Preparedness for when

VJsmum

So I just used my "buddy burner" to boil up my Kelly Kettle . It took an unbelievably long time- I reckon at least 20 minutes. I think the flame (which went round and round the cardboard) pretty much just whizzed straight up the chimney. Next time I will put a pan of water on the top and see if that boils quicker - I suspect it might. I was hoping to use this system at Glastonbury where it is difficult to gather sticks etc to fuel the fire, but I may have to rethink. THo if the pan of water boils quick, then I can use that for my tea, DS hot chocolate and our porridge pots and then the water in the kettle for washing.

It was quite spectacular when I blew it out also :eek:

RosiePuddingPaws

Fuddle - they used to dredge the Somerset Levels on a regular basis - and then they stopped. There was bad flooding last year (I think) and there was campaign to try and get the dredging re-started swiftly or it would flood even worse ...

I seem to remember there was even some promise of dredging but not a great deal happened

RPP

[Deleted User]

I think managing nature is what has caused the biggest problems in this country. It's not a single act like dredging rivers alone that will cure the ills besetting us, it's a whole system of using the land wisely and maintaining field drains, plashing ditches, planting trees, using the land for what it is most suited to, not ripping out the hedgerows and making huge factory praries, we need to replant the orchards and woodlands, use the livestock to keep the moorlands and mountain hills in good order, let nature work for us and with us. Perhaps if we can get back to that, the future will be a little more secure for all of us. Mother nature has been successfully working things out on this planet for millennia, man has only been messing it up for a few centuries, there must be a way to work with rather than against the natural world that would work to the benefit of all species on this earth.

dragonette

The Somerset Levels are reclaimed land, that either needs maintained or allow it to return to its natural marsh state. Horrible for the people being flooded, but not entirely surprising that reclaimed land floods

pineapple

Frugalsod wrote: »

Yes but this happens when ever there is a flood somewhere. It might not be long before prices are back to normal.

Imo this is different to those 'one off' severe floods we have experienced previously. This is just unrelenting and affecting a wider and wider area. I'm wondering if we will ever get back to 'normal'.

Shropshirelass

I do agree Pineapple, this rainfall will be like the rising prices, 'normal' will not be quite as 'normal' as we remember it.


Fuddle and Mrs LW - we have a very wet corner of our partly clay garden. Had a yucca planted there for about 10 years it grew like mad, and that corner got dryer by the year. Then 2 years ago, it died in the frost/heavy snow. This year we have a mud bath again, and the grass in the lawn is rotting in the standing water. Heaven help the poor farmers with their fields submerged. Its the same principle as cutting down vegetation and complaining about rainwater running straight into the river.




I plan to stick to container gardening, just waiting for the moon to be right before I begin planting.

pineapple

Some heartbreaking scenes on TV today - including one lad trying to empty his house with buckets with the help of his Dad. He had only bought the house a week ago
Also some very angry and upset people. There was an interesting interview with someone originally from Chicago who has lived here 20 years.
Some people are worried about looting and are refusing to move. I wonder has there been any looting?
This is about more than the Somerset Levels now. I'm wondering if there will be more action now that posh neighbourhoods alongside the Thames are being affected?

GreyQueen

auntymabel wrote: »

Some further info re the NHS data issue and a Facebook petition to Jeremy Hunt for those who would like to sign.

Extract:

The government claims that individuals won’t be able to be identified. However, many experts have warned that under the current plans, we could easily be singled out through simple cross-referencing of other databases -- especially if you have a rare or unusual condition.

Also has some interesting links.

Sorry to hear about your lottie. Makes you think very violent thoughts towards those responsible. It;s all so pointless.

I have a rare condition. Not quite as rare as the one Mum has; only about 20 known sufferers on the planet, and she the only one not to be diagnosed in childhood. I share my rare condition with only a few hundred other Brits.

You should see the animation with which nurses and GPs peruse my diagnosis on their screens Ooo that's interesting! is the typical comment. Heck, my consultant brings other consultants to meet me and they get terribly engrossed in my MRI scans........:rotfl:Some of us are very identifiable by our health probs, which is why I don't name mine online. I still remember the grin on the registrar's face at the world-reknowned teaching hospital when she came to the end of 6 months of testing and got my results. Almost jumped up and clicked her heels in glee. I was happy too; I was slowly dying until I got medicated.

