Preparedness for when

[Deleted User]

Isn't she beautiful??? what a sweetie, I fink it's lurve at first sight!!!

GreyQueen

JayneC, we're putting something called external wall cladding on some of our council houses, the ones without cavity walls. Seems to come in at £12,000 per 3 bed house.

Not sure if that's an option you've considered or have considered and dismissed? The surveyors tend to refer to it by the acronym EWI (external wall insulation). Mebbe worth a bit of research on t'interweb? HTH.

My parents' place is an early 1960s brick terrace ex-LA house. It has wall which aren't insulated but OMG, did they make a difference by putting in some additional depth of loft insulation about 3 years ago. They went to a bigbox store, got it on a 2 for 1 deal and it made such an improvement that it was astounding.......must have paid for itself in the first winter.

the cake, your set-up sounds idyllic but there is the downside of the colder seasons but it sounds like you're doing all the right things. Solving excess humidity is important to making the place feel warmer as well as more healthy.

Even without heat, my place doesn't get very cold, although I do have to watch the ventilation esp in winter, to avoid excess humidity. It's ridiculously-tiny and, in the centre of a city, is benefitting from the thermal mass of other buildings. Many's a time there has been no frost here but a reall whiteout air and ground frost only a few hundred meters away near the park, and all over the suburbs.

I went to a bootsale this morning and nearly bought myself a stone HWB but managed to resist. I did get a lot more candles, at anything from 20-£1 for a tall pillar candle, mostly 50p each. I als bought some cotton hankies in their gift box for 20p and a Thermos. 1.2 litre for £1.

Very pleased, all it would have taken was a cellular blanket and my happiness would have been complete. I did get 2 unused foodgrade buckets which I have Cunning Plans for, at 50P each I couldn't resist.

The Thermos was a want for a while, to back up my 1 litre and 1 pint Thermoses (Thermosi?). The new ones are pretty reasonable in the sales at outdoor stores but they're all so blimming tall. There's only about 5mm clearance between the top of the existing Thermos and the underside of the shelf and the ones I could see were even taller. This bootsale one isn't, its wider and shorter, woop-woop!

Mrs LW, sound opinions - as always. I buy stuff which is called "preps" but it doesn't exist in some dead zone rotting, depreciating and wasting my money. It's actively-used, I just shop from the stock and restock when the deal's are good. I spend well under £100 per month feeding myself, and that includes shopping for the preps and the t.p. (currently 83 rolls pls don't tell the Venezuelans).

Right, better see what they're up to on the doorstep (ooo-err missus).

Laters, GQ xx

fuddle

mardatha wrote: »

She's disguised as a colander MrsL

My first giggle of the day :rotfl:

I had 5 pages to catch up on and have thoroughly enjoyed reading all your input. The discussion is right up my street and yes, as I was collecting sticks yesterday evening I was asked by DH why. I said to cook with should we loose power (ok, small but it's something) he scoffed at the factory blackout headline saying it was propaganda to get fracking accepted by the general populous. Made me think as have you all. I feel embarrassed telling you hardcore preppers I was collecting sticks as I have yet to have anything solar powered/parafinned/butaned etc but a thumbs up for trying eh

Lyn you told me last year of somewhere that sells a good pair of sheepskin slippers, could you share again?

Boult embarassingly so I don't know what a carpet sweeper is, could you help me understand as house covered in carpets with dog/children (don't know who is messier) and hoover daily. Made me think what if. :eek:

I'll continue to make my blankets and just keep grounded, keep my eyes open and my wits about me. Keep tuned into here for new OS ideas that aren't too costly and enjoy living in the here and now.

Thank you all!

boultdj

It's just a push along sweeper, can get them from Ar**s, the dust is traped in the body of the sweeper and you just empty it straight in to the bin, quite a lot of people had them in the 60/70's, as kid's back in the 70's my cousin's and I use to fight over using it:o

[Deleted User]

Hi FUDDLE I buy my slippers on Fleabay from a company called LAMBLAND, the ones I use everyday are leather moccasins without a wooly inside, they're lined with strong cotton fabric and last for ages, they have a solid sole too, so you can walk outside in them. I do have a paid of bootees, also found on Fleabay and they are proper sheepskin, with the fleece inside and those I use when it's really cold and boy are they toasty warm. I think the brand was Shepherd Brand and I've had them for years, they just keep on going. I'll have a look and see if I've still got the labels, but I doubt I have. Put a search in for Real Sheepskin Slippers and you should get loads. The other good place to find Real Sheepskin things is at country shows, they tend to have at least one stall selling sheepskin products. In fact I got a Cossack Hat at the last one we went to and got some off the price for being brave enough to try it on as it was such a hot day!!! Cheers Lyn xxx.

thriftwizard

I have a pair of Kirkland Shearling slippers, also found on Ebay, & swear by them - they have a really sturdy outdoor sole. Proper felted slippers are lovely & warm too, but pricewise I'd recommend making your own as handmade ones are a heck of a price. Not unjustified, as they take hours to make, but felting isn't difficult, just hard work! I made some & stitched a suede sole on them; I wouldn't wear them outside in the rain, as they'd get horribly muddy, but they're great indoors.

Pooky

I have a carpet sweeper (despite only having hard floors) but its fab for a quick whizz round and great on rugs.

We have solar panels but don't get to store any power so I only use electrical gizmos when I know we're generating enough to do so. If its a dank dark day I'll whizz the carpet sweeper round, if the suns shining I'll dig out the vacuum.

fuddle

Thank you. Bissel is £12.99 so on my list because it will be a money saver for me as well as a non-electric backup.

Adoring looking at sheepskin slippers. Very expensive but investment? Will they last me longer than one winter?

[Deleted User]

Years and years and years!!!!!!!!!

I've just looked on Fleabay and they are Shepherd of Sweden Brand slippers. I paid £35ish for them but it must be 5 years ago so I'm not surprised the prices have risen. It's a good investment though and you will have toasty tootsies for many years to come if you do decide to get some, Lyn xxx.

ginnyknit

I imagine those sweepers are pretty good now, though years ago they were the bane of my life as if the caught on anything they used to flip over and empty themselves. They also shot dust at you when you emptied them. I think I will have a look at them as I can no longer weild a sweeping brush like I did years ago.

I have to say the added loft insulation the LL did last year has really helped and upstairs is now quite snug. We also had a nasty patch of damp over the bathroom window and none of the workmen have ever come up with a solution other than paint over it, however the last surveyor thought there might be no loft insulation in that part of the roof so when we had the extra thick stuff put in I asked them to make sure that bit had a good covering. Now we have had the ceiling treated properley and theres not a mark on it :j

Really dont think most people would be worried about the carpets if the S hit but I would, I cannot sit and look at a messy floor yet Im not cleaning crazy - go figure