really old style living?

ceridwen

Okays - I'll give ya' that - LETS, Freecycle, and personally Mardatha it aint sweeties in my case from online shopping - but I expect Amazon will be sending me a personal Christmas card at this rate if I buy any more books from them:o:D

zarazara

I think e should all behave like some big disaster has already happened. Pretend theres no money,it doesnt work anymore. Trade and barter for stuff,and be really self sufficient. Could be fun. Keep a diary. See if it works.

seasalt_2

Ceridwen, books and cloth/thread are my weaknesses (and chocolate). When I first moved here I filled the car with books and sewing stuff and my mother cried(!) and kept trying to put in useful things like loo rolls and pots and pans instead.

zarazara, I like that idea but would probably fall at first hurdle - DS has school dinners fo a start and is not going to give them up willingly - they give him MEAT!

Kiwisaver_2

ceridwen wrote: »

Come on now gang - task for the day is find some other "ladders" to point out to ceridwen on a downer. The snakes are so plentiful - more people, more countryside being built on, cuts to various bits of pension income, threats to dole (if required), G.M. food, irradiated food, our ruined Seas... Come on gals...help me out here and think of some "positives" that have happened over the last 25 years...theres gotta be some somewheres....errr...hasnt there?

There are lots of positives, it's just sometimes hard to spot them when you are living among them everyday. Five years ago, I changed my life somewhat radically and moved to t'other side of the world. I live in a beautiful country which would suit people such as yourself and others on this thread down to a tee, those who aspire to a simpler life, more of a make do and mend culture, self-sufficiency, outdoors lifestyle, heaps of space and a very low population. We have absolutely no GM foods, no nuclear power and no snakes.

But guess what? It ultimately comes at a cost and it ain't all a bed of roses, there's still plenty to complain about when it comes to the Government, with waiting lists in the hospitals no better than the NHS, higher taxes, the ever increasing cost of power which just increased again due to some Emissions trading scheme that I will never understand. Our food prices are stupidly high due to lack of local competition, despite the fact that we provide one third of the world's dairy produce we pay the same international market rates.

Often when I hear the term 'Rip-off Britain' I can only laugh to myself because it's mental to me and I so miss the availability of the cheap goods and more so the choice that we had in the UK. How is it possible that we (NZ) as a country can be exporting our food half way around the world and it costs less in the UK shops than what we can buy it for here. Go figure, our wine, lamb and Anchor Butter is cheaper in Tescos and Sainsbury's than anywhere I could possibly buy it here.

We have a very low wage economy, because outside of the main cities most employment is at minimum wage levels in agriculture and tourism and there simply aren't enough people to pay the taxes, thus we pay tax on every cent earned and VAT on absolutely everything we buy, and to add insult we still have to pay to see a doctor.

Sometimes (myself included) we just don't know how good some things really are until they're gone. There is of course no perfect place and we do the best with what we have, make the most, or move on. I moved on, but at the end of the day I will most vehemently maintain it's not for everyone and ultimately it's just the same carp in a different bucket. I won't ever 'diss' Britain because it's not until you live elsewhere that you realise it wasn't really so bad afterall. :rotfl:

Thanks Mardatha for the toilet link, made me laugh when it said it wouldn't smell. My own experience of 'long-drops' has never been good and you generally need a bloomin good constitution and a good set of lungs to come out of one without choking and tears in your eyes.

ceridwen

Hi Kiwisaver

I've read about both aspects of New Zealand - good and bad. The good does sound nice...and I am planning on having a holiday there one of these days to take a look at your lovely scenery. I wont be able to come until I retire - as its going to take weeks to get there and back - as I dont travel by plane anymore, so will have to get there and back by ship (no hardship to me - I LIKE travelling by ship:D).

Some of it DOES look gorgeous...

mardatha

We get a lot of Kiwis here in summer, doing the sheep shearing, and some on 6 month farming courses. They say bits of NZ are very like here. Maybe one day things will change KS, and you will be able to keep more of your own produce. (Probly not though...probly China will pay a fortune for it and you'll end up working harder but still on min wage !)
How about gardens - can you grow a lot of your own veg etc?

Kiwisaver_2

Yep, I don't think we'll ever run out of markets for our produce as China could take all we have and more. The more affluent the Chinese population become the more demand they have for things like dairy produce that weren't ordinarily in their diet. There's a big hoo ha at the moment with a Chinese investment company trying to buy a huge dairy farming business here.

I have a large garden compared to a typical suburban UK garden but not huge, however the 'soil' where we live is pure clay and on a steep incline and not good for growing anything other than native trees. I have one raised bed and do what I can in containers and year by year we try to add more edibles in the garden, but all too often hindered by the start up cost of things. Small sapling trees and established plants are mightily expensive and no guarantee that they will survive in my care to the food producing stage. I was looking at a strawberry planter the other day and walked away in disgust, thinking to myself how many strawberries I could buy for that price. :eek: A bit defeatist I know!

Somewhere early on in this thread people were saying that they could be self-sufficient in most things except citrus fruits, that's one thing we do have here in abundance. Most gardens at least have a lemon tree although I've tried three times to get one going and never seen a lemon yet. I just got a new one and will persevere. I do have a wee little 'Tangelo' orange tree I planted four years ago, last year this produced a massive crop of two oranges, one fell off and split open and this year I got a stonking five fruits. Obviously I need more patience and to think a bit more long term, as at this rate I might be lucky to get eight for next year. I do have to wonder sometimes whether it is worth it, when I could have bought several kilos of oranges for the price of that 'stick'.

I'm a bit like you Mardatha and others on this thread, big plans often are hampered by a super pessimistic other half who doesn't 'get it', he's not a gardener by any means and can only ever see hard labour ahead of himself when I suggest new projects and money saving schemes. I always say if we depended on blokes like him for world progress and development we would still be living in a caves. :rotfl:

Kiwisaver_2

ceridwen wrote: »

Some of it DOES look gorgeous...

You are if course quite right you don't have to go far to see some beautiful countryside and scenery, but we expats have a much used saying: 'scenery doesn't pay the bills or put food on the table'

ceridwen

Kiwisaver

True - I know.

Re the Chinese trying to buy that dairy farming business - must admit to thinking "If New Zealand is that good at producing food - bet the Chinese are going to try and do a land grab there:mad:". Seems they are already trying. I wish you luck at defeating this and the further attempts they will doubtless make soon.

D&DD

Sorry to hear some of you haven't been feeling too great atm,hope things improve for you soon.
Zara a lot of the more 'hardcore' survivalist sites have 'trial runs' for different scenarios much like the site that has been mentioned..I think they are helpful in some ways if you are already of that mindset as they can help you see holes in your preps for situations you may come across in everyday life eg bad weather.

Been cut to pieces by my hedge today still picking out thorns now from my butt :rotfl:keep thinking I got them all then I move and ouch!!

Need to find a few methods (ideally two or three) of ways to cook/reheat food safely indoors when there is no power..we often have power cuts here.
I have a gas stove and bbq for cooking on outside but any ideas what I could use if the weather was too bad to go outside?