Preparedness for when

Cheapskate

Our bit of town doesn't often see much action of GQ's type, but recently we've had the polis jollycopter hovering fairly often, about 2 or 3 times a week; pals in other parts of town, various levels of shenanigans, say the same, so activity of all types on the up around here. :eek:

We may be having a bit of building work this summer, and have firmly requested of DH that we have a wood burner in one room - come the day, we could at least be warm and cosy in one room. There are loads of woods near us, one could forage fallen wood 'til the coos come home and not spoil the place.

I have quite a few pea seedlings ready to go in, plus some green beans, and one afternoon I'm taking the kids for a walk through the woods, so I can do a reccy of the edibles around.

A xo

[Deleted User]

Very concerned at what is happening in Iraq with the Isis insurgent invasion and advance towards Bagdad is this what you get for not only walking into another country and telling them how to live thier lives but big headedly thinking it's then fine to walk away again and leave them to run the lives you've imposed on them? These people must have just been biding thier time and gathering more and more to thier cause over the years, where is this going next I wonder? I feel more fear over the potential problems arising from this for the rest of the world than I've ever felt before including being reared with the nuclear war threat hanging over us, poor world, poor humanity!!!

Cheapskate

I agree with you, Lyn, and, of course, Obama is now suggesting the US may wade in yet again - that would REALLY help (not!). I say we tighten our belts, fiscal, prepping and otherwise, just in case the trouble in the middle east is a precursor to who knows what.

A xo

VJsmum

I agree too, it is extremely worrying

However I can't but help smile when they keep talking about "Sunni" and "Shia". I got you babe?

I don't know if anyone follows "living off grid" on Facebook. I liked this post yesterday showing you how to make jerky (dried meat) after hunting.

http://www.survivalismworld.com/preserving-meat-in-the-wilderness/

I have been running my stores down a bit, just to see the wood for the trees, so to speak. I have also stopped eating wheat and sugar - they just weren't doing me any good. But it's hard, and I need to think around that for the stores situation.

[Deleted User]

I see that some are interested in off grid power so I am just coming in now to say that my solar lighting was up and running from yesterday. Massive wooden insulated building (interior is 3 x 8 m at least) with 2 `rooms` and a door space in between. 2 large vents on one 3m wall and 1 large vent on the opposite wall. Mostly in the house shadow as N/S and next to house. One end faces the sun so the opportunity remains to take that wall out and make a home office etc. Really thick insulation ie two layers of wood and kingspan in between, on all sides and top and bottom so a very constant, nice temperature and protective membranes in the construction. Garage foam flooring so altogether nice to be in. Could be an alternative mini home tbh. Cost was < £6000. Roof is 2 pitched and fills big and attractive water butts then the excess runs into the water harvesting tank

A dark space apart from the vents, which we sandwiched with fly preventative mesh. It had to be an airy ventilated building. Lighting was designed and set up by me with dh doing the drilling where needed.

40w good make solar panel with hm angled frame on a high wall a few inches higher than the shed, the shed has a protective wall on each long side, no gap on one side between wall and wood and 6 inches on the other side as we cannot pierce the house at all (airtight). We put an earthing rod into the ground near the panel and earthed the panel and took an earth into the building, so everything is safe, no earthing point was available so we made one.

Solar charge controller, fuse box and the appropriate size fuses all wired in. An inline fuse close to the battery+. 3 really good led strip lights wired in parallel. The lights were bought as strips and cost a fair bit but are wonderful. 2 x 60 LEDs and 1 x 30. 3 switches right by the door. I did carp soldering and had to repeat some joints but hey ho, succeeded in the end. Set all the wiring up and then very tentatively put the battery fuse in and uncovered the panel. We had lift off and everything worked right off, the 12v battery had already been charged by the manufacturer as a charge is needed to boost the controller into action. All loose wires are now fastened down and the whole set up is fantastic. One battery full will give us 70 amp hours and each light strip takes under 1.2 A so a single charge will give us at least 20 hours if all 3 lights were on the whole time.

