Preparedness for when

calicocat

Hugs Siegemode.

I'm more of a lurker on here but didn't want to read and run.

GreyQueen

((((((((seigemode))))))) I'm so sorry that your beloved kitty has passed over. I still get teary thinking of past cats, so I know you never forget them. We'll be thinking of you.

***********

OMG short_bird! I'm shocked, I tell you, shocked. You can lose your commission, not to mention your special safety pin, for that, my girl.

By gum, I have 108 rolls on TP Mountain and still had to resist stocking up on more of that Nicky brand in FFoods yesterday!

Been outside enjoying the warm spring weather and attending to the most basic prepping of all; the allotment. Have now titivated another section of ground and sown the onion sets. One pack each of Red Baron and Setton from £land. I've been growing their onion sets for years and they are very reliable.

I gathered twiggy sticks on the way up for the peas and also noted where the silver birches are. Those whose twigs come with MrsLW's stamp of approval, Kelly Kettles for the boiling of........ Will do more the same tomorrow, inc another wheelbarrow run to the tip, and then start sowing peas.

It's good that I've levelled the allotment as when I first started, I had to buy those special cuboid peas, otherwise they would have rolled away downslope and been lost in the hedge. So much easier when you can buy ordinary standard peas without going to a specialist supplier.

Lottie's looking at it's best ever. It's been dragged kicking and screaming back from a lopsided field of tussocks, liberally salted with carp from the size of nails all the way up to huge pallets. When I look at the 'before' shots, I shudder. And if I ever get my hands on the man/woman/eedjit who covered the plot with waffle rubber carpet underlay, several inches underground by the point I took over, there will be Big Trouble.

Broomstick

(((((seigemode))))) from me too.

I've been thinking some more about long-term planning. I know that getting my health and fitness as good as it can be has to be a huge priority right now but I was also thinking about internet-proofing myself and my family.

What happens if the internet goes down or there are major power cuts and I don't have instant access to information? I would really notice having no internet now. I was a teenager in the 1970s through all the power cuts then (my diary from 1972 made quite interesting reading on that score )

I use the environmental river/flood site daily (we currently live in a flood risk area).

I use the Met Office and other weather sites daily. I have to do masses of washing and dry it outdoors so I schedule washing to go alongside decent-ish weather. Since I am self-employed I can plan at least some of my activities around better/safer weather conditions too.

I use it for research for my work.

I use it for social contact with friends and on sites like this.

I use it for entertainment.

Everything on that list can be managed with alternatives to the internet or just doing without, but I realise that the biggest gap in my knowledge is the weather. I think old fashioned meteorological lore - the kind of stuff that people grew up 'knowing' - seems to be missing for me. It stops at 'red sky at night, shepherd's delight...' Has anyone got any recommendations for starting to learn about old fashioned weather forecasting? How can I get less internet dependent on that? Are there people who are keeping weather diaries for their area or use barometers?

B x

Nargleblast

Siegemode from one cat lover to another - so sorry.

MrsAtobe

Another (((hug))) for you seigemode, so sorry for your loss.

GreyQueen

Hi Broomstick, just a few suggestions which I'm sure the others will be able to add a lot more to later.

As a gardener, I find it very helpful to know when to expect the latest frosts. My allotment is a lot more exposed than a back garden would be and the last frosts come after several frost free weeks, and there will invariably be a stinker of a frost circa 16th May. This is crucial information in terms of protecting/ delaying the sowing of certain tender plants such as potatoes.

When I used to carboot every Sunday for several years on the trot, I would stand in my (then) back garden and look up at the sky, turning slowly in the four directions. This would usually be circa 5 am and still dark or just getting light. I'd be feeling the moisture level of the air against my face and studying the clouds. I was told as a child that the clouds which you can only just see moving are actually shifting at about 40 mph. So imagine how fast the ones which are scudding along are travelling, and at those speeds, weather can change pretty quickly.

When gardening on the allotment, I'm over a mile from home and only have a pushbike, so although I can hide in a shed from a temporary cloudburst (and have done so several times) if the weather is going to turn nasty for some time, I ideally want to flee well beforehand. Twenty minutes will see me home and dry. You can see a lot of sky from up there and there are often different things going on in different quarters of the sky at the same time.

One thing I learned is that one quarter of the sky being almost purply-black is no biggie, and mostly just disappears. But if that purple cloud goes suddenly mid-grey, loses its definition and spreads sideways and upwards to cover half the sky, I'm about to get drownded as it will be chucking it down in about 3 minutes.

You can also learn the names of the kinds of clouds, which level of the air they form in and what they usual mean. Yonks ago a hillwalking buddy showed me 'mare's tail' cirrus high in a sunny clear sky and told me that this usually portended a change in the weather in 1-2 days' time, which was certainly what happened to us.

Although barometers are fun and very old style, I don't need one for storms as have always had a 'pressure head' when thunder is about. Think I'm reacting to the barometric pressure in the atmosphere. It's not at all an uncommon phenomenon.

There's a lot of weather lore but we're all in different parts of the country and doing different things so the best thing to do is be observant. When you get really good at it, you'll be the amazement of all and sundry.

herbily

Siegemode, I'm so sorry for your loss - nothing I can say, but there will be a guardian cat-angel watching over you. You were very blessed to have so many years together.

Pollyjuice

Siegemode, my thoughts are with you at this sad time. Big HUGS.

[Deleted User]

short_bird wrote: »

we are down to our last 3 squares of loo roll.

Say 3 Hail Marys, and put a fiver in the collection box.

[Deleted User]

GreyQueen wrote: »

By gum, I have 108 rolls on TP Mountain

I've currently got 50 rolls in, and there's only me that uses TP.