Preparedness for when

nuatha

Cake4brains wrote: »

Hi, can I please ask what you all think about storing canned food in a garage? I was thinking of getting my DH to build me a shelving unit but while browsing online I saw something about fluctuations in temperature can damage the cans and make the food inedible. Wasn't sure if the UK weather would be enough to do this. TIA

Unfortunately, we don't have much space in the house and what little space we have is pretty full of packs of spaghetti I bought really cheap!

I have a couple of boxes of canned food in the garage as well as some metal boxes of dry goods (specialty flours, pasta and pulses). I've done this over the last 18 months, not sure how well they might do if we have a repeat of 2010's winter, but I've had no problems so far. (If temperatures were to head seriously sub zero I'd bring them into the house)
HTH

mardatha

Alibobsy, your aunty Irene sounds like an ideal role model! I quite fancy a hamster meself lol

[Deleted User]

Much as we adore the lurcha we've come to the decision to not have any more pets (remains to be seen if we can stick to it though!) the main reason being the ludicrously high price of veterinary treatment. The vets we use are very good and have helped our lad through some pretty serious health issues but it's £30 per visit for consultation fees and that is every visit made including follow up check ups and the price of any treatment is astronomical. We were charged £69.99 for some glucosamine for him, it was the same dosage as that which I buy for He Who Knows for £3.99 from the chemist and the vet read me a lecture when I said I'd use some we'd already got! he said that the expensive one was a 'NUTRICUTICAL' and had been specially tested on dogs, so we weren't to use the one for humans as it had only been tested on humans. Same product basically so why the huge price difference? The other thing that always happens is on walking through the door the first question asked is 'are you insured?' and if the answer is yes, they run batteries of very expensive tests all of which drive up our insurance premiums. Don't get me wrong, there's nothing I would leave undone to make sure the lurcha is well and healthy but I feel it's all got a bit out of hand these days, Lyn xxx.

GreyQueen

Cake4brains wrote: »

Hi, can I please ask what you all think about storing canned food in a garage? I was thinking of getting my DH to build me a shelving unit but while browsing online I saw something about fluctuations in temperature can damage the cans and make the food inedible. Wasn't sure if the UK weather would be enough to do this. TIA

Unfortunately, we don't have much space in the house and what little space we have is pretty full of packs of spaghetti I bought really cheap!

Hi, I expect it would depend on a lot of factors, such as the usual temps where you live, of which there is quite a bit of regional variation. And is your garage freestanding or built on to the house? Does stuff freeze in there, does one aspect of the garage catch the sun? What is the garage built out of?

Ah, LBM, would it be worth putting a thermometer inside the garage and taking notes of what actually goes on?

I have a box of tinned foods on a rack in the back of my bike shed. Peas, in point of fact. It's against a block wall which is itself the wall of a flat, and the whole row of bikesheds is under the cover of the Towers. If it were to freeze in there, we would be in deep trouble. It also isn't exposed to direct sun. Because I've kept tatties in there over-winter and they keep nicely, I'm guessing that the tinned peas should be OK.

One good tip for economic vermin-proof storage is old office filing cabinets. Prepping guru James Wesley Rawles, in his book TEOTWAWKI, mentioned that they are mouse-proof if kept on a level floor. I had a chance at one for only £4 at a bootsale last summer. Trouble was, I have nowhere to put them and it I was 45 miles from home and reliant on public transport. :rotfl:

If you want one, I'm sure Freecycle could shake one loose for ya. HTH. I also have known companies offer them free to staff when upgrading their office equipment. I say companies; never known any public sector to do this, we're still using our old stuff.

At the restaurant last night I had a surprise gift from a pal; what appeared to be a housebrick wrapped in brown paper. This mysterious object had the label The Hormonal Woman's Survival Kit and contained 6 big bars of chocolate. The giver was another woman of a certain age.......I love it when people know you so well.

Thriftwizard, thanks for checking with the Brother Who Knows, I wouldn't want to make a fool of myself if I do decide to pootle down to the ancestral stomping grounds. Hem-eee-ock, got that.

