Preparedness for when

elaine241

Hello all I'm catching up as usual, RL and work getting in the way as usual!!!

Interesting discussion re the rabbit a few posts back. As I live a country life skining and prepping a rabbit is something you just do without thinking about it! If I am lucky enough to be given a couple of rabbits they end up for dinner!, same goes for a brace of pheasants. I walked through town with a brace once the reaction of other people was illuminating! You would have thought I was carrying two decapitated heads rather than dinner!

Living on a farm we are faced with reality re our food on a daily basis,making decisions which animals are fit for market. Those who are "not market suitable" usually end up in our freezers. My FIL was a butcher so chopping up and skinning etc is not a problem although we do get a licensed slaughter man to come to the farm. I made a comment that I would like to learn how to cut up a lamb, the next thing I know is that a carcass was on my kitchen table for me to practice on!!!! TBH I made a good go of it, chops, shoulder in two, leg in two, neck, breast etc OK not as perfect as a butcher but good enough!

Prepping wise I continue to acquire stocks and equipment when I see it. I have added packet dried rice, cousin cous, noodles etc as they were on offer. I have added to my poultry with two ( cheap!) Ducks and two pullets. Unfortunately the orphan lamb we were rearing decided to up and die for no apparent reason, its what sheep do!!

On a different note friends of ours have just moved and they used one of our trailers to put rubbish in. I was shocked at what they had thrown away! I had a nose through some of the bags and found fabric,craft materials, 6 pairs of scissors, 100's of books, woollen jumpers ,scarves, hats, etc, there was no value attached to anything it was just chuck away and waste! Tbh I rescued as much as I could for myself or to go to the CS. Ive still got a lot I haven't looked at but I was disgusted at the waste and lack of thought regarding whether the items could be reused by CS or anyone else. What do you think? My OH believes I was wrong to ferreting through to rescue things and books, whereas I think it is my duty to stop waste.
Anyhow I have rambled on again! Thanks everyone for an interesting and thought provoking thread, it has changed the way I live my life!

[Deleted User]

elaine241 wrote: »

I walked through town with a brace once the reaction of other people was illuminating! You would have thought I was carrying two decapitated heads rather than dinner!

I bet nobody would've given a second look, if it'd been two pre-packed chickens from Asda.

I haven't skinned a rabbit in years (make that over a decade), but I reckon I could still do it, if needed.

Cheapskate

elaine, I agree with you, waste not, want not - if they'd thrown it, then it's fair game to anyone that wants it, IMHO! DH and DS bagged up loads of stuff from the garage to take to the tip this week - I rescued 2 bin bags of old clothes that were destined for the CS or local clothes swap, 2 once-used large kilner-type jars and 2 bin bags of drying-out twigs for my kelly kettle - I actually saved DH another trip to the tip as well, so 5 minutes well spent!

I've never done a Jeanette Winterson, but I'm sure if I had to, I would - certainly if my life depended on it. Many of my friends are so squeamish that they can't even handle raw chicken or sausages with bare hands - goodness knows how they'd cope if the SHTF and they had to murder ickle bunny rabbits or similar! I guess it would be a sort of natural selection. :rotfl:

nuatha - sorry, mate, it's a girl only thing, but we do have chaps to speak, demonstrate, etc. Sure we could find a space for you if you could hold forth on any subject, esp for free!!

A xo

[Deleted User]

Cheapskate wrote: »

goodness knows how they'd cope if the SHTF and they had to murder ickle bunny rabbits or similar!

Dispatching small animals is like cutting glass.

It needs to be done confidently, and in one quick and steady move.

Hesitate, and you will make a mess of it.

Cheapskate

GQ, if you were closer to me (get the feeling you're more than a few miles due south!) you'd be welcomed with open arms - we love girls who can do stuff! We are a slightly subversive group, but get more done according to our liking that way!

A xo

thriftwizard

I had a nose through some of the bags and found fabric,craft materials, 6 pairs of scissors, 100's of books, woollen jumpers ,scarves, hats, etc, there was no value attached to anything it was just chuck away and waste! Tbh I rescued as much as I could for myself or to go to the CS. Ive still got a lot I haven't looked at but I was disgusted at the waste and lack of thought regarding whether the items could be reused by CS or anyone else.

