it on the putty cats. Very satisfying to watch

Remember the birds folks

BorneTobyWilde

https://www.donedeal.ie/highchairs-for-sale/last-sliced-pan-in-ireland/18130330

https://www.donedeal.ie/kitchen-for-sale/fresh-pats-pan/18131951

guil

I say the same everytime there is an event but hoping for a surprise going to work in the morning. I'm going to kilcullen for about 4 and to blessington around 5am. Any chance of snow at that time do ye think?

JCX BXC

guil wrote: »

I say the same everytime there is an event but hoping for a surprise going to work in the morning. I'm going to kilcullen for about 4 and to blessington around 5am. Any chance of snow at that time do ye think?

I wouldn't think so.

iLikeWaffles

guil wrote: »

I say the same everytime there is an event but hoping for a surprise going to work in the morning. I'm going to kilcullen for about 4 and to blessington around 5am. Any chance of snow at that time do ye think?

no chance tomorrow at 2pm or there after most likely will start to sleet and turn into heavier showers of dry rain.

Mentioned in a group chat at work that if anyone had elderly neighbors to look in on them this week. All I got was jokes and replies like "it's -20 where I'm from so why are people worried". Tried to point out that an event on this scale on Ireland is rare and it's best to be prepared and just take 10 minutes to ensure that any older people living alone are looked in on, one lad said and this is a quote" doesn't Ireland have churches that you can send the homeless and old people to be looked after in". Genuinely disgusted by some of the comments, I'd rather look like some loon worrying and check in on people than pass it off. After storm Ophelia the same lad complained that work was closed and "only three people died" as in his "country, only pussies worry about the weather". Never wanted someone to be hit bad by this but I hope his pipes burst.