Have had almost no sleep once again thanks to my luvverly neighbours. I may have found it necessary to vacuum at 08.00 today. On grounds that people who keep me awake past 04.00 don't deserve a lie-in. What the beggars don't know in this block is that I have a historic love of heavy rock/ metal and a kick-a*rse 6 speaker system on this pooter which would travel the sound about 50m thru the concrete walls, should I let 'er rip.

I shouldn't lower myself to their standards but, by gum, it's tempting sometimes.:p

***** GQ cackles evilly, wanders off looking for AC/DC. Motorhead and misc death metal on the interwebs. ******

mardatha

You are so right! Vets used to care about animals, now they care about money. The practice is run by a wee money person sitting at a ledger. Probly name of Scrooge.
I often read on here about the money people pay out loads on their pets and it's just so wrong. I think we need to get out the old books on animal husbandry and folk lore - I know there's some rubbish in there but there's also some good old cures.
I know this is OT and some of you will def roll your eyes lol - but I have to tell you it anyway, because it had a huge impact on me. Sit comfortably and listen to yer Aunty Mard telling ye a wee story
My friend is a good medium in her late 60s who sometimes goes to houses where people are "having problems"..(ghostbusters lol) She went to one country cottage- very old, used to be a smithy - where the lady was being terrified out of her wits. She had been hearing growling and things had been moved. Seriously scarey and not nice, if you're in a house alone, coming out of the shower and hear a growl right there in the room beside you :eek:
Anyway to cut a long story short, my friend linked with an old man who had once lived in the house, who had a collie. This man said he liked how this lady was talking care of his house and garden but his dog still thought of the place as his, hence the growling. He said in his day, people looked after each other, helped their neighbours, but life seemed different now and that was sad. People only had love and respect for money.
This lady who lived in the place had a dog too, the dog had something wrong with it. This old man in spirit actually told her what to give the dog, and they did, and it worked. (It was some salve made with garden herb I think, I forget).
So I do believe they had cures then that worked and that we have lost, and I think we need to re-learn them.
Oh and they sorted things out with the spirit and told him he was welcome to pop by but please leave the dog outside :rotfl:

[Deleted User]

Part of the problem MAR is that 'they' have made 'us' dependent by the threat of prosecution for not looking after our animals to set standards, I've seen the RSPCA programmes on the TV!!! showing some dreadful things and some stupid things and some wicked things happening to various species. That is NOT redressed by a programme showing pets and livestock being looked after properly as I suspect that wouldn't make good 'viewing'! There is the perception that if you do try to treat things yourself you are an irresponsible owner and mistreating your animals. You are right in that there must have been known and effective cures for illnesses right through history but most people write them off as old wives tales and like herbal cures in use for humanity, they're written off as second best to a nice pill you can get from the vet!!! Lyn xxx.

GreyQueen

Couldn't agree with you more, Mar and MrsLW. I consider vets' prices to be ridiculous these days.

My immediate family have lived for over 40 years in a market town with two vetinary practices. We always took our cat-of-the-day to one of them, until 2004. Cat was about 12 and had suddenly stopped grooming and eating. Took him to the vets, they put him under to examine inside his mouth, and it turned out that the poor lad had a large inoperable tumour under his tongue and this was the cause. The vet PTS there and then, it seemed the kindest thing to do.

We were invoiced (an un-itemised invoice, to my great annoyance) just shy of £140 for 5 mins of vet time, the drug and disposal of the cat. Couldn't believe how much this was. I was all for demanding a breakdown of how they'd arrived at this figure but the folks' just paid it, with a stinging letter about how extortionate they thought it was.

It was also pointed out to the old vet that we'd replaced that cat with not one but two cats (Wild Thing and The Q) and that they would be going to the other vet practice in town and the old one would not get one more penny from us - ever. A decade on, they're down several hundred £££ already, and counting.

Needless to say, they didn't have the b0llocks to respond.

I saw a graph somewhere about how vet costs for household pets went thru the roof when pet insurance became widespread. As it is, all the parents cats have needed since 2004 is their annual shots and check-up and their flea treatment and they're 10 this spring. I think it's a bliddy rip off and I'm sure there are people now, beginning to feel the pinch, who are thinking that they'll not replace their current pets when they pass.

