Preparedness for when

pineapple

thriftwizard wrote: »

But then again, it may not be so easy to up sticks & bu&&er off once I'm over the hill - wherever the hill is!

A former neighbour upped sticks to the Orkneys to set up a smallholding. She was 74 and used a mobility scooter! She said 'If I don't do it now I never will'. But not as crazy as it sounds - she had been going there for years and had links there.
Anyhow I'm at that stage now. But the thought of the upheaval is an issue - as is 'where to'. I have to factor in political stability, cost of living on a UK pension with a bit of superan, health care, loss of existing support networks (minimal as they are) and culture. I'm a bit past bombing off to unknown places to see if I like them so that last one is important. I know a few people who returned from New Zealand because they didn't like it .

[Deleted User]

We're not going anywhere, we only ever intended this job move to be 2 years max and that was 20 years ago. We said we'd move but having looked decided that the best thing we could do was make what we had here work and alter what we could to make the house suitable to do that. We haven't had big holidays together or invested in new clothes (other than when they wear out) or furniture since we've been here but we have had the downstairs layout altered and new windows and the woodburner so we've got our earnings tied up in our property and made our property fit for our needs, and enough room to retrofit some of downstairs again if we can't manage upstairs in the fullness of time. It gives peace of mind, it keeps us busy and gives a living from the gardens and the pension is covering our needs. We're constantly reassessing our needs to fit within our means too, not always easy but lets you sleep at night!!!

calicocat

Just wanted to post that I have actually started the prepping rather than doing a lot of thinking about it or talking.

Admittedly this is spurred on by job insecurities (yet again....yawn)...but is also good for armageddon.....lol.

Have pretty much got a years worth of cleaning products and various other things in today (and all put away!)

Next step is a years worth of cat stuff, especially litter.

Any food stuffs I will get last minute so they last longer if anything krap happens to job.


Then there is grabbing what ex doesn't want when he ups-sticks and sells everything to tour in a motor home. The water butt is mine, so that will save on water.

Also will formulate some kind of plan to maximise on growing space as garden is tiny...getting more tubs etc, and maybe drain pipes to hang on fence for smaller stuff.

charlies-aunt

GreyQueen wrote: »

Have been having interesting convos recently with tradesmen who work on our properties, men with 25+ years in the job. They tell me that there are increasing numbers of homes in appalling filth, disorder, with foul-mouthed bone-idle abusive residents. It's noticably worsened in the past 7 years or so. And that they're having some new hires who are so horrified with what they're encountering that they're quitting after a day or two.

The Housing Assoc that I work for has now got an extra ASB officer whose job is to go into badly maintained properties to teach the tenants how to clean and look after their houses.


I wonder if the breakdown of family life and fragmentation of neighbourhoods has contribute to this sorry state of affairs.

Frugalsod

COOLTRIKERCHICK wrote: »

There was a link on FB to the BBC website, saying that the way things are going the NHS will not be free within 10 years...


did anyone else see that?


it def looks like over the coming years basically we will be stepping back in time, or following some other countries, where if you are ill, out of work etc it will be up to you and your family to support you..but will people struggling now and have no surplus money how can people put money away, or pay for private medical insurance etc???




Just another thing to prep for....

Have you bought your pitchfork yet? It looks like we will all need to use one before long. This government really do not care about the NHS. Privatising it will mean that they will personally benefit from NHS Contracts giving to private companies. I think that more than 50 Tories have links to private health companies. Clearly a conflict of interest.

DisreputableDog

Calicocat, I mainly lurk around here (I'm creepy like that...) but I will definitely recommend prepping for income drops. I'm self employed and my income has dropped horrendously with no sign of picking up much until Christmas. With £10 a week to spend on food (often less) I'm very, very glad to have some stocks in my tiny place (although starting to run down a bit now) and a few containers of veg and herbs outside the backdoor.

One thing I really wish I could have stocked up was dog food, but my big lad has allergies to everything, and the only way to combat it is to swap around what he's fed in terms of protein sources every few weeks. Too long on one thing and he starts to react with itchy skin etc.,

Frugalsod

DisreputableDog wrote: »

Calicocat, I mainly lurk around here (I'm creepy like that...) but I will definitely recommend prepping for income drops. I'm self employed and my income has dropped horrendously with no sign of picking up much until Christmas. With £10 a week to spend on food (often less) I'm very, very glad to have some stocks in my tiny place (although starting to run down a bit now) and a few containers of veg and herbs outside the backdoor.