It would be a relatively simple matter to wire up a 12v socket to power other things but I don`t want to start a battery bank, one is enough and safety is paramount. Cost was about £300 for the solar set up and about £135 for the lights but from now on it is free and tbh the temperature and ambience are so nice that I might just take my spinning wheel in there to shelter from the heat. The lights are wonderful, like a lovely daylight and I could easily read in there too

Slightly different tack while I am on here. I am bottling gooseberries, very easy to do and saves a lot of freezer space. So easy to forget to do the preserving for winter but very worth while getting non-freezer preserves sorted, I do believe that we will have rolling power cuts this winter, Russia and Iraq, not good at all. Jars, tins, easy cook and alternative cooking sources all more important than ever this coming winter

Back to spinning now, waves goodbye and blows kisses

pineapple

Today I had a very depressed looking (think Marvin from Hitchhikers Guide) man in a suit come to give me a house valuation. Pineapple is getting ready for her GREAT ESCAPE .
But on the subject of convoys, in Uganda it usually meant the president was on the move. I hadn't been in the country long, so still a bit green around the ears. I got annoyed when a jeep cut me up so I did the same back to him.
I found myself in the middle of the presidential convoy! There was a jeep in front of me with a bunch of angry soldiers waving their guns at yours truly. :eek: (the ones I had just muscled in front of weren't too pleased either).
Oops..... :rotfl:

[Deleted User]

Just been in Aldi, and they'e got some fishing bag stools in.

They have shoulder straps, so you carry them like a rucksack, but the have a tubular stool frame and canvas seat.

Probably not ideal for a BOB, due to the extra weight of seat and frame, but for someone travelling by bus/train, they might be useful.

herbily

It may be a little warm to be thinking woolly blankets, but pure wool blankets are expensive, so summer is time to buy - found this at a good price for pure wool:
http://shop.nationaltrust.org.uk/snowflake-throw-red/p5195


(Even the National Trust has got with the programme - plenty of wind-up lamps etc - I may have to go back to play the "could I fill a bug-out bag from this site?" game!)

2tonsils

Having some fun with the solar flare effects here in Greece, the satelite tv signal is on and off all the time and the touch screen is so touchy with the static its leaping round like a yo yo . I have heard mobile phone signals are playing up as well, but I gave mine up eight months ago so it is not affecting me (my phone is turned off and relegated to the back of the drawer!)
I did think about taking photos of the full moon but it is low in the sky and being blocked by the houses over the road. Shame, the sky is very clear...but I am too tired to go out in the car to get a clear shot of it. My visitor dragged me all over Corfu town looking for a non existent cheap handbag like the one I have. The handbag I looked at a few weeks ago which was 11 euros was priced at over 60 today, so I told the shop owner I would be going back in the winter to buy it.

I have seen quite a few tourists in town, but some of the resorts are reporting no visitors and I am already hearing of people who have worked for a month and a half and not been paid yet...... I also heard of some places who are laying off staff already. That is not good for mid June!

Three times this week we have woken up to no mains water in the house. There is no early warning for it either in Greek or English which is most annoying when you get up expecting a nice cool shower. Luckily we have kept our emergency water tank full instead of emptying it, so we have 28 cubic meters of soft filtered rain water under the floor of the house , both as an emergency water supply and to cool the house through the tiled floor.

It was very hot today and it feels like we are in for a scorcher of a summer. I am continuing with the prepping as I still feel things are going to hit the fan big style. I think there is trouble brewing in the middle east but it will be small in comparison to other things that are going to happen.

The sun (as someone said earlier ) is still flaring and we have two big sun spots which are earth facing for the next few days. This puts us at risk from flares and makes earthquakes more likely. According to many of the conspiracy/early warning/truth teller sites, tomorrow, June 14th is a high risk day for natural disasters world wide. I am hedging my bets and staying prepared for anything. As one of my friends says.....stay safe folks, heads up, no fear!

2tonsils

this is interesting stuff...from the press agency....

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2014/06/12/flights-briefly-vanish-from-air-traffic-control-screens-austria-says-eu/