Preparedness for when

westcoastscot

Oh forgot about Wrights – wonder if it smells like that as I like that too! Will email and ask, thanks.

CTC we all eat at home and take turns cooking – really need to cut down my stores though. I’d be interested to hear how your light goes – looks really interesting, and I have access to Asda when I’m in the city.

AOT I’m on methotrexate, maximum dose, and don’t go back to the hospital now until April. It’s made a huge difference, but I have slipped discs at the bottom of my spine and my spinal chord is among it, as well as widespread joint and bone degeneration so sore in the mornings and later in the day. I’m just struggling to come to terms with the impact of it, even though I’m better than a year ago when I could barely walk.

Craigy chewing a paintbrush??! I like the smell of Wrights, and I love Pears too but wanted to try the pine tar stuff as it’s supposed to be good for damaged skin, however don’t want to go to work smelling of icthammol paste :rotfl:

[Deleted User]

HERBILY the little solar cell in the lamp base should just pop out if you push it from the bottom. I leave our lamps entire and intact on the windowsill permanently and they stay charged up from just the daylight. I have had mine for a few years and don't know if they have changed the make up of the actual lamp but ours work fine. Make sure the lamp is off and just stand it on a window sill for 24 hours then wait until it's dark and turn it on and see if it works OK. We've left our lamps turned on overnight and still have enough light from them to see by in the morning. Hope that helps, Lyn xxx.

If you get a really sunny day you could try removing the little solar panel and taking just that outside to stand in a sunny spot, we've done that and that works well too.

JayneC

Evening,

Just wanted to say thanks for the mention of Equigas. I have switched:T

Since transferring from gas CH to solid fuel (boilerstove) I now only have a 4 ring hob that is gas powered. Just worked out its costing me £6 per month in standing charges:eek: New estimate is £1 per month in total :rotfl: Though I've opted to pay £3 just in case:p
I am considering getting rid of the built in electric oven (which is probably on its last legs to be fair) and get a free standing gas oven . I'd quite like an old fashioned eye level grill - not sure they still make them but far more convenient than bending down every 30 secs to see how your toast is doing! I haven't in fact had a grill for several years as mine died - its part of the oven which was a PITA anyways - I think being sprayed with hot chicken fat every Sunday did it in:rotfl: I've been using a george foreman and toaster and have done ok up to know...

My microwave has also just died and I am debating whether money is better spent on other (prepping) items rather than replacing it. It's a rather expensive way of warming up my tea when I've let it go cold:o Although I have been known to make the (very) occasional sponge pudding in it, which is much easier than hours of steaming and of course there's the Christmas pud too and scrambled eggs.... I think I will put an ask on Freegle and see what happens...

GreyQueen

homesteadchick wrote: »

Well..
I found a hand cranked Juicer.
And appartently it is THE latest hit! Because, so they tell me, the electrical juicers are so fast.. they smash the fruit, and damage all the vitamins and such..... and the slow juicer seperates the juice from the fibres more gently and thus your juice will be healthier because all the vitamins are intact....

And would I please pay over 200 euro's to own such a treasure??:eek::eek::eek:

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

Unbefffffinglievable!

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

You can get these for pence secondhand, I think they're pretty cheap new, also;



Of course, nowhere near as sexy as a whizzy "handcranked" thungummy doodah but you can probably come out 198 euro ahead.........:rotfl:Plus I never knew vitamins could be traumatised by rough handling. Knew they can be cooked out of stuff, but knocked out by friction..........? I fink I smell a marketing ploy.

nuatha, thanks for that information about Equipower and Equigas, I will go my research in Jan, am on the tail end of a 12 month contract atm. No standing charges and a higher unit charge would see me ahead, I think. Since I have leccy and gas bills going back years, I can easily work out my probable unit consumption and see if it's a better deal, but I suspect it will be. Will wait til after Crimble and get a refund of my overcharged futility account. Call in my post-Xmas present, from me to me...........I could buy some arrows............? Possibly not, haven't got my own bow yet, don't need the arrows atm.

Been in full-on domestic mode since coming in from the allotmentino. Have bread rolls and clean clothes. Not done in the same appliance, natch.;) In fact, as I had the oven on high, I decided to do a bake-a-thon of FB pies. I normally do three at a time on one paticular baking sheet, all that will fit on there, but was using that for the bread rolls, so dragged out the less-favoured baking sheet and found that it takes four FBs at once.

Soooo, in the interests of energy efficiency, I cooked four, and when they are coolled, 3 get wrapped in clingfilm and frozen, and one will go into the fridge to be warmed thru half at a time in the solid part of my stacking saucepan set.

I am starting a little stashette of FB pie tins (emptied) as I figure they'd make handy candleholders for my giant pillar candles in a power cut.

Preptastic doings today; gardening and shed-tidying, refilling water carrier, re-arranging some tinned goods and updating inventory. Also chatted to friends, to family and finished a book.

Keep on trucking, lovely peeps.

ETA JayneC, I gave away my microwave a couple of years ago. I have a tiny amount of counter and it was taking up a lot of the limited room and I just didn't get muchuse out of it. May I suggest hanging loose for a while and seeing if you really miss it? A surprising amount of people who give one up don't want to get another once we've got over the feeling that we ought to have one because we used to have one, IYSWIM.

Great news about your switching; that's the joy of pooling knowledge on MSE, I love it here.

[Deleted User]

Yes, eye level grills are still available.

Here's one for less than £300.



http://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/household-appliances/cooking/cookers/gas-cookers/beko-ba52new-gas-cooker-white-21410789-pdt.html

JayneC

Thanks BB, now that's a proper cooker

GQ Think I will take your sage advice and see how it goes without a microwave - I suspect I won't miss it TBH.

I too have been allotmenteering today. I have relocated a plum tree, covered my lettuces and carrots with mini tunnels and added a little to my path - its a work in progress as I've now run out of flags so will have to await until the universe sends some more my way...I'm suffering from leek envy, there's a whole lot of lovely fat leeks in other peoples plots, mine look positively puny:( Although I am unbelievably excited that I have actual cauliflowers growing. I haven't grown them before but remember dear dad having scrawny looking things and him saying they never grew properly, so am very pleased:D

GreyQueen

JayneC, I was at my Nan's two weekends ago, whose veg garden Dad works as if it was an allotment (Sat mornings only) Oh, the leeks.........!

Leeks and I seem to be accursed. First off, I really like them and would like to have a lot of them. Here is my track record thus far;

Year 1 - didn't germinate.
Year 2, grew well, transplanted them tenderly into an edged bed, all 77 of the little darlings, and came back 24 hours later to find that some !!!!!! had jumped all over them with hid Size 10 boots. Three survived.:( He also jumped on neighbour's fruit bushes they'd just planted out and destroyed them.

Sunshine, I have memorised your waffle-printed spoor and if I ever get my hands on you..............!

Year 3. Failed to germinate. Neighbour a few plots down took pity and gave me some plants. Died. Dug them up - maggot infested.

Year 4. Didn't germinate as too dry. Despite watering.

Year 5. 2013. Planted a 5m row. About half a dozen puny efforts appeared and never got any bigger.

And next year........? I have now managed to grow a decent carrot and figure I am due some decent leeks. Fingers crossed.:p

maryb

All the books say to plant out leeks when they are the thickness of a pencil.

They don't say what to do if they never get thicker than a knitting needle!!

GreyQueen

maryb wrote: »

All the books say to plant out leeks when they are the thickness of a pencil.

They don't say what to do if they never get thicker than a knitting needle!!

My leeks were almost invisible. I wouldn't have been able to see them at all but for the fact that I had left the garden line over them as a precaution against losing them..............

Fine as wisps of baby's hair, and determined not to grow any bigger. Sigh. And it was fresh seed and all...............these things are sent to try us.

I was digging near the feral strawberry bed today and found that I had about 5 acorns which had sprouted. I read an article on forestry once and they were saying how difficult it is to get oaks to germinate. LOL, just send you arbi-wotsits to my allotment, as I have them planted by either jays or squirrels and they always come up. And walnuts.

GQ, the woman who could single-handledly revive the oak forests of Olde England but can't grow a bliddy leek to save herself.

Byatt

I got rid of my microwave in the summer, because like GQ I have a very small kitchen and it was taking up too much space; I thought I would miss it, but I don't at all. Not even sure now why I wanted one so badly!