Preparedness for when

[Deleted User]

DawnW wrote: »

so you will have him/her a while yet

Buggalugs is a her.

GreyQueen

Bedsit_Bob wrote: »

So there was water available.

Not enough for normal service to people's homes. We had standpipes, too. If you have to carry every blessed drop up the street in buckets, you use a darned sight less of it than if you just turn on a tap or tug the WC cistern handle.

Dunno what it was like in your part of the UK but it was pretty parched around here.

Not too arid personally as may have just had a small gottle of gear. I was peacefully minding my own business after tea with The Queen (posh parental moggie) asleep on my lap ( I was asleep as well) when Mum decided I had to be woken up.

Not overjoyed as I'd been in The Land of Nod for over an hour and was quite happy there. Have decided to come online to have a sulk. It's either that or play whist.:rotfl:

We've worked out that Wild THing (who has been seen briefly for grub once in the past 12 hours and is out AGAIN), and The Q are 10 early next year. Still in fine fettle. At their annual check-up the vet reckons they have the teeth of two year olds.

Prolly should apologise to the toddlers and give them back again......:p

[Deleted User]

GreyQueen wrote: »

Not enough for normal service to people's homes

Agreed, but it was available.

I store 50 Litres, which is about 12 days worth.

If we end up on standpipes or tankers, I can strap a 25 Litre container to my package trolley, to fetch water.

That's got to be easier (and cheaper) than buying and storing fifteen 25 Litre water containers.

ragz_2

Merry Christmas all! Not been able to catch up with this thread lately. but thought of you all today as a few prepping related things came up....
Gave my sister and brother a survival kit for christmas, they loved them! (Mess tins, hexamine stove, foil blankets, torches, flint and a first aid kit)
Hubby got a permaculture book (well, I chose it for his sister to buy!) as he showed an interest in that recently and our veg bed needs sorting so I thought it would 'inspire him' - I also bought him a book called The Ultimate Outdoorsman's Workshop Handbook (from poundland!), to 'inspire' him to sort out the chaos that is our garage/his workshop (I don't need to nag, I'm subtle, lol).

Recent useful skills acquired that contributed to our Christmas -
I learned to knit, and made a scarf for my Step-dad
The pig-in-blankets we had were made with home-made sausages and home-cured bacon that hubby smoked and I also cured the gammon, all from the pig we helped raise.
Turkey we had was raised by our (amazing) neighbours, hubby gutted and plucked it himself. I helped a little with the plucking, the feathers are so soft! Was quite fun...
So, our household will be ending 2013 with several skills we didn't start with, a very full storecupboard and a whole host of ideas, mainly thanks to this thread and all on here...

So, Merry Christmas Preppers

daz378

to one and all the seasons felicitations......8hour shift out of way... on beer tomorrow to watch match

BigMummaF

ginnyknit wrote: »

....we havent bought any nibbles, cakes or anything yummy, basically because I couldnt afford it. I knew I had the makings in the pantry so no problem or 'no biggie' as my dd says :rotfl:....

Because mum is a diabetic & the rest of us are supposed to be on a healthy eating plan *snort* (for years now, I've been trying to do less fat & sugar, if they all but knew it *sshhhh* )I had a go at making my own mincemeat this year. It was basic dried mixed fruit with grated eating apples, left to steep for a couple of days in two capfuls of brandy & liberal shaking of both cinnamon & nutmeg. I also had a bash with filo pastry & my first attempt was horrendous but this second time wasn't so bad, but very fiddly. On the telly they recommend using three layers of filo but it looked an awful lot so I did the remainder with just the two & they are great, even if I do say so myself
The cheese & bacon twists are almost gone--by far the favoured snack--made by spreading mustard over puff pastry, adding grated extra mature mousetrap, basic streaky bacon & fold over the top. I did the twisty bits a couple of times before but lost a lot of cheese, so did them like mini turnovers this time!


Unfortunately with mum's current health, she was on great form Xmas Eve while I was making things & again yesterday doing the veg & stuff (she likes to "give advice" which is closer to sarcasm than she realises, & becoming less appropriate in her confusion ) In the end I told her that at least we know what we're eating & it's still a lot cheaper than getting it done by Heston Smith or Delia Oliver !




Who knew that a kitchen & 10 loo roll tubes, three newspapers, box from some sage & onion stuffing & a teabag box, would keep 4 adults & a Pup intrigued for 10mins on crimbly-day Offspring No3's main gift was little pieces that all fit together in various combinations & a damned sight cheaper to buy separately than in a huge 'gift pack'. So I wrapped up the bits in the papers, stuffed inside the loo tubes & then inside the teabag box; I put some loose doggy treats in some of the tubes to help fill the box, hence Pup being involved! The looks of expectation on their faces as they all tried to guess what was coming next was far, far better than anything I'd seen in a long while...what's that saying? Loo rolls £2:50, newspapers £3, t-bags £2:15 (damned good offer at the time!) Family fun time: truly Priceless.


Enjoy your festivities, folks & Salutations to you all x

thriftwizard

Who knew that a kitchen & 10 loo roll tubes, three newspapers, box from some sage & onion stuffing & a teabag box, would keep 4 adults & a Pup intrigued for 10mins on crimbly-day Offspring No3's main gift was little pieces that all fit together in various combinations & a damned sight cheaper to buy separately than in a huge 'gift pack'. So I wrapped up the bits in the papers, stuffed inside the loo tubes & then inside the teabag box; I put some loose doggy treats in some of the tubes to help fill the box, hence Pup being involved! The looks of expectation on their faces as they all tried to guess what was coming next was far, far better than anything I'd seen in a long while...what's that saying? Loo rolls £2:50, newspapers £3, t-bags £2:15 (damned good offer at the time!) Family fun time: truly Priceless.

Brilliant! And that's what it's really all about…

I've felt truly blessed this year, to have such good people around me. Yes, it's hard work, but many hands make it a whole lot easier, even if they're all falling over each other in the kitchen & one of them was cooking herself something entirely different (prawn curry, having gone pescatarian lately) just when I needed to be getting the veg on. But we had the trainee daughter-in-law's mother over, amongst others; we just did the normal family things like playing charades & other silly games, & when she left she said how different it had been from their Christmasses, which she'd come to dread, with the TV blaring from dawn, people feeling hard-done-by, drinking too much & epic rows constantly simmering, like an episode of East-Enders. I know OH's Christmasses were like that too; he absents himself from the game-playing bit & does the washing up, because he's subconsciously just waiting for the first punch to be thrown. His brothers stalk round each other like wary, potentially-hostile cats to this day. It's not that my lot can't throw a good row if they want to, but they can keep the lid on it when necessary & they've usually forgiven & forgotten by the next day.

I do think that at the end of the day, it's people that count. I don't need to amass any more kit, or food, or water (plenty of that around here just now!) just to keep such good-hearted, good-natured & adaptable people around me & we can survive just about anything. And they don't have to be blood relations, either; good friends & neighbours work too. Together we stand, and all that...

Goldiegirl

Ventured out for the first time for a few days, and noticed that there were a few walls and fences down after the winds of the last few days.


Looking at the internet, there seems to be quite a lot of flooding in some areas of Kent, particularly in the Maidstone area.


I think more and more people are taking practical steps to prepare themselves for incidents, but I wonder if it is more difficult to deal with the emotional side of this type of thing, e.g. finding your beloved house under water

paidinchickens

Happy Boxing day folks


The only hunt going on round these parts is hunting for my phone.

I'm full of cold which came on yesterday so I'm going to snuggle up warm and contemplate the changes I'd like to make next year.

I would like to give up FB as it is so full of fake people who need to be "liked" for going to the loo or summat equally uninteresting however I do have to post pictures of the foster cats and the exposure does wonders, most have been rehomed this way rather than through the rescue site direct.

PiC x

GreyQueen

Goldiegirl, we've got several garden walls down on my parents' estate, some very nearby. Seems like the wind was very localised and made little vortexes which took down a few meters of wall and left the rest untouched.

Lots of work for the brickies come New Year, so it's an ill wind which blows nobody good, as the old saying so aptly has it.

We're at that stage on the communal catering when it's down to some odd meals coming up later today. and tomorrow, with me deciding to have cheese on toast for tea as there isn't enough ham to go around and it's not my most favourite meat anyway. Plus tomorrow the other 4 will have salmon and I will have to cold beef warmed up with leftover gravy, nomnomnom.

It's because the numbers in the household are going 3-4-5-4-3 on different days. We still have enough sweeties and cakes to provision a small army and there is beer and wine and sherry.

Thinking about those 13,000 households reckoned to be without their electicity still and hoping they are able to get hot food and drinks somehow.

Wild Thing is where she normally is (out) and the Queen is curled up in the centre of a double bed purring her little heart out. It's so very easy to make cats happy, isn't it? All you have to do is dance attendance on their every whim and put their wants before your own needs and conveniences, and the cats are perfectly happy. :rotfl:

Righty, suppose I should offer to do the dishes. Have been doing the veg prep but can't get within a couple of feet of the kitchen sink. My muvver has asbestos hands and thinks I don't have the dish-washing water hot enough for her liking. As hot as I can stand with Marig0lds on still isn't satisfactory..... perhaps I'll be allowed to wipe up.