Preparedness for when

GreyQueen

mardatha wrote: »

GQ I quite often wish I was single just so that I could have one of those Ikea platform Tarzan Treehouse beds, always have this urge to play on them when I go to Ikea and the RV grabs me and hurries me past. You'd have a lot more room if you got some kind of cabin bed or single bed... maybe fit in a wall unit then ?

Loving the image of an uptight RV grabbing you by the elbow, hissing No! under his voice and dragging you away from those beds.

I've spent a lot of time in this flat playing with the layout and the bedroom wouldn't work with a cabin bed (although I have one in the spare bedroom/ office at the parents' place).

My bedroom door opens with just enough clearance not to smack into the bed and the door is opposite the window. Bed is 8 inches away from the window-wall to allow the duvet to drape and the bed-end is 1 foot away from the side wall (because that's all there is). As a single bed would be the same length as a double bed (6' 3") the only gain would be the 1' 6" narrower that a single is than a standard double. Which would mean that I had that much less sprawling space and I'm a lanky wench who likes to sprawl in her sleep.

If I could bear to go to a single bed, I still couldn't have a raised bed as it would have to be across the window which I don't fancy. If I had no clothes and needed no niche for the clothes airer I could use the bedroom alcove for a food cupboard instead of the chest-of-drawers with hanging rail above combo it sports at the moment.

It's a bedroom. Quite literally.

Never mind, it's bigger than the bedsit I lived in for 3 years and it's warm and dry so I have much to be thankful for.

ETA, PAH, what's a "cradle" in terms of foundations? Never heard the term.

Beetlemama

But is that shelf on wheels going to go in to the cupboard? looks like the cupboard is under the second set of stairs and the ceiling slopes down....I'm not sure you could push that in the cupboard it's standing in front of - awfully wasteful on space too, all those pretty baskets.

Thinking about this from the Gov magazine from prev page and it's sage advice: I wonder about the floods, if the country flooded and we were trapped upstairs in the house..(...and it would have to be a real DEEP flood since we live on a hill) how long would it take me to convince my elder Labrador it was ok to crp in the house? little one would be ok, she'd do it no trouble, lol, but the older of the two, my responsible and mature daughter, would rather die than poop in the bedroom. I guess this is where storing lots of newspapers upstairs would be handy.

And where exactly where would I put 5 chickens? if we lived on flat land I'd have to have a plan for this too. This is the problem with keeping livestock in/for emergencies. There comes a point when you have to think about bringing them in to the house. Whether this is floods or storms or the end of the world and people are fighting for food, the pig that seemed such a good idea in the bottom paddock doesn't seem quite so much fun on your Wilton.

GreyQueen

I always end up jumping up and down in a temper when I read helpful advice like moving your stuff upstairs in event of a flood.

Like no one would've thought of that on their own account. And, naturally, we can all carry the really expensive stuff like the fridge freeezer, washing machine and cooker upstairs.

And what about the likes of me in a groundfloor flat, on a floodplain, 50 yards from a river? Upstairs is someone else's home so I'm sure she'd be thrilled if I moved up there. I could run up a flight of stairs and huddle on the communal walkway and repeat as many times as necessary until I either ran out of tower block or the entire county was awash..........

[Deleted User]

GQ - I'm not sure if it would suit you but, a french friend had a bed that folded up into a cupboard during the day giving her much more space in the spare bedroom that was also her craft room. I'm sure it was good use of her space, but then where would all your stores go?
Cheers Lyn x.

GreyQueen

MrsLurcherwalker wrote: »

GQ - I'm not sure if it would suit you but, a french friend had a bed that folded up into a cupboard during the day giving her much more space in the spare bedroom that was also her craft room. I'm sure it was good use of her space, but then where would all your stores go?
Cheers Lyn x.

I've been fascinated with those type of beds for most of my life, having first encountered them in old American films/ sitcoms.

I've thought it over but it would leave my stores pitiful exposed to the daylight, like grubs under a raised stone, and the part of the room not under the bed when it was lowered wouldn't be big enough to hold even a small craft table so I'd be constantly dismantling and remantling stuff and would go even crazier than I am at the moment.:rotfl:

As it is, my home looks perfectly normal to the casual viewer and you'd have to go on a search to find the food.

ginnyknit

I would love a folding bed, then I could clean under mine and use the space wisely - for, maybe, tinned tomatoes - seriously, I admire GQ's ingenuity. Oh's bedroom is like a Tardis, its the box room and its marginally easier to get ambulance peeps in when needed. TBH none of my rooms upstairs are stretcher friendly which is a bu**er so they always have to take him out on one of those folding chairs - I hide in the living room when they bring him down stairs because its so precarious.

