Preparedness for when

MrsBartolozzi

Bedsit_Bob wrote: »

You've not experienced a real s**t, until you've had Picolax.

I had never heard of Picolax until you mentioned it, for which I thank you.
Without your mentioning it I'd not have googled it and found this , which I thought I'd share - a wonderful piece from a poster on another forum about his experiences with Picolax and the subsequent hospital procedure. It's brilliant. I'm wiping tears from my face, and I dearly hope I never have to experience it.

http://singletrackworld.com/2009/02/the-picolax-thread-returns/

Probs not for those of a nervous disposition though.;)

siegemode

MrsLurcherwalker wrote: »

SIEGEMODE you are tuned in to the potential problems that may arise in the future, you may not have been able to do very much prepping of late for various reasons but you have taken on board the possibility that you may NEED to prepare and this puts you streets ahead of most of the population of the western world. I think that gives you a much bigger chance of living a viable life if there are ever problems of a big enough magnitude to affect our normal lives. It's the complete lack of comprehension and the total acceptance of commercial living that will be the danger for most people, if you have at least thought of the possibility that 'normal' life might not carry on as is forever and a day, you are in a much better place to cope with whatever does ensue!!!

Tuned in is one way of putting it. Being aware and an information addict is both frightening and enabling at times. Every so often I get overloaded and become an ostritch for a day or so. I go off on tangents and discover allsorts of info that confirms my thoughts and leads to more questions and so it goes on until lifes demands or energy levels put a halt on things. I try to keep up with whats happening here every few days and it keeps me both sane and grounded. And more importantly entertained and not alone in the way I look at the world and see the future.

spanishlivinginUK wrote: »

SIEGEMODE, where are you? If near us I could ask OH to have a look and design those raised beds, it's just a hobby of his but he is very good.
That would also be a favour for me, he is itching to use his new mitre saw that o got him for his birthday. We are thinking of doing the kitchen but cannot afford it right now, but I fear I will come back home one day to find kitchen destroyed and no money for a new one....

Bless you thank you so much for your kind offer :A. I don't think we are close though as I remember you mentioning being cabin crew and our nearest airport is about 60 miles. First job is to get new fence and gate, next is to lift and re lay patio and then finally the raised beds. Both me and oh have back problems and as a carer I have to be very careful.
I have a design in mind and it will be a permaculture garden and easy to look after. Being a fairly small space this should be achievable. I have grown fruit and veg in the past but still have much to learn. There is such a huge combined pool of knowledge on this thread and I can't wait to get started. Unfortunately the money we had saved for the garden has just been spent on a netbook.

To all the spud experts,
when can I plant potatoes and how long before my first harvest. Also if I have sprouting spuds in the cupboard can I just plant them or do I have to get special tubers from the garden center ? Cheers

siegemode

Since talking about water earlier it got me thinking and whilst we have spoken about supplies stopping what about when supplies are contaminated. A few years ago I seem to remember a large problem in the Northampton area and for weeks water had to be boiled as it was unsafe to drink. Now boiling can solve the problem but what if power or fuel is not readily available or in a shtf you have none what then ? Purifying tablets is a possible solution as is bleach if you can find stuff without all the other chemicals and perfumes in it and are able to measure and get the quantities right.
Has anyone experience of using filters from katadyn or drinksafe. The straws look good especially for a bob, has anyone tried them ?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Drinksafe-Waterstraw-litre-Personal-filter/dp/B003L7YV4A/ref=sr_1_2?s=sports&ie=UTF8&qid=1372026744&sr=1-2&keywords=drinksafe

Although it says new I have seen them for a year or so but they are still on my wish list.

nuatha

D&DD wrote:

I'm a year older t'day :eek: 21 a couple of times over plus a bit!

So that's 21 and a bit (you never need to say how big a bit

[/QUOTE]
Hope you had a wonderful day.

siegemode wrote: »

To all the spud experts,
when can I plant potatoes and how long before my first harvest. Also if I have sprouting spuds in the cupboard can I just plant them or do I have to get special tubers from the garden center ? Cheers

I'm not a spud expert, but have had success with sprouting spuds from the kitchen. The expert advice is not to do this due to the risk of introducing potato diseases to your garden.
Generally planting is around Good Friday depending on how the weather is doing.
I remember my Dad producing new potatoes for Christmas dinner a few years running (he also managed fresh strawberries one year), and have noticed several varieties of earlies being advertised as for Christmas spuds (generally for planting in August).
I've some sprouted spuds that I'll be planting this week and seeing how they do.
Hopefully an expert will be around soon (GQ, calling GQ )

Butterfly_Brain

Happy Birthday D&DD, hope it was a good one.