I'd have done the same, though I'd probably have mentioned it to them first. I'm always startled by just how much perfectly good stuff is wasted when people have to move or clear houses fast, or even just when they're de-cluttering. (Mind you I have a theory that the whole de-cluttering movement is a giant plot to make you buy more stuff, when you realise you've decluttered all your tin-openers or warm dresses or whatever...)

I do know it takes time to get rid of surplus stuff responsibly, and that's the one resource that they're not making any more of. I'm currently faced with having to find a lot of room fast, as one of the offspring needs to move back home for a while, complete with partner & all of the stuff they've accumulated whilst living elsewhere, so have planned a week of car-booting, freecycling etc. whilst also working, playing host mother to foreign students & running our home, albeit not very well. I'll admit I'm lucky enough to be able-bodied, have help (even if grudging) from the offspring who still live & work at home, & have technology and transport available, but surely most people could manage to freecycle stuff, fill a charity bag or donate tools/fabric/furniture etc. to the many charities who collect? But they just don't, as the tons of stuff that go through our local household recycling centre every day bear witness...

TBH it's one of the reasons why I think TS really will HTF one day; we are so incredibly short-sighted, easily-led & easily distracted by shiny new things, as a species. We'll throw away stuff that could easily be mended or revamped, and buy a new, inferior version on the card that doesn't tell us when we're running low on "real" money... We'll cheerfully abandon old, tried & trusted stuff & ways in favour of the new & glittery without a second thought, believing that new is always better, and just don't see - maybe because we don't want to - the storm clouds gathering on the horizon.

Altogether now - "We're aallll dooooooomed!"

GreyQueen

:T Well done, elaine, for rescuing those items. I would have been in there like a ferret down a rabbit hole. I've done similar things when the students who live in the row of student houses by my block have moved out and just dumped loads of stuff.

I mean, like not washing up their crocks and pans and just piling them all up in the skip bins. I rescued a load of good stuff mainly stainless steel pots and pans, gloved up, and put it through three sinkloads of scalding hot water and detergent, dried nicely and donated what I didn't need to c.s. A pal also had first dibs on a box of stuff which happened to be sitting here all prepped for donation when she called around.

SG heard from the housekeeper in overall charge of the student houses that on the last day, the lazy sods just about got up, dressed and left, leaving everything behind. They're having some of the chazzers over by appointment to see what they think they can sell, and to take it. Bearing in mind that these were able-bodied young adults and there are literally two dozen charity shops in easy walking distance. Hell, you can't walk off in any direction to go anywhere without passing charity shops within about 2 minutes, it's not exactly hard to donate stuff around here.

I wince when I see what goes over the side at the tip. There was a stack of what looked like good seed trays in there this afternoon, and not the flimsy throwaway ones either. Surely to goodness it isn't beyond people to freecycle, or stick it outside the gate with a Free, help yourself! sign on it!

[Deleted User]

Cheapskate wrote: »

we love girls who can do stuff!

But only if you can't find girls who will do stuff.

nuatha

elaine241 wrote: »

Hello all I'm catching up as usual, RL and work getting in the way as usual!!!

Interesting discussion re the rabbit a few posts back. As I live a country life skining and prepping a rabbit is something you just do without thinking about it! If I am lucky enough to be given a couple of rabbits they end up for dinner!, same goes for a brace of pheasants. I walked through town with a brace once the reaction of other people was illuminating! You would have thought I was carrying two decapitated heads rather than dinner!

I regularly meet some friends in the county town, last winter said friends arrived with half a dozen pheasants in a carrier bag for me. For a supposedly "rural" town the reactions were amazing - including a complaint to the landlady (who promptly ordered herself a dozen birds). Even the town's game dealer no longer hangs game in his window.

Living on a farm we are faced with reality re our food on a daily basis,making decisions which animals are fit for market. Those who are "not market suitable" usually end up in our freezers. My FIL was a butcher so chopping up and skinning etc is not a problem although we do get a licensed slaughter man to come to the farm. I made a comment that I would like to learn how to cut up a lamb, the next thing I know is that a carcass was on my kitchen table for me to practice on!!!! TBH I made a good go of it, chops, shoulder in two, leg in two, neck, breast etc OK not as perfect as a butcher but good enough!