Well, nipped into the GP practice after work and had a wee chat with the receptionist. I have a very affable relationship with the receptionists, we're on first name terms. They're lovely ladies and much put-upon from what I've witnessed. Anyroad, explained what I wanted to do and there wasn't the slightest hestitation or confusion and they had their own opt-out pro forma ready. I remarked that I hadn't had the leaflet and the receptionist said that lots of people say they haven't either and that there are a lot of people wanting to opt out.

Seems that TPTB are guilty of drawing attn to this by banging quietly on the window with a damp sponge, but the cat is out of the bag now. Kid Bruv assures me he'll opt out and the parental units are thinking about it.

The family cats, as always, are considering their position and holding out for more tinned fish before they commit to anything..........:rotfl:

Been to work and came home again. Have been to the hardware store to replace my kick-!!! welded steel link bike chain and its padlock, the ones which were taken from the bike basket. The shorter chain was holding the bike to the wall. Mum has also had an interesting convo with a stray city boy who lives here and runs a shop she frequents in my hometown and it seems that the villains cut into my bike shed using one of these:

http://www.tool-net.co.uk/p-348511/bosch-gws18vli-cordless-angle-grinder-in-carton-1x2-6ah-li-ion.html

:mad: Or similar other-brand item. Now that's bleeding well not fair, how can you defend a shed against one of these?! As if pry-bars and big screw-drivers weren't bad enough...........

The Pashley will be living indoors for the foreseeable. I'm down £36 and change for replacement padlocks x 2, a replacement hasp and my new chain so will try to claim off my insurance.

Will be reviewing what I keep in the shed over the next few days and may be relocating a few items of the preptastic nature.

Hope everyone is keeping as dry as possible. GQ xx

Frugalsod

VJsmum wrote: »

So I just used my "buddy burner" to boil up my Kelly Kettle . It took an unbelievably long time- I reckon at least 20 minutes. I think the flame (which went round and round the cardboard) pretty much just whizzed straight up the chimney. Next time I will put a pan of water on the top and see if that boils quicker - I suspect it might. I was hoping to use this system at Glastonbury where it is difficult to gather sticks etc to fuel the fire, but I may have to rethink. THo if the pan of water boils quick, then I can use that for my tea, DS hot chocolate and our porridge pots and then the water in the kettle for washing.

It was quite spectacular when I blew it out also :eek:

A couple of Kelly Kettles are on my to get list.

GreyQueen

I've collected and dried a stash of pine cones which I am keeping for use in the KK in a grid-down situation. May well dunk some of them in wax to aid the burn. Think it was MrsLW who uses cones in her KK outside in the summer?

I can testify from experience that the dead dried leaves of eucalyptus burn readily but they leave a tarry residue.

Re dredging and planting, a lot of soggy areas of ground in the countryside used to be planted to willow; sometimes referred to as osier beds and sometimes withies. Pre-plastics, baskets were a lot more commonly used than they are now, plus you can make other things with willow. A field I know with a stream running thru the bottom was willows along the bank 60 years agone but there is now only a stripe of darker soil to show where they were on the wetter land.

The thing about trees and other foliage is that they have many benefits. First off, the raindrops lose much of their damaging force as they bounce down through layers of leaves. Some of them cling awhile, and then descend more slowly after the rain has stopped. Or are evaporated off the tree. Trees and other plants transpire moisture into the atmosphere, wicking it up from the ground. Their roots bind and stabilise the soil, and they provide shelter.

We have some of the lowest levels of tree cover in Europe. I wonder what would happen if we went over to growing a lot of willow. I believe it can be used effectively as a fuel in some kinds of burners? And we need lots more trees everywhere, and fewer imperemable surfaces. Imagine if water butts were standard everywhere, to slow down the amount of water hitting the drains and waterways all at once?

I was caught on the allotment on Saturday in a sudden downpour. It threw it down for about 15 mins. When I emerged from my shed, therw were little puddles of water standing all over the cleared ground, which disappeared over the next few mins. Out on the street, the water was running down the tarmac and into the gullies which coulb barely cope.

I keep peeping at the Bealtine Cottage blog. See what that woman achieved in less than a decade on a boggy bald piece of ground. Am inspired by it, purely inspired.