Preparedness for when

alice-mary

Hi All,
Unfortunately I have had a minor SHTF this week as my freezer has given up and as I found out too late that the contents were half de-frosted, I have had to bin the lot (I didn't want to risk eating any of it as I have a sensitive stomach at the best of times).

I am not in the position to replace it for a few months but luckily I do still have a large working fridge. I am a teacher so for the next few weeks I can take the time to plan and cook appropriately but can not batch cook and freeze any extra :-(

I seem to remember there were some posts about life without a freezer but I can't find them.... can anybody remember if there is a separate thread on this topic? In the current heat I am already missing the ice cubes and hm lollies but it could be worse... I live on my own and don't have to worry about looking after/feeding a family.

Any advice would be gratefully received,
TIA

Alice

xx

Frugalsod

thriftwizard wrote: »

A little SHTF moment for some households here, this afternoon; we had a sudden thunderstorm & truly monsoon-like downpour, which the drains totally failed to cope with, and our little town centre was inches deep in filthy black water within minutes. It was right over people's doorsteps, at a a time when most were still out at work... I waded back, luckily in flip-flops; the end of our road was under water. It didn't stay around for long but it was surreal to see the roads quite literally steaming when the sun came out again. I had to drive up & collect DS2 from his workmate's house as the town centre was impassable, and there were miniature landslides where earth & gravel from footpaths had just plain washed down across the roads.

Not something I've seen before, in 22 years here. This is no ordinary summer.

Watch out for next years home insurance premiums rising. If you live within a certain distance of a flood, even if you were not effected, you could find yourself without cover.

thriftwizard

Frugalsod wrote: »

Watch out for next years home insurance premiums rising. If you live within a certain distance of a flood, even if you were not effected, you could find yourself without cover.

Oooer, good point, Frugalsod. The town centre does flood from time to time, and the people who live there are resigned to it, but there's usually some warning & the sandbags come out a day or two before. Not this time, however; it was literally clear, warm blue skies one minute (I'd been for a long swim early afternoon, then a good bask on the beach, returning less than an hour beforehand) then a grey cloud drifted gently in over the hill, then OMG! A small but fully-formed flood!

The end of our road dips down towards another well-known flash-flood point, but I've never seen it actually go under before. Luckily the houses are all uphill of it.

Will keep an anxious eye on the premium, when the renewal notice comes through...

[Deleted User]

Tesco are selling this camping stove

for an eye-watering £13-50, WITHOUT gas. :eek:

It doesn't even have Piezo ignition.

jk0

alice-mary wrote: »

Hi All,
Unfortunately I have had a minor SHTF this week as my freezer has given up and as I found out too late that the contents were half de-frosted, I have had to bin the lot (I didn't want to risk eating any of it as I have a sensitive stomach at the best of times).

I am not in the position to replace it for a few months but luckily I do still have a large working fridge. I am a teacher so for the next few weeks I can take the time to plan and cook appropriately but can not batch cook and freeze any extra :-(

I seem to remember there were some posts about life without a freezer but I can't find them.... can anybody remember if there is a separate thread on this topic? In the current heat I am already missing the ice cubes and hm lollies but it could be worse... I live on my own and don't have to worry about looking after/feeding a family.

Any advice would be gratefully received,
TIA

Alice

xx

Could you find a 2nd hand freezer on freecycle?

[Deleted User]

LR is already at 80f, and climbing.

jk0

What's Buggalugs doing to keep cool, Bob?

[Deleted User]

No idea.

She's only been in for about 5 minutes, all day.

[Deleted User]

ALICE MARY life without a freezer need not be so difficult. You'd have to change your shopping habits and the type of meals for a bit but you could buy in things that will keep in the fridge for a reasonable amount of time i.e Frankfurters, Chorizo, Whole Salami,Smaller packs of Bacon, eggs and with those as a base you'd have a whole range of things with 2 - 3 weeks life in the fridge. You'd be OK keeping bottled tapwater in there for the hot days we're having and cold fruit juice too. If you don't mind tins of veg it will save you space over fresh ones and fruit and salad will keep a reasonable time if you fridge them as you buy them. I even keep bread in the fridge as it goes mouldy so quickly these days if I don't. Fresh meat and fish would have to be got in as you needed them but it shouldn't be difficult to have a good standard of eating without the freezer.

elaine241

Hello all!
Just back from an unprecedented week away! First time ever we have been away for longer than 3 nights. We originally went for the long weekend but as the weather was lovely I found another caravan for hire about 5 down the line from where we were originally staying; que pack up , go on a sea fishing trip and un pack in new van, with similar sea view and verandah for lounging on! Price was not tooo bad considering the time of year and over £200 cheaper than anywhere else!!

Decided my kids are not "the norm", we were the only ones on the sea fishing trip as there were a lot of no shows, felt like a private charter! There were no mackerel around due to a huge pod of dolphins in the area, so we used sand eels to catch dog fish, now comes the weird bit! kids were more than happy to learn how to dispatch the fish with a hard whack to the head bit embarrassing as they really enjoyed being taught to dispatch them. This was after using live sand eels on the hooks and enthusiastically spearing them onto the hooks
Then had to gut and skin (think sandpaper stuck on with superglue!!) and prep for dinner which we had in batter with chips!
I bought a prawn net as the water was warm and we managed to catch a reasonable amount considering the time of year. Eldest son more than happy to boil in sea water then fry up with garlic for his tea. I sometimes wonder if my kids are too Catch it, kill it , cook it & eat it! Yougest one was up early and commented that there were lots of rabbits around the site and why hadn't we brought a gun!:eek:

Got home to a jungle of a veg patch! The squash have gone mad in the hot weather and taken over the whole veg patch despite total neglect and lack of water. TBH I cant remember what I planted but at least 2 of them are pumpkins that have spread about 20'' in all directions with lots of pumpkins on the shoots. I was tempted to reduce the number of little pumpkins but I think neglect and letting the plants do their own thing seems to be the best approach. The courgettes also are massive with the signs of many , many, many!!! courgettes to come!!! can u make courgette wine? The climbing french beans are doing just that! whilst the runner beans are running away and covered in flowers and beans (runner bean wine?) I even found a squash plant entwined up the runner bean wigwam, havent got a clue how it got there!! Even though I never planted any there seems to be potatoes popping up everywhere without any signs of blight (touch wood) and the jerusalem artichokes are at least 10''tall so it looks like a windy time in the future!:rotfl:
Unfortunately the birds have scoffed a lot of my fruit by stealthily sneaking under the nets but I have some left for picking and some left from last year in bottles, jam and the freezer.

As I have said before prepping is just part of my usual life now, being prepared meant that staying an extra 4 days wasnt a problem with extra food and meds etc packed just in case. Only small worry was removing my get home bag from the boot to get all the kids clobber in, also survival tin was left at home as I always carry it in my work bag, luckily for me TEOTWAWKI and SHTF/ Zombie apocalypse didnt happen whilst in Devon! :rotfl:

Anyway good to catch up as we decided on an internet/email/mobile phone free week whilst away and stuck to it!! Stay safe everyone!