Preparedness for when

2tonsils

Hi, thanks all for the support and the suggestions. Unfortunately we cannot rent out rooms or anything like that, you need a license to do it here and it would cost me about 4000 euros to get one.The fines are enormous if you rent out a room without it and I would not dare risk getting the fine. You can't even rent to friends and family without declaring it.

We are going to see how it goes, we have to pay the bills and taxes whether we are in the house or not so will stay for the time being, we have no other choice at the moment. We can't afford to leave, rent somewhere in the UK AND pay the bills and taxes. If we are frugal (and we are lol) then we can just manage to live and pay the current taxes.

We would only leave the property if we had civil unrest that put us in danger or if medical circumstances forced us back to the UK for a while. Since we have been here 19 years we are not registered any more in the UK with medical care etc.

So, back to the purpose of this thread...The prepping is going well. People are setting up bartering groups here and the scheme that brought us cheap potatoes and fruit last winter ( direct from the farms to the customers ) is being set up again for this winter. It saved us a fortune on good organic veg and fruit and it made the prices drop in the supermarkets as well. I feel lots of home made soups being made this winter.

Olive oil is plentiful of course and we are coming up to the wine harvest. I have already stocked up on olive oil as it keeps well in the cool dark kitchen. I am a non drinker but will get the local wine for visitors and my DH. At about 2 euros a litre for really good quality wine I can't pass it over... if any is left over I make wine vinegar from it.

Fuel is covered for heating and we are ordering olive wood as soon as its available for the open fireplace. It burns very hot for a long time so is economical..it also smells of incense when burning. We bought a trivet and some old pans last winter to cook on the fire if the electric is off (which happens all the time in the winter storms). The sterna (water tank for filtered rain water) has been kept full all summer to keep the house nice and cool and we will use it in the winter months before the rains come.

Trying to think about my winter clothes when its still 42 in the shade is difficult, but we have thermals from last year (LIdl, skii thermals, fantastic)....yes, it does get that cold here in the winter. It was brass monkey cold last year down to minus ten here in Corfu! We live on the mountain in a village....but at least when its cold its sunny here. If its warm (around 14 in the daytime) then it will be raining torrential rain as well LOL

Have stocked up on prescription meds for now as the doc warned us to do that in advance. I take only thyroxine and a few emergency meds for my allergy to wheat. My husband has blood pressure meds but has plenty in store just in case. Postage here is on and off like a yoyo and often we don't get our parcels or mail at all so reluctant to order online.

Off to cook my Kalimari (squid) and make a salad to go with it...thanks folks for all your support. I feel better about coming on here nowxxxx

GreyQueen

PAH, I'm not up on current chimney sweeping prices but my family had their own kit of brushes (think it cost about £10) back in the 1970s to save a few bob by DIY cleaning, so it must have been a strain, but then, we were brassic. D'you possibly know anyone who might have a set themselves and could help you (appreciate your health problems mean doing it yourself wouldn't be possible)?

Heating and hot water in Shoebox Towers (triumph of mid-1970s concrete architecture) is controlled by commercial gas boilers in a boiler house. If there's a powercut, their leccy controllers have to be reset, so any pattern of interuption of supply would be a right PITA. We pay £40 a month on top of our rent for this.

I'm not too fussed about the heating going off as the flat is minature and very well insulated and is pretty warm even with no heating on, plus I have a gas stove which is on a different supply (i.e. off the meter not the communal system) so could boil water on that.

I really missed it when my parental home went across from coal fire to gas fire (oh, the toast you get off a proper fire, there's no beating it) and later to full c.h. (long after I'd left home). Can recall seeing frost ferns on the inside of the window glass, brrrr! Mum recalls childhood homes so cold that you had you clothes under the covers with you to keep them warm and dressed in bed.

Re what will happen with the Eurozone, I think the honest answer is nobody knows. How could they, as I don't think a continent-wide currency has been attempted since the Roman Empire. I do think that if it does go belly-up it will happen all of a sudden and we'll just have to roll with it.

westcoastscot

pah we pay £60 for the sweep - used to sweep our own but we have a lined chimney now so like to have it inspected at the same time.

It's cold and wet here and the talk of toast has made me fancy some :-)

annie123

prepareathome wrote: »

I phoned a sweep firm they quoted me £45 to remove the horrible gas fire, cap off the gas( corgi registered) and clean the chimney and check if its safe and £40 each to clean the bedroom ones and check if they are safe to use. Is this good or not?

Sounds good to me.
We used to have ours swept every year till a few years ago when they put their prices up, £75 for one chimney! so we bought our own at B and Q for £10. They also double as drain rods
easy to do and has saved us loads.

prepareathome

Buying my own brushes and rods is a good idea but I think for first time as chimney not been used in such a long time be best to get the professionals in - if they find that works need doing then we can see if HA will do any ore if we have to pay ourselves, am willing to do so if we can manage it and its needed. They are only liable to pay for repairs if there is any danger as I would guess.

Thanks everyone will call them Monday to book -upstairs fireplaces are hidden behind furniture so major rethink of where things will go.

2tonsils

I have been reading through this thread and read about the plight of the vegetarians on here who are thinking of trying to eat meat to get used to it before the SHTF...

Just a suggestion (and this is good for most of you as well ) you could stock up now on powdered protein. Its cheap compared to most meat and fish and protein sources, it keeps really well and is good quality consistently. The last I bought was in 2.5 kg sacks and cost me about twenty pounds each from myprotein.com. It tastes nice mixed with water or milk and one scoop contains about 30 gm of protein. If you want more calories (for instance as a meal replacement in an emergency) then order their weight gain powder which is even cheaper. Its easy to store large amounts in the resealable sacks. They do a pea/soya protein for anyone allergic to dairy products. Most of their whey is gluten free. I mix mine with yogurt for brekkie and fruit and yogurt for a nutritious meal. Great stuff for preppers!

jeanniefaethecarse

We were £40 last year for the sweep for one long chimney, and he's only one of a couple in the area, so your quote looks pretty fair. HTH

ETA
Greyqueen I remember getting dressed in my bed, and I'm only 45! I'd forgotten that until you mentioned it!!!!

2tonsils

we paid twenty euros to get our chimney swept last year. The traditional way is to fire a shot gun full of rock salt up there, but could not find an obliging armed neighbour at the time LOL. We burn olive wood logs and they leave an oily soot on the inside of the chimney that can be very dramatic if it catches light....it sounds like a jet engine firing up....it went up at our old apartment and burned like crazy because the landlord had never cleaned the chimney. Now we can get little packets of flame retardant that you put on the ashes..it burns a lovely green and purple and stops the soot from catching fire...they work well and are cheap. Someone mentioned collecting kindling earlier and I realised I can collect it now while its still tinder dry ..along with pine cones...while I am out power walking on the mountain near my home. We collected it all last winter to light the huge olive logs with...it was easier than firelighters and absolutely free.

cod3

2tonsils wrote: »

I have been reading through this thread and read about the plight of the vegetarians on here who are thinking of trying to eat meat to get used to it before the SHTF...

I am scratching my head here at what disastrous scenario would lead to a vegetarian in Britain feeling the need to eat meat to survive. :think:

skintscotslass

Evening all

Been working so not much prepping. The 12p rice pudding is going down a treat, DD keeps eating it lol. I imagine if she ever moves out, thats what she'll live on