Loving the story about auntie Irene. Reminds me a little of one of my great-aunties, whose catch-phrase is I'm not going THERE, it's full of OLD people! She's a mere lass at 80+ and likes the liviliness of youngsters, y'see.:rotfl:

jk0

MrsLurcherwalker wrote: »

Much as we adore the lurcha we've come to the decision to not have any more pets (remains to be seen if we can stick to it though!) the main reason being the ludicrously high price of veterinary treatment. The vets we use are very good and have helped our lad through some pretty serious health issues but it's £30 per visit for consultation fees and that is every visit made including follow up check ups and the price of any treatment is astronomical. We were charged £69.99 for some glucosamine for him, it was the same dosage as that which I buy for He Who Knows for £3.99 from the chemist and the vet read me a lecture when I said I'd use some we'd already got! he said that the expensive one was a 'NUTRICUTICAL' and had been specially tested on dogs, so we weren't to use the one for humans as it had only been tested on humans. Same product basically so why the huge price difference? The other thing that always happens is on walking through the door the first question asked is 'are you insured?' and if the answer is yes, they run batteries of very expensive tests all of which drive up our insurance premiums. Don't get me wrong, there's nothing I would leave undone to make sure the lurcha is well and healthy but I feel it's all got a bit out of hand these days, Lyn xxx.

Hmm. Almost sounds like car body repairs when they used to ask 'Is it an insurance job?', (and doubled all their rates.)

Rather than feeding this financial scam, why not do without insurance and ask your bank to save up whatever monthly sum you consider reasonable in a 'doggy fund'?

BTW, if £3.99 glucosamine is good enough for hubby...

[Deleted User]

Precisely jkO!!! and why not do without insurance? well we've had a few occasions with the lurcha where he's been very poorly very quickly and has ended up at said vets on drips etc for the best part of a week and it's happened several times within a few months and it's cost £1,000 plus every time to get him fixed so we pay the insurance premiums as they have been considerably less than the treatment has cost. Should the premiums come close to the cost of treatment I'm sure we would save up and pay cash but we're not there yet. We've had dogs for the best part of 30 years and I'm just being selfish as I'd like to be free to do things spur of the moment not having the tie of a pet at home maybe for a couple of years, then we'll see how much we're missing out canine friend and do a review of the case!

elaine241

Hi All
Just popping in! No time for prepping this week unless you count increasing free Kindle books.

Jayne C I live in a 16th century farmhouse, half way up a mountain, and predominantly use wood to heat it. We have a gas boiler that runs off the smaller, tall LPg cylinders when needed. It is the type of wood you are burning that makes all the difference also how long it has been seasoned. We do go through loads but mix soft wood/those types not v good for heat with seasoned oak, beech or other type that burns well and gives off a lot of heat. Last night I lit the fire with kindling and soft wood and when it go colder put oak logs on. Within half an hour the temperature went up a whole lot, almost too hot, and we opened stairs doors to let the heat upstairs. No gas used for heating, just cooking.

With buying in wood I would be asking questions about the type of wood it is and how long been cut, all wood is not equal in the heat stakes!

As I have space next years logs ( and possibly years after!) are stacked as cord wood outside but off the ground, busy seasoning. I spend time in the summer stacking split logs in the shed so I dont stand out in the freezing cold/rain/howling gales wishing I hadnt been so lazy in the better weather. I do cheat and use a log splitter on the back of the tractor whilts OH chops cord wood into sizes it can handle with chainsaw. Log sorting is a family affair with my two boys stacking the split logs, alternating with wheel barrow loads. I do have a log splitting axe that I can wield like something out the SHining if I have to, very good if you need stress relief after work and a good skill to have!

Re vet bills I must admit I do have skills to tackle a lot of wounds and ailments. Living on a farm it is not cost effective to call the vet every time something looks unwell. We do have licenced products and long acting antibiotics etc which can and has! been used for a variety of animals. With horses I was taught the old fashioned poulticing etc which many people are not today.

Anyway rambled on too long! will keep prepping and catch up when I can. Stay safe everyone, ELaine