These are all important points when living with someone disabled. Its also something I need to prepare for so I have stocked up on his meds but need a very comprehensive first aid box and am working on that at the moment. I just need to focus my mind on what I will need. I am hoping that now DS has been promoted he will be moving out sooner rather than later and I will have a huge room to set up as a second lounge so OH can use it, with a small fridge and use some of the space for my prepping things. this will really mean we can be organised and the stuff will be upstairs already. After watching Domesday preppers OH has really come on board. he usually works out that I do not waste energy on things unless they are important but now he is asking questions and helping me focus.

Confuzzled

GreyQueen wrote: »

I've been fascinated with those type of beds for most of my life, having first encountered them in old American films/ sitcoms....


As it is, my home looks perfectly normal to the casual viewer and you'd have to go on a search to find the food.

those are called murphy beds, i nearly rented a flat that came with one built in many years ago back in the states. there are some excellent examples to look at at this link http://www.murphywallbeds.co.uk/pictures.html

looking perfectly normal is key, you don't want people to think you have loads of stuff about your house. we have a joke here 'The first rule of Food Club, you don't talk about Food Club'

in all seriousness, i think it's quite important to have some places for food storage that most people would never think to look for. i'd love a pantry don't get me wrong, i've had them in the past and they are fantastic BUT if things ever got really bad having food spread out all over the place has it's advantages. think of it as caches but in your own home.

if things get rough most people are opportunistic and will be running on adrenaline. in these situations i'd be shoving my daughter and our BOB's in the loft , locking it from inside and let them do what they will BUT i would have some food up there as well as places they are really unlikely to check in a quick smash and grab situation.

you could use old dusty looking tins in the garage to house some well packaged rice/beans etc whilst leaving the useful stuff you want them to see where it is easily seen. (keep your own stuff stashed somewhere they won't look!) you could have food under the bed but maybe have some dirty socks, some rubbish paper etc in front of it, they may take a quick look, they will not want to look through your blech if they are in a hurry

why not hide some food that is well sealed behind the bathroom towels, behind books in a bookcase, behind the sofa, inside the cabinet part of a wall unit in the living room, the tv stand, in a trunk used as a coffee table etc.

since i regularly use my stores i haven't resorted to this yet, but should i see the tides start to shift and feel the undercurrent of genuine threat raise my hackles you can better believe i'll be getting very creative where i put my best stashes.

one thing is important, leave something somewhere they will expect, if you don't they will look harder and deeper if they are desperate, you'll probably get one that's smarter than the rest, you don't want them to think, you want them to grab and leave so you can come out of your hidey hole.

this is of course serious shtf scenario but it's not so bad having your stuff spread out as long as YOU know where it is and can access it, especially in an emergency situation. besides, if you have a less cooperative housemate or partner you can hide it from them too :rotfl:

prepareathome

I had one of those beds as a child. With being oldest bedroom was all mine at first so they bought a bed in a cupboard so I had more play space during the day. Sadly by time I was 7 there was 4 of us in bedroom so we were all put into two sets of bunk beds.

I remember the cabinet as big and a walnut colour, real wood of course in those days.

Not exactly sure GQ what they mean by a cradle under the houses, it was a surveyor who was here a few years ago as we had some movement in house when we came, it was on a 6 month subsidence watch which just stopped with council cutting a back and HA came across the information so sent surveyor out. He told me they were concerned that house has slipped off its cradle on which all these houses were build on and that is why it was moving especially as we had, had damp downstairs as the cradle was supposed to stop that happening He gave the impression basically of a the house literally sitting on this frame which narrowed down into the ground and then all filled in with rubble rather than soil. That cradle was built then house built up inside it. He wasn't the best at describing it.

I one day hope to go to public records dept at library and see if they have any info on the building of these houses as they were actually built with money a very rich man left as he had no family, so he left instructions that these houses were to be built here(he owned all the land ) his own design, he left all the plans of how homes should be built,laid out, what built of,he costed everything, for the poor of the city and rent paid to the city and when built the money was to be used to maintain them, that ran out in 1963 and basically when repairs stopped being down as although council had pocketed the rent happily didn't want to spend any on the homes. Sorry off topic.

