Preparedness for when

happydays89

GreyQueen wrote: »

Good to have you check in, Mar, people were missing ya. Was the freezer stuff OK?

I went to bed about 9.30 pm last night as was exhausted. For reasons too tedious to enumerate (in brief, neighbours :mad:) I'm only getting about 3-4 hours sleep each night and was very tired.

Woke up at 03.07 with my heart in my mouth as someone was pounding on a door next to mine. Thought maybe we were being woken by the emergency services as there was a severe flood warning on our river system when I went to bed. It's been lifted now.

But no, it was just usual idiocy but haven't been off to sleep since.

Seems to have been a grim night for many, and I hope that happydays' son gets off the rig soon. Bit of a severe intro to winter rig working. I know it's good money but, by golly, they're brave.

Two more problematic tides predicted so I guess a lot of people will be out of their homes/ at home but on tenterhooks, for this morning and then again this evening/ early hours. Sending them all good wishes.

Thanks,GreyQueen.I wish it was good money but he's an apprentice,so they are only paid £80 a day for a 12 hour shift,usually on nights.Hopefully when he's fully trained the money will improve.

mardatha

My god - for £80 a shift I'm off to sign up! I'll lie about my age and wear disguise

RAS

happydays89 wrote: »

I wish it was good money but he's an apprentice,so they are only paid £80 a day for a 12 hour shift,usually on nights.Hopefully when he's fully trained the money will improve.

I hope they do not charge accom and food out of that?

Glad people got through yesterday OK. Did not do much myself, just kept out of the wind and weather.

I have one of the books (GF's?) about 1953 and know how strong the feelings were about it from older family members.

Real SHTF; dark, freezing cold and huddled on the roofs of little bungalows in the rain and sleet, with little warning. Would have been a long night and even at dawn there was little hope of immediate rescue.

So glad we have learned a little since then; though as GQ notes every time we add to the downstream protection, it makes it easier for the water to cause havoc up-stream. Seen that in RL in York particularly.

happydays89

Hi,the fairy lights I purchased have been on since 4pm on the 19th November,they have dimmed a bit,but still give off enough light to find the door if you hang them on the door handle.They have been really good value,£1.00 plus 2 AA batteries (8for£1).Thanks to Bob I managed to buy the 100 led Christmas lights which need 3AA batteries,from Poundstretcher .We have fixed them under the kitchen units to light the work top up in a power cut.One set we threaded around the spindles going up the stairs,we will just leave them on when dark so should last a few weeks.

happydays89

RAS wrote: »

I hope they do not charge accom and food out of that?

Glad people got through yesterday OK. Did not do much myself, just kept out of the wind and weather.

I have one of the books (GF's?) about 1953 and know how strong the feelings were about it from older family members.

Real SHTF; dark, freezing cold and huddled on the roofs of little bungalows in the rain and sleet, with little warning. Would have been a long night and even at dawn there was little hope of immediate rescue.

So glad we have learned a little since then; though as GQ notes every time we add to the downstream protection, it makes it easier for the water to cause havoc up-stream. Seen that in RL in York particularly.

Hi Ras,thankfully they don't charge him,they pay for taxis to the airport or heliport depending where he is,and pay for hotels.I am pleased he is learning a trade,just wish it was on land:(
I never put my worries onto him,we are always upbeat about offshore work but inside I am a nervous wreck:eek:
I know he's a big strapping man,but he's still my baby.:p:D

fuddle

Good evening preppers.

I have been missing in action due to our move southwards. For those of you who don't know we managed to get ourselves a small house with a little garden as opposed to a flat. Very relieved as an outdoor space plays heavy in my preps.

I have missed so much (makes me nervous as you speak volumes to me about so much that I find interesting and relevant) but haven't the time to read back about 6 weeks worth.

So good to be back! We're very nearly unpacked so let the prepping commence. My first priority is to up my food stocks. We have wall space and a fair bit so we're thinking of shelving to keep our food stocks. There's a vast space beside the washing machine that will house a lot of bottles of water so that will be closed off with a curtain I think.

We have inherited quite a large shed and have an outdoor cupboard which houses the electric meter - perfect for camping gear/stoves/little BBQ

Still not got a Bob sorted so will get on with a list in the coming weeks.

I feel like I'm starting again and in many respects I am. I'm about to begin prepping bigger and better than ever before! I also have a job now so will have more money to throw into the food stores.

The garden space is small but completely wrecked and that means scope for rejigging and planting. We don't get much sun though so think I will struggle with produce. Any ideas what will grow edible wise in Dorset in a garden that only gets sun on the patio of an evening?

GreyQueen

Evening all.

Nice to "see" you Fuddle and I'm glad you managed to get a little house, as you'd posted about having misgivings about being in a flat.

Re the area behind the washer, great to curtain it off, but if I could make a wee suggestion about also draping the water bottles with something like a spare towel/ old tablecloth to keep the dust off. It'll manage to get around and under.

I keep some of my bottled water stash under a counter, in a dead end up by the washer and noticed that the dust had managed to get onto the bottles even there. I now have a darkish towel draped over them, which has the additonal benefit of making them considerably less obvious to the casual visitor. OPSEC and all that - it's already a dark corner of the kitchen.

Re gardening, not sure what to suggest as most veggies really like full sun, although lettuces can get too much of it and benefit from some shade. It's hard to know without having experienced the garden in 12 months of the year, so I would say, just go for a little of what you like to eat and see how it goes. If you don't spend too much money doing it, you can regard it as part of your gardening apprenticeship.

Although we weren't affected by the storm surge directly, we've had a fair bit of damage to trees and council houses from the heavy winds yesterday so have been running around sorting that out.

Makes you realise what an entirely artificial and managed environment and urban area is and how quickly things start to decay without contstant management and repairs. If we had a post-SHTF situation, I could very easily see that after a handful of years of abandonment that it would be very dangerous to venture into an urban area, for stuff collapsing under you and on top of you.

Righty, just going to have my supper and then catch up on the news of the affected areas. Hope everyone is keeping well and that you're all warm and have some sweeties somewhere.

Oooh, quick thought about the subject of torches to those who've the need to have them in multiple places; have you thought about buying those sprung tool clip thingied from the hardware store, so that you could screw them to the woodwork and have your torches clipped into them?

It'd mean that they would be exactly where they were supposed to be and could be found by touch even in a blackout. They cost about 20p each so wouldn't be a big outlay.

This is the thing I mean, in case I'm not making sense:

Soworried

Thankyou all for the replies.

I have stocked up on a lot of tinned items that could be eaten cold if needed. The likes of tinned potatoes, hot dogs, corned beef and minced beef.
I feel safer now

I am going to invest in a small camping stove like suggested, or I might ask my parents for it as a christmas present.

When I get paid in 3 week time I am going to buy a couple of bottles of water as well and a decent torch. Our cheap wind up one was ok last night but not great.

DawnW

good luck Fuddle, good to see you back x

DawnW

Hollyberry wrote: »

Dawn - your former farm sounds amazing, although I can see the attractions of somewhere more easily managed.

Not our farm I am afraid Hollyberry. We were just farm workers