Preparedness for when

ALIBOBSY

BTW wonder if anyone is interested in a random video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ULRabS87184

This is an old guy who has been stood outside our local council for many, many years. Not completely convinced about his original complaints, but his treatment by the authorities since whilst he is exercising his right to protest are pretty poor.

OH always peeps his horn as we go past him lol, whether he is right or wrong I love the fact he is kicking back at the system and has been a protester all his life.

Sadly I suspect alot of what he says about the police working for "the money people" and not the rest of us and about widespread corruption may not be that far fetched.

He has got a fairly thick lancashire accent. I wonder if I sound that strong, and suspect I do aye lol.

Ali x

elaine241

Interesting discussion re dispatching our food! We live on a farm where arable is just not possible so we stick to sheep (kerry hill crosses) and FIL has beef cattle but does not finish them he breeds them and then sells them as youngstock for farmers with better ground to finish fattening.
I am not sure how well I could cope with a hands on dispatch of game/pheasants etc although I could shoot anything! Fish and crabs, lobster etc dont bother me as I was brought up to cook these as my grandfather was a fisherman. I do put crabs etc in the freezer to "go to sleep!" before I boil them, cant face throwing a wiggling animal straight in, call me soft!
Funny I may have qualms about killing things, mainly worried about not doing it quickly and correctly, but once they are dispatched I'm not at all squeamish even if they are still moving as in the case of turkey plucking at christmas. I am able to skin and paunch rabbits although the smell always gets to me however many I do!

The kids are aready asking their father to teach them to shoot so that they can dispatch crows on the farm. he's a bit reticent to teach them as they are 8 & 9 although he may let them try the air rifle not sure about the four ten, or twelve bore!! Hes worried they are not old enough to respect guns and be responsible, hes got a point! I dont want two little Rambo's running around! In a SHTF scenario I am sure they would set traps, snares and shoot anything they could, I would prefer "drop trap" setting rather than shooting although again I am worried about teaching them now for fear of trapping neighbours cats or even my own lazy moggy!!! My grandfather was also a pt poacher of sorts and showed me how to lace grain with alcohol or black cotton to catch pheasants; also he was a crack shot with a catapult! I really wish I had listened more although he has written a small "book" about his country childhood that one day I may read. I would love to have his catapult, pen knife and ghurka knife (used to hang on the wall in its sheath and he cut his finger whenever it was taken out as he believed it must draw blood whenever drawn?) but my mother has them and I am not in good books with her! so I doubt if I will ever see them.:-(
On a lighter note just had my first ever go on an x box, shooting zombies of course but I was totally useless and couldnt even work out how to look up and down let alone survive!! Oh Dear!!

jk0

GQ, one of my neighbours who I used to work with has plum hedges round his garden, as do all the local authority houses in this area.

However, he cuts the hedge every month, so the poor old plums never get a chance to ripen.

My hedges only get done once a year. Only blackberries here however, although this year there are hundreds of them.

Elaine, did you hear about the two ladies who died and went to heaven?

One said, 'Hello Cheryl, how did you end up here?

Cheryl said, 'I froze to death. You?'

The first said, 'Oh, that's terrible. I came home, and I was sure my husband had another woman in the house. I searched all the cupboards, under the beds, in the loft and cellar, but found no-one. I was so agitated I had a heart attack and died.'

Cheryl said, 'You should have looked in the freezer, then we might both still be alive.'

Frugalsod

Mojisola wrote: »

There are many areas where the land isn't right for growing crops so it makes sense to turn the grass into meat.

I do agree with that. Not everywhere is prime arable land. Some is far better suited to woodland or livestock.

Frugalsod

elaine241 wrote: »

On a lighter note just had my first ever go on an x box, shooting zombies of course but I was totally useless and couldnt even work out how to look up and down let alone survive!! Oh Dear!!

Yes but as with all prepping you need to practice your skills. Now if you aim for the head zombies are easily stopped. Though if you know your limitations then there are other ways that you can help out like reloading ammo for the zombie stoppers, and target spotting so that the ones with guns are able to deal with the zombies more effectively.

Jazee

JkO, loved the joke. Will have to bore everyone I know with it now.

No zombie shooting going on here today, just gardening, potatoes to harvest.

pineapple

MrsLurcherwalker wrote: »

ALICE MARY life without a freezer need not be so difficult.

I remember (just) a time without a fridge even. A time without TVs (and then black and white with just a couple of channels), mobile phones, computers, automatic washing machines, ready meals, 24 hour shopping.....
How did we survive? :eek:

[Deleted User]

elaine241 wrote: »

I would prefer "drop trap" setting rather than shooting

For small game, variations of the switch stick trap are, IMHO, the best.

Easy and quick to construct, get's the kill off the ground, and doesn't pose a significant risk to people.

GreyQueen

pineapple wrote: »

I remember (just) a time without a fridge even. A time without TVs (and then black and white with just a couple of channels), mobile phones, computers, automatic washing machines, ready meals, 24 hour shopping.....
How did we survive? :eek:

Very well, as I recall.

But alice-mary has mentioned that she is a teacher, so I'm guessing that her workday involves being out from early morning until 5pm or later on those nights with out-of-hours commitments. So, having a freezer which allows you to batch cook, or even sock away the odd pre-made meal, is a boon. I use a pre-pack chicken tikka or korma as an occasional treat, when I see them reduced, and this fills the 'takeaway' urge which sometimes settles over me.

When my family were living fridgeless, and for the much longer freezer-less time, there was a SAHM and daily shopping, which is hard to accomodate with being out of the house all day. I said hard, not impossible, having been out all day and having to buy the not-keepable bits of my meals on the way home each night. Lived without a fridge for 3 years and it's a bit tedious.

I'm wondering if freecycle or the for sale boards in the local newsagents or supermarkets might shake out a replacement freezer very cheaply? It seems to be a pretty common thing that some households have a spare, working but not actually used freezer stored somewhere.

Anyway, whatever happens, I hope it's successfully resolved soon. I am very fond of the additional flexibility and money-saving that my 50 litre tabletop freezer offers me. SG was so impressed with it that she bought the same one a few years later, and she's a lady of positively minimilistic standards.

***********
Was yelling out of my window at 03.30 am this morning as was woken from a deep sleep but some barstewards who pulled up a diesel car right outside my bedroom window and sat there idling the engine with the headlights shining through my window from about 3 meters away. My WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?! out the window caused them to take off like scalded cats. Probably in the Towers to buy drugs.

The maddening thing was that it was my first really decent night's sleep for about a week, I was deeply in the Land of Nod and thus went from asleep to a wild-eyed fury in 5 seconds. I am actually turning into a harridan, and I frankly don't give a four-ecks.


Am slowly crawling up to speed and will toddle up to the allotment at some point today. Weather's grey, although still very warm. Not sure what'll happen but that's why I have a waterproof jacket.

[Deleted User]

Thought the weather had finally broken overnight.

It started raining heavily, shortly after midnight.

Sadly, I woke up this morning, to find blazing sunshine again.

LR is already at 76f.