Anyway when I last went to public records that info is what I found on history of the houses and the staff agreed with me there was plenty more info but it had for some reason been separated and not put back where it belongs, so they were going to find it and replace it and to give them a couple of years. That was 15 years ago so hopefully should all be in one place now. If I had been looking for research for Uni or something official they would have found it quicker but as it was just my private interest they refused to look in the near future.

Today I hope to redo my grab bags and fishing gillets. I bought a couple of one green one sand colour, cotton fishing gillets years ago for their pockets, they have numinous ones each with a a zip or velcro to keep them closes. Old Pet shop used to sell fishing supplies and they had been in the window and got a bit sun faded so picked them up for 50p each instead of the usual £69.99 each. The price I remember well as I looked at them so often coveting them as part of my grab and go luggage.

Some pockets are quite big, others small but so handy for keeping things within easy reach and you don't have to search through your bag to find them. Used to use one and son or hubby would wear other when we went camping or full day out in the wild. So emptied and washed them months ago and they are hanging on outside of wardrobe staring at me yet not got round to filling them up again.

Popperwell

Well, I have to mention again(Sorry)what happenes if I have to move...to my food store as it will be a smaller property.

As many have said, I will lose furniture in the move(That I have to accept)But as long as there is room for my clothes, kitchen units, the pc's, some books. magazines, cd's, tv/radio, a bed(Like GQ the older I get I'd like to have/keep a double rather than a single)and my food store. I can always sit on a bed.

Of course it would only save approx £13 losing one bedroom but if it was a two bedroom bungalow that second room could be handy as storeroom to put everything in.

I can live without much else and as no one really ever visits I don't mind if my food is on show as I am the only one who sees it but as said earlier I would take all the tips and ideas that Confuzzled and GQ have mentioned if I could.

If allowed I'd consider erecting shelves/book cases and possibly drawing a curtain across the unit. If I can stay put I do similar here and make better use of the inbuilt wardrobes every bedroom has. So far I have avoided doing that...yet!

Now if you live in a bungalow or in a flat like GQ is in, I agree that the magazine issued by the County Council is stating the obvious but in many cases it won't work regarding moving precious items upstairs especially in a flood and it is probably the only reason that you would consider doing that.

The page about doing this was A4 size and only approx 6 lines of text.

When they did the programme about food banks on TV they showed some people who ordered food in bulk and were putting up orders for neighbours and though a home it was no longer really just that, it had boxes and food everytwhere and looked more like a shop stockroom and was very untidy. Perhaps allowed more if it's your home, if rented from a HA/LA or even privately that might not be allowed.

The point is, it was saving people money and allowing them plenty of food. Wish someone coukd start something similar around here but if things really hit the fan it could happen.

GreyQueen

Yeah, absolutely 100% in agreement with you on the subject of discretion re preps etc.

I grew up on a very rough council estate where my parents still live. In the hometown, it's always been prudent to keep a low profile. You don't want to have a flashy car or to look richer than the average joe, bling it up etc. So, grey (wo)man behavour comes as 2nd nature to me. Conventional clothes, no jewellery, £5 wristwatch off the market etc etc.

When I leave the flat for a weekend over at the folks' I don't do anything obvious like take a suitcase or holdall. I take shopping bags or, now I have it, Jiffy the shopping trolley. Long since worked out which of the many routes in and out of Shoebox Towers are the least overlooked.

When I shop for new stuff (not a frequent occurance), I take a tatty bag from a cheapy store like Poundland or the 99p Store or a cheap supermarket to bring stuff home in.

Some people reading this might think, gawd, paranoia or what?! but I know that I have emergency accomodation for homeless singles (mainly fresh out of prison and often junkies) 30 yards away and several homeless hostels within 300 yards. They cause chaos on a daily basis. The Police control centre is right across the region but if you tell them the postcode they don't faddle around because they know that the Towers is bad a lot of the time and if any of us can be alarmed enough to hit 999, something really bad is happening here.

Still trying to work out why we had 8 police vehicles down here on Tues afternoon last week. I arrived back as they were leaving and we normally only get that many if there's guns.

Excellent idea about having some supplies off-centre. I have had to use some unconvential storage at home purely on space grounds but am considering getting a strong tin box and having some stashed in the depths of the lottie shed. Wouldn't have anything other than tins up there as woudn't want to attract the rats and mice into the shed. And, whatever I did keep there would be stashed under a lot of low value stuff like empty compost bags and flowerpots.

John Wesley Rawles' book has some useful tips about hiding a "deep larder" behind boxes of low value things like baby clothes and old magazines, in hopes that any intruder would only dig down thru a few layers and give up in disgust before getting to the good stuff............