One thing I really wish I could have stocked up was dog food, but my big lad has allergies to everything, and the only way to combat it is to swap around what he's fed in terms of protein sources every few weeks. Too long on one thing and he starts to react with itchy skin etc.,

That is my main area of prepping right now. A huge drop in income will be the outcome of another financial crisis. Look at Greece where many have had a 40% drop in income. Ireland it is not as bad but pretty significant. So cutting expenses before it happens will give us scope to cope with any changes.

GreyQueen

You're both very wise.

If you lose your employment next week, haven't anything else immediately, and have to wait for state benefits, you could easily be looking at 2-3 months before you get any money.

It can end up as basic as no food in the cupboard, no t.p., nothing. Stocking up when you see a good price, of something which won't rot or spoil, is excellent, as is having even a herb pot to liven up dull meals. I have eaten a lot of lentils in hard times and they're nutritious, worthy, cheap and without seasoning, dull-dull-dull.

Yesterday, I harvested my potato patch. Spud patch was cleared from many years of grassy, brambly, nettly dereliction in autumn/winter 2013. Patch is 240 sq foot (same floor area as my flat, amusingly).

Bought 6.5 kg of second early Kestrel seed spuds, with a few Nadines to make up the volume. Chitted from mid-Feb to mid March and planted good and deep, earthing up at the time. Apart from a little weeding - mainly pulling horsetails out - they minded their own business for months, although they did spend 2 frostly nights in May hidden under random grass etc.

Result? 84.5 kg harvested. Have given just over half to the parents and retained 34 kg for myself. Will have to store them and keep rubbing shoots off but will be sorted for the carb element of my diet for months. For under £5 of seed spuds and some healthful exercise.

And I know exactly what chemicals have been used on them (beggar all) and they are delicious. We had them today with HG mint and HG carrots and some salmon from the shop.

I think the future will be harder for the majority of the population than the immediate past has been, and that it is sensible and prudent to downscale and right-size your life now. Spend some time learning things which will be useful, shop around for equipment and supplies at your leisure.

F'rinstance, I've bought large pillar candles, unburned, for 20p. Only a lunatic will be flogging them at those prices if we move into an era of regular power cuts.

DisreputableDog

Spuds are something I'll definitely be chucking into bags/onto my dinky plot out back, along with anything and everything that may or may not grow over winter/all year round out there. I've only been in this place since christmas, so it's been a learning curve with a new space, new soil etc., to see what fares well out there.

For example, I didn't really realise until late spring that once everything is in leaf, I only have a very small sunny spot right by the door. The rest of the garden is shaded by either my landlord's hedge or the trees on the lane. They're so old and tall that even the trees on the other side conspire to block out any chance of afternoon sun out back. Bladdy shame in a south facing garden!

In terms of eating your preps, if you don't mind a little heat then I can't recommend highly enough having a few small chilli plants on a windowsill. This is the first year I haven't had any, but previously I've always at least had some small Prairie Fires. They produce a ridiculous amount of tiny chillis, which are so hot that you'd only ever want just a few in a big pot of something. I've still got a big jar of surplus that I dried and stored from last summer. Even the blandest rubbish goes down better with some chilli added and the supermarket prices are a joke!

GreyQueen

That's an excellent tip.

I'm lucky with my allotment in that it isn't shaded at all by either natural or built objects, so gets the maximum light at all times. It's oriented NNE/ SSW on the top of a sloping hill, slopes towards the NE. Hellishly windy up there, though.

My groundfloor towerblock flat has no outdoor space and the windowsills are only 2 inches wide and the light level is very low indoors, due to the orientation and shade cast by other tall buildings. I am intending to make much better use of my coldframe, which was built from found timber and a 1950s steel-framed windowpane. It takes two people to move it, with great difficulty, and thus is unlikely to take off in the wind. The wood treatment on it is dark brown, which I figure will help the warming effects of the sun, too.

I'm going to experiment with winter cultivation of a few tender plants, perhaps even these chillis. Was thinking of putting the coldframe up on some slabs I have, to prevent crap growing up from the soil - things that grow on my allotment sneer at mere membrane - and I was wondering if it would have any beneficial effects in retaining warmth? If anyone has relevent knowledge, I would appreciate your input.

I'm pleased to report that the few square feet of potato patch which had a lot of ash in it from the bonfire last October grew especially good potatoes; both tops and yields were a good 20% above their non-ashy peers. I am drying off material now, and for the next few months, to burn in early October, to reap the benefits next year.

I love gardening. It's a challenge in space and in time, and you get to eat the winnings.:rotfl: