Preparedness for when

2tonsils

Thanks for your words of support, I really appreciate them. On the face of things, if a tourist visits Greece they will find the same warm welcome, the hot sunshine and the amazing food...its when you live here and realise how much is going on under the surface of normality that it hits you how things are going from bad to worse.

we have lived here for 19 years, all year round. We bought our own home and feel that if we had to do it all again we would not buy but continue to rent. We thought we were doing a good thing and spending our savings to cut down on rent etc.

Now we are stuck as we can't afford to move back to the UK as we will still have the bills and taxes to pay here, plus the mortgage and insurances. So we have to stick it out and make the most of it. Hence the prepping just in case the SHTF anytime in the near future.

Greece is still a beautiful place to live and my neighbours in the village (mostly pensioners and sheep farmers/olive growers) are wonderful, salt of the earth people. I would hate to have to leave Greece, we bought the house with the thought it would last us for the rest of our lives...and I still hope we will be here when we are in our eighties! But I do feel a need to know exactly what is going on and make plans for the best and worst outcomes. The tourist season ends soon and I can't help thinking that is when we will be pulled back to reality by the scruff of the neck!

maryb

It's everyone's right to express an opinion.

However there's ways of expressing it. HJ this is NOT aimed at you btw.

Forceful but respectful is fine, I'm robust enough to take that. Jeering makes me flinch, it's only human nature

Popperwell

I'd forgotten about that humming noise(I have never heard it myself)but I know it has been discussed to the radio on quite serious programmes, had a quick look on the internet and found this...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hum

grandma247

MrsLurcherwalker wrote: »

MAR - I know you can dry mushrooms and peppers on a thread hung over a stove, that would be the other thing to try just don't hang them too low or they'll cook not dry. Apple rings would dry like that too over a stove. Why do folks jet off to forn parts when they can dehydrate on their own windowsills? Life's imponderable sometines isn't it? Cheers Lyn x.

I was also going to suggest using the stove. It would be quicker than the window sill unless you get enough sun.

2tonsils It is sad that things have got so bad.

I worry about that kind of thing here very much, you can feel the bubbling under the surface of this town all the time and it would not take a lot to spark off something really bad and it has happened in the not too distant past. I just hope we can get out of here sooner rather than later along with my youngest dd and her family also my oldest son and ddil. They all want to get out.

In the meantime I am just plodding along getting things together so if we are forced to stay in we can cope and if we have to leave suddenly we will be ready.

prepareathome

I thought it was just a hum from under the ground but just around I hear that hear, have done for years when the silence falls and no cars,day or night. A humming sound just on the edge of hearing, it annoys me as it means there is never silence here ( when we first came I thought it was the street lights even though they were off in daytime, but a fault meant all street lighting was off for 3 months and could still hear it, sometimes it is louder but still never very loud. Sometimes it goes but rarely. I even told dr and they checked me out for tinnitus but all clear and have asked people around, some give me a strange look as they don't hear it and others almost jump on me with relief as they thought they were going nuts. For me I hear it more outside rarely hear it indoors and only when quiet which as we live on a busy main road is not often except middle of night.

Occasionally feel vibrations but then even the UK has lots of mini earthquakes daily so I just ignore them. I remember when our last big one hit in1984 I was literally bending down to put my youngest in his cot, as just had fed him, still had him in my arms, I remember hugging him tight then running to check my other two, hubby slept right through it, it was middle of night and everywhere shook and there was a terrible noise from the earth then chimney pots started to fall down and so trees - I lived in a tree lined avenue then and what a mess. Our home and many others in the road were damage by both pots and trees.

If it had been bigger I don't know what I would have done as trees fallen outside made it dangerous to go out even if house was falling down, most likely took kids and put them under the stairs.

mardatha

I don't hear anything, its quiet here but I do feel a sense of relief when the power goes off - kittie once said to me it might be something to do with mobile phone masts, which is quite possible as we've got on half a mile away.

valk_scot

Mardatha, I dry sliced mushrooms and thinly sliced apples etc under my Velux windows in the attic. They're west facing and get good afternoon sun, also it's very warm up there in summer and well ventilated. I put the mushrooms in a single layer on wire cake cooling trays and just leave them on the table that's under one Velux, the other Velux has a big clothes airing frame under it and I string the apple slices on long metal skewers and balance them across the frame. Neither the mushrooms or apple spices end up hard dried, they're more leathery. But I expect I could finish them off in a low oven if I wanted them crispy. As it is they need used up in 2-3 months I find, but that's easily done.

I also dry bunches of lavender and herbs like rosemary and sage up there on the drying rack. And fleece, and my winter woolies, and air the duvets and sleeping bags. It's useful to have a big clothes airer set up permenantly.

I've also considered putting solar panels up on the roof but since it was fairly recently refurbished |I don't feel I want to start mucking around with the slates again tbh. However recently I've noticed you can get small portable solar panels for camping use and was thinking about investigating one of these. They charge a leisure battery which you then use to power small appliences like a laptop or phone or modest light. Camping leisure batteries are normally useless for powering any heating type appliances like cookers, hair dryers or heaters but I'm less sure about freezers, I think one would need to do the sums. I will report back on any findings.

mardatha

Ok VS many thanks for that. One thought re the stove though is we use coal and probly the food would be coated in coal dust and not very healthy!
Windowsill faces south and the livingroom is always (too) warm so I might just try it. Quickest way to find oot lol

[Deleted User]

Morning MAR - did a bit of reading last night and in one of my books they recommend drying over the range, which in your case would be the boiler, on cheesecloth covered racks. Says for peas and beans pod, and spread out on paper in a sunny room to dry. Other books say for the airing cupboard way spread produce on muslin and use the top of the water tank or the nearest shelf above it and continue to dry until the produce is crisp. This will take several days and the door is left ajar. Leave the dried stuff to cool for 12 hours and store in paper bags, tins or jars but check then frequently to make sure they are not spoiling. One book says you can use residual heat from cooking in the oven after use and the veg/fruit on racks is left in with the oven door open a crack for a good hour at a time until crisp. It says you can do this over several days whenever you use the oven and the produce will come to no harm. Hope that's useful Cheers Lyn x.

Molly41

Did anyone see the Vikings programme on BBC2 after the Great British Bake Off (which i love)? The presenter was talking to a scandinavian food researcher who talked a lot about preparation and made a fermented fruit drink that sounded lovely x