Preparedness for when

thriftwizard

Fuddle, it's interesting that recently my mother de-stashed a dress from her (legendary) wardrobe. It's a stunning 1940s number in blue lace over satin, and I could have charged a fortune for it if it hadn't fitted DD1 like a glove & gone straight into her wardrobe. Now, my mother, far from vain, was once surprised to find herself elected a Beauty Queen, and she's 2" shorter than I am. DD1 is 4" taller than me but considers herself hopelessly podgy at a size 14-16; all her friends, some of them 6-footers, are size 8 or 10 & dieting like mad. And we're always being told that people back then were thinner than we are now, but the evidence just doesn't add up. They may well have been fitter, and a different shape (slimmer waists, particularly) but from where i'm standing, as someone who handles a lot of vintage clothes, they weren't any thinner - just better dressed!

Agreeing that there's far too much money tied up in the whole food thing, but not nearly enough of it is making its way to the people who actually produce the stuff; our small farms are still struggling & being stuffed by the supermarket buyers whichever way they turn. The answer for both our health and to support our small farmers is to buy direct (or as near as possible) whenever you can and prepare & cook it yourself.

[Deleted User]

We are lucky in that our allottments were a gift to the village along with the recreation ground from the local wealthy family back in the 1800s and cannot be sold off by the council as they don't actually own them. When I met He Who Knows he'd never grown anything in his life and the company he worked for had land they weren't using and offered plots to anyone of the workforce who wanted to grow veg. We started from a base of no knowledge at all other than me remembering my dad gardening when I was little. It's not hard to imagine what a hash we made of the first couple of years. We had no idea what to plant when or how to look after it or when toharvest it. We talked to more experienced allottmenteers and gradually gained experience and it became a successful garden. Even if you are a novice the people on the plots around you will usually be more than prepared to chat, give advice, give spare seedlings and even pitch in to help so you can get yourself started. That's what happened when we first came here, the girls and I had to finish a school year back in Kent and he had 6 months here on his own and found the local plots and got chatting. Someone had more land than he needed and gave us 1/4 of his plot unofficially but with the permission of the site rep. We made friends, who we've still got today and the waiting list gave us a full plot a year later. Don't be daunted at the prospect of beginning to grow your own, the help and experience is there waiting for you, go and enjoy!!! Cheers Lyn xxx.

mardatha

We went to Costco and Aldi yesterday and I got back on the prepping wagon. Phew, feel better now
Totally agree with whoever said it's all about money now - but I think it always has been- only now it's not hidden. People have always been greedy. But by sitting back and saying nothing, we let it accelerate. And there is no opposition in govt to challenge anything.

pineapple

Well I think there is a happy medium in all things. I can think of certain well known females who are stick thin with arms like twigs. No one can tell me this is healthy. Plus I always say I'll last longer in a famine than them! :rotfl:
Then there are people like an ex co-worker who would have struggled to fit into a standard airline seat. No one can tell me that the fat which must have been covering her organs is good - plus surgical procedures would have had additional risks.
That said, the local village has an annual 40s event where a lot of people dress up and the women look wonderful in the curvy couture of that time - a time when women were allowed to have a little meat on them.
But there are people like me who don't put on weight in a nice organised curvaceous fashion. Most of me is quite passable, but from the side, I look 8 months gone :eek: I was once admitted with peritonitis and never forgot the surgeon looking down at me and asking 'Does your stomach normally look like that'? 'Yes' was the sad reply.
No one can tell me this is healthy either. Plus I've been a lot slimmer and I can tell you which I prefer. It has nothing to do with fashion. It has all to do with feeling better, moving better and losing the bad back. I just need some willpower....

fuddle

I don't trust the government at all and because if that I don't trust our institutions like the NHS and think that is fast becoming about money too.

When I had that bought of not coping a few months back I went to GP and was back on the anti-d's without so much as the depression quiz they tend to give. I hated that I was on them, didn't think I should be, had a PM about magnesium, looked it up and now take magnesium and b-vitamins to keep me on an even keel. They're working and I am fine even though going through a horrible patch with my mam. My point being that where was my blood test at the GP? The first point of call, I feel, should have been to look at my stats. It wasn't. It was here have a drug. I'm angered at that because I don't at all need that drug now.

We put our trust in people and services due to what we're told, what the research tells us (the 'research' funded by whatever company will profit from the results) people's opinion, backed up by marketing. It's a game I want to be well out of and will try to find my own way in everything... So much so that its getting to the point were I need a she-wee because public toilets ate no longer needed because the 'research' done by the council states that only x% of people use them. Utter tosh in my opinion.

[Deleted User]

FUDDLE deficiencies can all be traced back to those very food manufacturers who the government allow to call the tune, the obesity problem, the deficiences that lead to many of our problems, the crisis in farming, the prices we are paying in supermarkets all come from the food industry. I suspect they're a major part of the problems besetting the whole coultry and until TPTB stand up and be counted and actually make them manufacture 'real' food, things will stay just as they are and become increasingly more expensive. Cheers Lyn xxx.

westcoastscot

I've been around the same weight all my adult life - about a 16. Until i was diagnosed with arthritis I was a mountain climber, a canoeist, a caver and a long distance walker and no-one ever hinted I was obese..........fast forward to now and apparently I am!!

Unless you are really overweight it's a random marker decided by fashion and whim. Overall health should be determined by fitness, lifestyle, diet and age. We're all different after all?????

BessieBooBoo

metherer wrote: »

We've found several we would quite happily buy, but for the moment the EuroMillions evades us. :mad:

Hello M

(Sigh) yes, I regret to say that the cheapest small holding I saw in Wales was £250,000....

Maybe just find a house that's a wreck with a big garden and we might be able to be more self-sufficient...

BBB

sabretoothtigger

Im not sure if Wales has a law about eco-dwellings, where you can buy a cheap piece of land to use for accommodation so long as its renewable this and that they allow you special consideration on planning laws. That sounds about the cheapest possible way to buy a new house but also alot of hassle of course

The body stores fat naturally as a survival store, being skinny is positively unhealthy I think the emphasis should be on regular exercise, since its calories burnt which matters just as much to the total in the end

Welsh Government’s One Planet Development (OPD) policy.

It allows for development in the open countryside as long as applicants can prove they can meet at least 65% of their food needs from the land.

ginnyknit

Laura, check your local council website for the nearest recycling centre (rubbish dump) and see if they sell the compost they make from our recycling bins. Mine sells it 40l for £2.84 which is a good price. Apparently we need to got to the weighbridge area and buy it. Just a thought save you working out where to buy it for a good price.

I now have 2 compost bins full of all the used up compost from this years plantings and good layers of trimmings and peelings, plus paper and grass cuttings so hoping to be relatively self sufficient next year. My cabbages were destroyed by cabbage white this year but have left them in and am hoping for some new growth to add to meals for a few months. Also some Kale plants I got for 5p each are sprouting again so that will help. Seriously down on stocks of baked beans and sugar so must add to the cupboard this week.

WCS I find arthur-itis attacked me when I was at my fittest. I went from a physical job, long hours and tramping round the NW on public transport plus running 4 miles a day to sitting here now with waves of pain running round my top half as I sit and type this. I still run around a lot, cannot sit still for more than half an hour at a time but am limited so do everything in small portions ie garden then sit, mop the floor then sit etc... I used to think arthritis was old bones aching but its not its sharp pains, toothache in the joints and a swift reprimand from my shoulder when I grab DGS and swing him in the air :mad:

Right off to don my comfy shoes and a bag to pick blackberries before they are all gone! :j Going on the cycle track at the end of the street ( revamped disused railway line) :T