Preparedness for when

JayneC

Well I'm off to walk the dog and then to bed with my trusty stone hot water bottle ( it's like a little radiator in bed with me, stays warm all night;))

Oh BTW if anyone was interested - I got the smokeless fuel and it is indeed much hotter than wood. It was up to 18 degrees - I had to take me jumper off! It usually hovers around 14, maybe 15 on a good day:o

mardatha

Glad to hear that Jayne, I was wondering how you got on. We use the same stone HWB here

katep23

Thanks GQ, am considering what possible options there are for kettles / cooking on an open fire at the moment; although we have camping stoves etc, if we have a power cut and are going to have the fire going for heat it would make sense to use this for cooking if possible.

Re interest rates, the amount of people I know who have borrowed on the basis they can just afford the interest now is scary.

When OH and I have looked at what our repayments would be on a certain amount I work out what they are now and what they would be at say 15% because I know that can happen.

I'm 36 and I remember talk of the interest rate but others not much younger than me seem to be depending on interest rates staying the same with no thought for worst case scenario.

kezlou

We have a camping kettle that, we bought from argos for £9.99.

Its really good and we it everyday on our gas cooker, well worth paying the money. We've had it for about three years and no problems with it what so ever.

The, weather has been mental here, howling winds hailstones rain and the sky went from pure white to black within minutes.

Its quite scary with the banking situation.

Bmf I think she moved to another country from greece. I think her name was 2 tonsils. I'm probably wrong though

daz378

i bet this period of growth will last until june/july 15......is that a bit too cynical.....? plus theres flashpoints around the world Japan...China....ongoing situation in syria......Ukraine.....and even Argentina is dragging down the BRIC countries and we still have a deficit of 100 billion a year which all main parties are claiming will clear in 5 years...more eye watering cuts post may 2015 then.....good luck and happy new year

Perplexed_Pineapple

We took out an interest only mortgage because we knew we would be going through a few tight years, if things go according to plan, we can start making overpayments pretty soon (once the credit card is sorted out) with the aim of having the bulk of the capital paid off within the term of the deal. It is reliant on continued employment and could quite easily go to pot, so the sooner we can make inroads into the debt the better.... worrying to think we've got good jobs and a good mortgage deal and still may struggle, there will be many many people in a worse situation than us if interest rates take off. At the end of the day worse things happen at sea and our preps should stand us in good stead in worst case scenarios :eek:
PS kezlou - 2tonsils went to Thailand, I think they have their own problems at the moment. 2tonsils if you are lurking would be good to hear from you!

Perplexed_Pineapple

daz378 wrote: »

i bet this period of growth will last until june/july 15......is that a bit too cynical.....? plus theres flashpoints around the world Japan...China....ongoing situation in syria......Ukraine.....and even Argentina is dragging down the BRIC countries and we still have a deficit of 100 billion a year which all main parties are claiming will clear in 5 years...more eye watering cuts post may 2015 then.....good luck and happy new year

daz378 I'm sure TPTB will manipulate things as much as they can in the run up to the 2015 elections but there are global forces at work here, I really don't think it's within control of UK gov't or even EU (the EU elections in a couple of months seem to be a joke) and I wouldn't be at all suprised if Japan/China politics are the flashpoint for it all falling apart. Argentina and Venezuela are falling apart but will have little impact on the rest of the world, but if China decide to abandon support for the US$ as the world's reserve currency then we'll all be in it up to our necks. It will happen, the only question is when..

Hollyberry

After talk of Dutch Ovens, I see the following is free for Kindle on Amaz*n today:http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/?field-keywords=50%20Dutch%20Oven%20Recipes%20For%20The%20Vegetarian%20-%20Quick%20and%20Easy%20One%20Pot%20Meals%20(Vegetarian%20Cookbook%20and%20Vegetarian%20Recipes%20Collection)&node=341677031

Those kettles look rather good - must get one bought for here. For those of you prepared to cook on wood stoves or open fires, what do you use? I have a toasting fork and a chestnut roaster for the fire. I have cooked on the fire using a Le Creus*t pan during a power cut - probably not exactly recommended, but I had nothing else and it worked. I wrapped the wooden handle in foil to protect it, and used big gloves to pick it up. In the 70s, I remember my nan using a cheap ordinary pan on the fire during power cuts, but I have a feeling that 1970s pans were probably a bit more substantial than mine now...

Btw, my favourite piece of open fire kit is known as a Dorset blowpipe. You place one end in the fire and blow down it, and it gets the fire going on those days when even strategic firelighters and kindling don't want to play. Well worth picking up should you spot one at an ironmongers.

boddy

GQ is it Ann Cleeves new book? Harbour Street. I just got that yesterday with my Xmas tokens. She lives in this area and have met her a few times. Really nice lady. Another good author is Mari Hannah who is also a crime writer.

Off to take some more money out this morning.

mardatha

Is it about Shetland boddy? If it is then I'll get it. My neighbour used to live in Shetland and says she chose this village because the weather reminds her of the island lol. If I was younger I'd probably have moved up there, I like the sound of life there. The western isles are more beautiful but the church strangles life there so that's a no go.
Wondering how people in the south west are faring this morning because it's like The Wreck of the Hesperus outside here!