GreyQueen

GQ reporting, sah!

And congratulations on your marriage, I toasted you with my teamug across the interweb. Very [STRIKE]cheap[/STRIKE] I mean, old-style of me, I know. Don't usually have booze in the house.

You could chuck them in the ground and see what happens. Most spuds have been in the ground for 12 weeks or a bit longer already and are heading towards the finish line by now.

But if you haven't spent anything, and weren't planning on using the ground for anything else, why not chuck them in and call it a experiment (and come back later to tell us how it went)? Spuds are frost tender so will grow until frosted, unless you have them undercover, in which case they'll last longer but won't do much with the diminished light levels you get in autumn. Good luck!

I've been off the interwebs for over 24 hours, must be some kind of personal record there. Living proof that I do have a Life, ha ha.

Went to the lottie and had a lottie-patrol and whingeathon with an old boy who is a retired farmer; eveything is 4 weeks' behind here but I have finally managed to germinate a carrot.:D

Plus 3 French beans. Two of which had their seedling leaves eaten off despite the slug pellets. Slightly p'd off about that.

Mar, I didn't see the supermoon, it's been overcast here for days. Was in a country pub yestereve having a meal with friends and no one was acting out, put it was a real ale pub with a mostly-older crowd. There was no folk music, which was a shame, but good grub.

I'm multitasking here, eating an omelette and typing, gotta have a shower then hit t'office for a few hours. Hope there isn't any supermoonly effect of the public, we do notice a kick-up in the number of peculiar calls at both new and full moons, the kind that leave you thinking WTH?! afterwards.

Onwards, and upwards! By the pricking of my thumbs, I feel that tinned potatoes are a good preptastic thing to have; cheap (atm), reheated rather than requiring much energy to cook (good poweroutages if we're on our secondary camping stoves), several years date on them, and even edible (have two in my omelette.

Laters, GQ xx

ETA; Happy Birthday DD&D.

[Deleted User]

GQ the supermoon was visible in all its incredibly beauty down here last night, it had a golden halo round it and was well worth seeing, good stuff and free!!!!! He Who Knows is lottie bound this morning to give a look at the broad beans which might be mature enough to start picking and also to lift the first root of potatoes which he also thinks might be ready. We're already picking peas, courgettes, lettuce and beetroot from the polytunnel, I haven't been down this morning but the basil was looking good last week as well, love this time of year when everything tastes fresh as it should not having been travelled to reach us.

SIEGEMODE water purification can be done with Milton Sterilising Fluid, the stuff you use to do babies bottles in. The addition ratio is half a teaspoon (2.5mls) to 5 litres of water and you leave it to stand for 15 minutes before drinking. The information is on thier website but not on the bottles. It's available from Pharmacies and places like Wilkos and not too expensive. I always have a couple of bottles in store, just in case.

Have a good one all, Cheers Lyn xxx.

Butterfly_Brain

Does anyone find this as scary as I do?
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2346974/The-daily-smart-pill-remember-passwords-Tablets-transmit-personal-details-devices-pass-body.html

pineapple

Butterfly_Brain wrote: »

Does anyone find this as scary as I do?
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2346974/The-daily-smart-pill-remember-passwords-Tablets-transmit-personal-details-devices-pass-body.html

Indeed. But technology is developing at such a fast pace imo this sort of 'progress' is inexorable (my new word for today :rotfl:). I'll bet we won't recognise this world in 100 years or so - if we make it that far.
Talking of which did anyone see The Secret Life of the Sun on BBC Two last night? I missed most of it but did pick up on the emerging acknowledgement that in addition to the 11 year solar cycle there is possibly a bigger cycle. And that even though we are in a solar maximum period at the mo, we may in fact be heading into a 'grand minimum' - as in the last little ice age!
http://www.guardian.co.uk/tv-and-radio/2013/jun/24/secret-life-sun-tv-review
It's the sort of thing Piers Corbyn of Weather Action has been saying for ages. And Pineapple feels it in her water that it's happening. Indisputable proof! Going to head over to his site later to see if there is a reaction

BessieBooBoo

nuatha wrote: »

Thank you all for the good wishes, Herself is now Mrs Nuatha, we had a fantastic day, I'll post something soonish with with some details. It was wonderful to logon yesterday evening to see PMs and posts wishing us well.

Hello N

Nice to have good news.

Wishing you all the best on being 'legalised'! Welcome to the adventure that is marriage, with all it's ups and downs, it can be a roller coaster, but, just hang on in there and enjoy the ride...

BBB