Preparedness for when

GreyQueen

Thank you, kittie, I will certainly look at that option for some of the beans, although it will be in limited quantities as my only freezer is a table-top 50 litre model.

My airing cupboard is beside the hot water tank, has hot pipes going through it it and a perforated section above the door to vent any humidity into the hall. I'm currently in-process of a reorganisation (tis only 20 inches wide although full height) and am making drawstring bags from random linens, to group textiles by type. I'm repurposing £1's worth of secondhand sheet/ duvet case and re-purposed ribbons and thread I have a-plenty so the only cost is a little bit of my time.

The idea of coralling by type was for ease of sorting and maybe packing should it ever come to that, but it will mean that when I want to use the two middle shelves (the warmest ones) for drying the broad beans, it will be the work of about 30 seconds to clear the shelves.

I think now is the time to start learning the alternative ways of managing without power. Affordable leccy at the flick of a switch has made us very lazy and unskilled and, if we move into a period of unreliable supply, money invested in frozen foods will be money in jeopardy.

The blogger FerFAL has some interesting stuff on his site, which is worth an exploration if you've never been. He points out that when a economy goes bad, quality goes in things like water supply and electricity supply. It's not just an on/ off issue of their being no electicity some of the time, or their being no water some of the time, what's there may be of fluctuating current and damage appliances, or the water may be contaminated and need attention to ensure that it's safe.

I've had some interesting convos over the years with my customer service equivalents over at Tiddlyumpty Water, an alias for one of the big English water companies. Because we've had the odd burst water main at The Towers, and also because city residents tend to call the council when the water or electricity goes off, I talk to them several times a year.

As well as learning some truly frightening things, such as one pump failure depriving over half of the city of water in minutes, I've learned some other good stuff such as off-coloured water can be caused by sediment in the water pipes being stirred up when some numpty of a workman bounces up and down on a water pipe being worked on when the road is dug up. It quickly runs clear but looks a bit alarming to the householder.

vivatifosi

Bedsit_Bob wrote: »

If you have a B&M Bargains near you, you could've got the same for less than £13.

I have, but by the time I add on the petrol and cost of parking, they are cheaper at Aldi. It's the parking that's the killer. They now want a minimum of £2.50 just to park your car for a few mins. It's a licence to print money.

vivatifosi

nuatha wrote: »

Never apologise for giving useful information.
It just happens that a friend was moaning that he'd had to buy another storage heater, complete with bricks and why couldn't he reuse the bricks he had - his moan may well have just become my pizza oven
Thank you

They are really heavy but worth it apparently. I had three storage heaters to dismantle and at 10kg a piece he couldn't take them all in one go. It reminded me a bit of the Johnny Cash song, One Piece at a Time... that always makes me laugh that song and I'm not particularly a fan of country music.

I've seen plans online to build one and its quite a clever concept for anyone with a good set of arms for carrying, which isn't me.

vivatifosi

're water...

I've been thinking about drinking water if supply goes off. If my bath is clean, can you think of any reason I shouldn't duck tape the plug in and drain down my Megaflow tank? I don't have a water softener attached so wouldn't need to worry about salt, and all the showering we do means that the water changes regularly. I can also filter it for any particulates. Then cover bath in cling film and a reflective car windshield cover to keep as fresh as possible.

Good idea? Terrible idea? What should we do differently?

[Deleted User]

Back again, abandoned outdoor jobs as it is persisting down. Re dehydrating french and runner beans from above, I meant not dehydrating the frozen beans but dehydrating is the best option for edibility after freezing method. GQ you`ll be surprised how many broad beans you can liquidise in a bit of olive oil, concentrated so only small portions needed. Same as I did for garlic cloves

Re drinking water, I have filters stashed away from years ago. They can filter the dirtiest water, so butt water is what I am aiming to store, or the levels ditches will do

I just hope I can wean myself off sugar and chocolate if sh really hits the fan.

Mar, I wonder when they started doing away with pantries? Maybe when freezers came in. I would rather a walk in pantry than a utility room (don`t have a utility btw). Not so hard to build a very good and well insulated storage shed. Two sheets of outdoor fibre board on each side of kingspan or similar. With pitched roof for water collection. Insulated on all 4 sides with good vents installed either end and solar run lights from a 12v leisure battery. Was relatively cheap, not like an extension. Very dry and airy

[Deleted User]

Baths aren't watertight round the plug and it might just very slowly trickle away drip by drip unil you had an empty bath. Also no matter how you cover it it would never be completely safe from contamination by dust, hair, etc. better by far to save some pop bottles or the like and keep them full, rotating and using the water within 3 months and always keep a bottle of MILTON STERILISING FLUID in store as you can use it 1/2 a teaspoon to 5 litres and then wait 15 minutes, to make the water safe to drink. The information is available on thier website not on the bottles anymore but it's the same fluid as when the advice was on the bottle label, hope that helps.

vivatifosi

Thanks folks. I was trying to avoid the empty bottles scenario as they were taking up so much space. I quite like sparkling water and get through the 15p bottles from the supermarkets on a regular basis so will save some of those.

My local council has decided to introduce yet another wheelie bin, and get rid of the recycling boxes. This is totally impractical as there is nowhere to put the damn things, but given that laden wheelie bins are like Mk 1 Daleks when it comes to stairs and my bin shed has a step up to it, I guess I could store drinks bottles in there when it becomes redundant.

Goodness only knows what the meter reader will think when they come round mind, it's in the same cupboard.

ClootiesMum

Kittie - can't manage links on the iPad but if you google "bathtub liner for water storage" you'll see some of the American solutions that they have in place. To be honest - it's such a simple idea but nit sure if they're available over here.

GreyQueen

vivatifosi wrote: »

My local council has decided to introduce yet another wheelie bin, and get rid of the recycling boxes. This is totally impractical as there is nowhere to put the damn things, but given that laden wheelie bins are like Mk 1 Daleks when it comes to stairs and my bin shed has a step up to it, I guess I could store drinks bottles in there when it becomes redundant.

Goodness only knows what the meter reader will think when they come round mind, it's in the same cupboard.

It might be an idea to store the water bottles grouped together in strong shopping bags, with a drop-cloth over the top. The grouping together will keep them handy and the drop-cloth (any old textile) will stop dust settling, which will happen even indoors, never mind a shed. Not to mention keeping prying eyes away from things they don't need to know about. A few random items of carp, like a couple of random empty boxes and the meter reader will just assume it's carp all the way to the floor.

Better to be thought a messy mare than to have preps in plain view.

Remember, that concrete can degrade plastic in contact over time, so if your shed floor is concrete, it's good to have something under them - bit of wood would be fine.

[Deleted User]

vivatifosi wrote: »

They now want a minimum of £2.50 just to park your car for a few mins.

Blimey. :eek:

My local B&M is on a retail park, which also contains PC World, £stretcher, Argos, TK Max, etc.

Parking is free for either 30 or 45 minutes, can't remember which.