Preparedness for when

ginnyknit

I remember many moons ago some friends (in their 50's) were planning their retirement bottom drawer. They presumed that things would be tight so stocked up on bargains - towels, bedding and practical stuff like light bulbs - its much the same as we do here but seemed quite a revolutionary idea at the time. I have loads of flannalette sheets gleaned from the CS by Mum (sadly closed down a few weeks ago ) and will be well used then re-used as cloths. My SIL spends hundreds on bedding at least once a year and chucks the old ones away :eek: silly s*d. One day she may well realise life isnt like that but don't see her having a lightbulb moment anytime soon :mad:

Have bitten the bullet and planted out the courgettes as they were grabbing me round the neck everytime I went in the greenhouse :eek:
Am hoping to get the beans out next in a rather nifty planter that runs along one of the fencing panels but am still nervous that all my work is in vain again. Japanese onions are very successful and hopefully will save me buying spring onions as they are too dear for my taste. I know ordinary onions are cheap but its still a few pennies I can save.

GreyQueen

Retirement bottom drawer, I like it. A lot.

ginny, re your SIL, there are some amazing people out there, aren't there? I encounter people who buy new sofas about as often as I buy new shoes. It astonishes me.

Dunno what my dear old Grandma would have said but I suspect something along the lines of More money than sense and they'll be sorry, in a darkly-prophetic tone.

Mind you, I do pretty nicely off their leavings when they turn up at the bootsales and the charity shops.

elona

Re retirement bottom drawer- found a Christie's sale online a few years ago and stocked up on hand towels, bath towels and bath sheets at a third of the price. Also found an outlet shop for them and went with DH and found a couple of superking bed sets in organic cotton for nearly a quarter of the price. :j

Have been stalking cast iron pans at ama*** for over a year till I found a huge one half price with free postage.

Latest hunt has been for new kitchen chairs that are not too fancy for the kitchen but could also be used as extra seating at the dining table. Finally tracked down a pair fully assembled for £93 ( half the price of similar looking ones elsewhere and ordered them. As they were due to be delivered yesterday DH threw out the kitchen chairs :eek: as they were broken. No delivery yesterday and now have nothing to sit on in the kitchen so hoping they get delivered soon and are as good as I thought they were.

Had lunch in the garden for the first time this year and just about to see if I can get any YS goodies at the supermarket. Did really well yesterday and got some chicken breasts and a joint of beef to slam in freezer at a quarter of the price. Dds laughed at me when i said for those prices it would be rude not to buy!!

See you later and keep your spirits up and don't let them grind you down.

westlothianlass

Hi all
Just finishing James Kustners Long emergency, boy does it make you think:eek:, also been reading Self reliance book by Yeoman(I have a bad habit of reading too many books at the same time:o) so between them ive had lots of food for thought.
Ive also been thinking about my health and well-being, im in my mid 40's but last few years ive not exactly been a fitness bunny (ive decided dittering round the garden doesnt count ).
So got my bike out of the garage (looking embarrassingly clean:rotfl:) and had a dander out, also did a basic yoga session today. Decided theres no point in gathering lots of prepping bits and bobs if I don't look after myself as well, so onwards and upwards, though me thinks it may be a long slog .
Thanks for the info on tick removers, Ive ordered one for us and one for my parents as they are constantly battling ticks on their hairy hound.
Looked at the bob's today to check all were okay, couldn't decided whether I should remove the scarves and hats, what with the lovely weather we have been having!!, so left them for a few days/weeks/forever.
Hope everyone has had a lovely day
Hugs WLL x

Rosemary_Jane

maybe most of you have seen this, but I've only just found it.

So long as the SHTF in the summer....

http://seereports.blogspot.co.uk/2010/03/sodis-ultimate-water-purification.html

R

[Deleted User]

Hardup_Hester wrote: »

Thanks for that Bob, there is a B & M near us, I'll have a look next week once we've been paid.

B&M are also the cheapest place I've found, for the gas cartridges.

4 for £3-99.

[Deleted User]

Perplexed_Pineapple wrote: »

I'm thinking the only realistic options if you envisage bugging out on foot are to keep your gear very light indeed

Hence why I have set a 15lb limit on mine.

I'm right on that limit now, so, if I want to put something more in, something else will either have to come out, or be substituted with a lighter version.

It's very easy to get carried away, putting in "essentials", but it's only when you come to carry it, you realise how much some of those "essentials" actually weigh.

Also, consider how much the container, in which the item is being carried, actually weighs?

Those gas canisters, for instance, have a net weight of 220g, but a gross weight of 320g.

Add on a suitable stove, and you are somewhere in the region of 500g.

That's over a pound.

It's also worth considering, how much there is to go wrong, with a particular item.

If you can't correct a malfunction, the item is just so much wasted space and weight.

Likewise, if no replacements are available, once the consumables are exhausted.

[Deleted User]

JayneC wrote: »

I have 3 small oil lamps but would have to improvise with cooking oil as I have no paraffin.

cooking oil won't work in an oil lamp, as the flashpoint is much too high.

nuatha

Bedsit_Bob wrote: »

cooking oil won't work in an oil lamp, as the flashpoint is much too high.

But you can use cooking oils in lamps. Little oil lamps for olive oil are one of the more common finds in Roman digs.
A modern version is available or more usefully make your own

(I've made replica Roman style lamps and burned olive oil, I haven't used the more modern cooking oils)

GreyQueen

nuatha wrote: »

But you can use cooking oils in lamps. Little oil lamps for olive oil are one of the more common finds in Roman digs.
A modern version is available or more usefully make your own

(I've made replica Roman style lamps and burned olive oil, I haven't used the more modern cooking oils)

I met some potters who used to make these. The archaeologists told them to please be careful where they left them as they were indistinguishable from the Roman originals........:rotfl:

Here's a random thingy; rushlights. Readers of historical or fantasy fiction may have heard the term. It refers to the soft rush, a spiky grassy type thing which grows in boggy ground. Or slightly boggy bits of otherwise sound meadowland.

You can cut it off at ground level and carefully unpeel the green outer husk. The inside is pure white and looks like a long line of extruded polystrene. Which you can set a light to and use as a lamp of sorts. You will need a kind of holder for this, naturally.

Now there's always something interesting to do when out on walks, hey?*

Nice to "see" you nuatha, how are the wedding preps going? And have you ever read Pratchett's Wyrd Sisters, the bit where Nanny Ogg remarks on the choice of wedding day for Verence and Magrat............?

* You can also take down the dead and dried stems of Giant Hogweed in the wintertime and use them as spears; the stem is a bit thicker at the base and the root is longish and it balances very nicely as a thrown object. I was a free-range child.............