Half the skill of a butcher isn't making neat cuts, but making the most profitable use of the carcass. Neat cuts is just practise. (and I'm seriously out of practise)

On a different note friends of ours have just moved and they used one of our trailers to put rubbish in. I was shocked at what they had thrown away! I had a nose through some of the bags and found fabric,craft materials, 6 pairs of scissors, 100's of books, woollen jumpers ,scarves, hats, etc, there was no value attached to anything it was just chuck away and waste! Tbh I rescued as much as I could for myself or to go to the CS. Ive still got a lot I haven't looked at but I was disgusted at the waste and lack of thought regarding whether the items could be reused by CS or anyone else. What do you think? My OH believes I was wrong to ferreting through to rescue things and books, whereas I think it is my duty to stop waste.

I'd have done the same.

Cheapskate wrote: »

nuatha - sorry, mate, it's a girl only thing, but we do have chaps to speak, demonstrate, etc. Sure we could find a space for you if you could hold forth on any subject, esp for free!!

I suspect I wouldn't be worth the travelling expenses . I can bore for England on a range of subjects (and have done professionally). Have known several WIs over the years, always thought it was a much maligned organisation, that I would enjoy - though not enough to have the surgery

GreyQueen wrote: »

:T Well done, elaine, for rescuing those items. I would have been in there like a ferret down a rabbit hole. I've done similar things when the students who live in the row of student houses by my block have moved out and just dumped loads of stuff.

I mean, like not washing up their crocks and pans and just piling them all up in the skip bins. I rescued a load of good stuff mainly stainless steel pots and pans, gloved up, and put it through three sinkloads of scalding hot water and detergent, dried nicely and donated what I didn't need to c.s. A pal also had first dibs on a box of stuff which happened to be sitting here all prepped for donation when she called around.

10 miles away is a city with two universities - student goods get abandoned in the back lanes about now (then in another three weeks, the landlords turf all the furnishings and refit with new). Friends living in the area tend to keep an eye on things and I've had several phone calls over the years to go and assist moving something.
The highlights of such reckless abandonment, several iMac computers (one being about 5 months old) a box containing 6 gold pens (in a box of hippy style dresses) a set of copper pans, two kitchen aid stand mixers (one still boxed and unused).

Given the idea that our future is in the hands of these people, may I suggest abandoning all hope is the only coping strategy.

GreyQueen

Morning all.

nuatha, the students astonish me on a daily basis. I know its the best part of 30 years since I went to uni, but the crowd we have now seem to be very affluent (or are borrowed to the hilt and just don't care). They party into the small hours most nights, even on term-time weeknights, live on D*mino's pizza (I regularly get pizza and other takeout deliverymen knocking on my door as they get lost around here), and throw away better stuff than I own now, never mind what I owned as a student.

We have great 'fun' with them at work when they live 5 to a small terrace, each with a car, and can't get it through their heads there's no way our narrow victorian and edwardian inner suburbs will accomodate so many cars. Which is why they're permit-zones and why the permits are capped at two per address. And they're too clever to read the waste collection calendar and put their bins out on the right day, and apparently can't recognise those brown things with the tails running around are the rats attracted to their filth.

An acquaintance who rents a lot of houses to students has been left livid with how many of her student tenants seem to think appropriate to speak to her general handyman. He's a semi-retired multi-skilled tradesman, who she holds in great esteem and lives in despair that one day he will fully-retire, and he's literally irreplaceable. And they talk down to him like he's nothing because he's working class. She's given many a dressing-down, pointing out that they will address him as Mr --- and they will treat him with respect because he has earned it. And they haven't - yet.

The housekeepers up at the student houses are also complaining about being dissed by the recent crops of students. I'm just thrilled to know that there are some priveleged spawns who have such a mahoosive sense of their own importance that they see fit to treat the working people the encounter with undisguised contempt.

Several of my friends teach, high school, FE and at the uni, and they're gobsmacked by their students, too. One mid-thirties lecturer had to tell a 20 y.o. woman student that it isn't acceptable for her to turn up to a tutorial in her pajamas. She's teaching law, so please be ready to encounter pj-wearing professionals in the next few decades.:rotfl: