Preparedness for when

Charis

cornishchick wrote: »

You'll be alright BB , you have only just brought some .:rotfl:

I remember one where the guy is happy to be alone. He goes to the library and gleefully stacks up all the books he wants to read than breaks his glasses?
Always stuck with me, the way he breaks down when that happened, I always have spare glasses now.

I remember that one as well. I knew it was a long time ago... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_Enough_at_Last. It was on US TV in 1959, on British TV a few years later. Around 1963 IIRC. I see it's now available as part of The Twilight Zone – The Definitive Edition.

That's the one thing that scares me about the apocalypse. I can't see that well without specs now.

Perplexed_Pineapple

My thoughts are that the £85K limit is an arbitrary one set by the government and it would be dropped like a hot potato should it prove politically expedient to do so. If TPTB need to raid savings as a Cypriot style "haircut" I think they would set the limit much lower, maybe in the 20-30K region. Probably now is a good time to put money into tangible assets like property and land - we may seem to be in a bubble at the moment but the new pension rules will release large amounts of cash to look for a home and I don;t know where else it would go. The worrying aspect is that a large proportion of retiree cash, removed from annuities, is likely to go into the buy-to-let market, and that this will further price our children out of the property market. Just another Ponzi scheme waiting to hit the wall of reality.
Have spent some time decluttering today. Will aim to spend some time this week reviewing the food reserves - saw another article predicting problems with the wheat supply:
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/wheat-rust-the-fungal-disease-that-threatens-to-destroy-the-world-crop-9271485.html
Still in terms of staples we have plenty of rice, potatoes in the ground, and bread flour for a month or so, could do with building up the flour stocks though if wheat harvests are going to crash. I don't know what our communal experience is of storing flour, we've certainly used flour that has been stored for 18 months or slightly more just in a paper sack and it has been fine. I guess Mylar bags would give better longevity for a longer term pantry but haven't ventured into that territory yet....it's probably only a matter of time though!

GreyQueen

Morning all. Bright and sunny start and we will shortly be going en famille to a carboot sale. Apart from Minimalist Dad, wh doesn't do shopping, and who'll probably go walking in the woods.

PP, I have kept and used flour from the windmillers (stoneground wholemeal) successfully about 18 months in just the strong brown paper bags it comes in. Wholemeal is supposed to be less long-lasting than white, due to the proportion of oils in the flour, which can go rancid. I guess a lot of it depends on how fresh it is when you take control of it. And a sojourn in the freezer to kill any weevils which may have colonised it, perhaps?

For really longterm storage, you need tolook at storing wheat and grinding it to flour as needed.

I will be backfilling the holes in Monte Penne, the part of the National Pasta Mountain Range in my personal custody, over the next few weeks. I am carb-independant once the spuds come in, but they are just breaching the baulks now and I anticipate a mid-July harvest, based on previous years' experience. Am growing Kestrel and Nadine second earlies.

Re ISAs/ confiscations etc, I guess the only thing we can know for sure is that the bliddy grubbyment will try to pull a fast one at our expense and with minimal warning. You can't second guess everything they might do, just try to aim for maximum flexibility. And keep a close eye on their doings.

One the subject of saving for retirement via the ISA route, rather than in a designated pension pot, I would like to put my twopennorth in. I've encountered people who've come a cropper having done this when they've needed to claim means-tested benefits like income-based JSA/ HB/ CTR. The ISA is savings for the purposes of disqualifying you, even if it is dedicated pension savings and not intended to be touched. Mebbe something to facotr in if you think you might ever need to claim?

Righty, let's see what the world is up to then we're heading booterwards. GQ xx

Si_Clist

GreyQueen wrote: »

For really longterm storage, you need tolook at storing wheat and grinding it to flour as needed.

And for storing that grain, you need a critter-proof bin (we use a galvanised steel dustbin) and a supply of bay leaves, which work as well as anything does at keeping the inevitable grain weevil under control.

A 25kg bag of grain lasts us about 6 months, so worst case is that it's getting on for 18 months old when we're getting near the bottom - and the flour's still lots fresher than anything we've ever bought in a supermarket, including stoneground wholemeal in bags with enough eco-resonant words on them to make a short novel from

Possession

GreyQueen wrote: »

Re ISAs/ confiscations etc, I guess the only thing we can know for sure is that the bliddy grubbyment will try to pull a fast one at our expense and with minimal warning. You can't second guess everything they might do, just try to aim for maximum flexibility. And keep a close eye on their doings.

One the subject of saving for retirement via the ISA route, rather than in a designated pension pot, I would like to put my twopennorth in. I've encountered people who've come a cropper having done this when they've needed to claim means-tested benefits like income-based JSA/ HB/ CTR. The ISA is savings for the purposes of disqualifying you, even if it is dedicated pension savings and not intended to be touched. Mebbe something to facotr in if you think you might ever need to claim?

Righty, let's see what the world is up to then we're heading booterwards. GQ xx

That's something to think about thankyou GQ. So far we've never been able to claim when DH was out of work recently as I earn just over the threshold (despite 70% of my salary being needed just to pay the mortgage sadly) but it certainly isn't beyond the realms of possibility that we might need/be able to claim one day. Mind you at £300 a month it's going to take a few years to build up a sum that would make any difference.

mardatha

Since I read a book about life in Scotland in the 1700s, I now know that we didn't eat a lot of bread because we didn't grow wheat up here. We grow barley and oats, hence oatcakes. I like them better than bread anyway.
I'm re-reading a book called The Victorian Kitchen, seems to be a spin-off from a TV series about a Victorian kitchen garden, although I didn't see the programme. It names veg that has gone out of fashion or been got rid of by the EU. Maybe it would be possible to grow this old stuff again if you knew where to get the seeds?

[Deleted User]

I've had a problem a couple of times with pests in stored dry goods particularly ready ground flour and pulses and would really consider getting wheat and grinding it when I needed flour if I could actually find a reasonably priced but more importantly effective hand crank grain mill. I had one that looked like an old fashioned mincer with a reservoir for the grain at the top and it didn't grind fine enough on any of the available settings, just made kibble which when it was ground as small as it was possible to get it still looked like oatmeal. I took it back and haven't seen an affordable replacement. Those of you who do grind wheat what model of mill do you actually have? and how good is it at making flour that you can actually cook with?

Si_Clist

MrsLurcherwalker wrote: »

... what model of mill do you actually have? and how good is it at making flour that you can actually cook with?

We have this Atlas Plate Grinding Mill, aka Atlas No 1 Hand Mill, which we bought new complete with the optional kibbling plates about 25 years ago. They were made by a foundry in Earls Colne which seems to have ceased production some time ago.



It takes abour 150 turns of the handle to do 2lb of grain, and how fine it is is down to (a) how fine you want it and (b) how energetic you're feeling on account of the finer, the harder to turn. Does wheat, spelt, oats and barley easily enough (relatively speaking!) but rye is hard work full stop!

ETA - I omitted to answer the second part of your question! The flour is lovely to bake with. Shop flour is to home ground as shop cakes are to home-made

ArthriticOldThing

Good morning.
Just had to pop on and say I have that book as well Mardatha and I saw the TV series. Was just thinking last night that I wish they would repeat it.


My intention was to go for a walk today along our beautiful coastline but the freezing cold (and strong) wind has put me off. :eek:
Am staying in with crochet instead.

[Deleted User]

Thank you so much SI CLIST I'll do some research and see if I can track one down, or perhaps a look alike if the original company is no longer in existence. Nothing like good advice from someone who actually does the thing you're enquiring about, brilliant, Lyn xxx.