Preparedness for when

nuatha

vanoonoo wrote: »

I hope things improve with the results coming thru x

Thank you vanoonoo, I'll be more chirpy when they get her stable enough to run the tests. Currently I'd rather be dealing with Zombies.

However this is where the rest of the prep comes into play, there's plenty of meals batch cooked, the pantry is fairly well stocked, other than milk, I won't actually need to shop for three months or more. The emergency funds are sufficient that if I need to take two or three months off (self employed) it is doable. As for anything else, there's preps in place for most eventualities and if there aren't, well we're fairly adaptable.

2tonsils

What is it about this thread that attracts rude comments, complaining about its contents when the people commenting do not contribute to it?

I have been glad of our preps for the last ten days or so. My OH hurt his back and had to take to his bed and stay there, then got a virus just to top it all off. I did not have to go racing around
shopping/organising/working out how to do things because we have been preparing for emergencies for a long time. It saved me an awful lot of hassle and wasted time already having grocery stores, all the important papers in one place and even a store of meds so that I did not have to rush out for prescriptions.It also meant I could spend time looking after him instead of having to be out of the house doing other things.

I now have the virus as well and it means if I feel any worse he can use the grocery stores without having to leave me and I can start a course of antibiotics that are in the house until I can get my prescription written on Monday.

I feel I have been accepted onto this thread and enjoy hearing about your own prepping. You have been a great support to me when I have been stressed about all the goings on that are taking place in Greece. This is going to be a very tough winter for us and I am certain the S will hit the F before Christmas here! Preparing for the worst and hoping for the best........group hug folks...... but I promise not to breathe the lurgy on you......;)

2tonsils

Talking about the lurgy, I was horrified to hear just now that the man who flew to Glasgow while he was suffering from the killer Congo fever has now died. I know the disease is not airborne but he must have come into physical contact with many people. He was sick when he set off from Afghanistan to Beirut, sat in the airport, went through customs searches, then onto the plane to Glasgow. Through the airport, drove home, so sick his wife phoned the ambulance then on to the hospital. Would have been taken into A and E and waited, then onto isolation ward, then transferred to London where he was put into secure isolation.
I really, really hope that no one came close enough to be infected by him, but I do feel they are playing down the risk. It only takes exposure to his blood or bodily fluids and with him ill and sweating medical staff and others must have been exposed to some risk. I hope I am wrong....

D&DD

Nuatha many thanks for posting about the gobags especially as your OH is so poorly I send my best wishes for a speedy recovery its awful when they're in there as you really can't settle to get anything done at home can you? If theres anything we can do please ask X

2T I had been following that story too especially as the patient was transferred down here..Very sad to hear he passed away today. Ticks in this country can carry Lymes disease but I *think* thats about it will google just in case and amend if necessary.Have you seen the doc yourself yet? Hope you and OH are feeling better soon X

ETA blimey wish I'd never looked now lol regarding ticks http://www.bada-uk.org/homesection/about/diseases/indexdiseases.php

*this is not a rudey link it just looks a bit dodgy on the abbreviation!*

I've just been batching up my rechargeable batteries I got some new ones recently which knock spots off any I've tried before..they are supposed to hold a charge for 2 years too
called eneloop if anyones interested.
The uniross are ok but I've a feeling I'll be replacing them all eventually with these ones.

I also purchased a few Rolsner led torches for stashing around the house which I've been pleasantly surprised by considering just how cheap they were on amazon
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Rolson-Tools-61760-Torch-Batteries/dp/B002Y5XNBM/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1349541740&sr=8-1-fkmr0

[Deleted User]

mardatha wrote: »

Nuatha I don't want anything with batteries. We do have longish powercuts here but the other thing I fancied was a solar light for the back step for when OH goes out for coal. Is there a solar setup that would do that? How does it work?

we are in pitch black here, not a street light for miles so, being in an eco house, we set some solar lighting up when we moved in. We have 4 security lights as they are bright and they come on with movement. 2 years so far and still going strong
http://www.thesolarcentre.co.uk/pages/Solar_Security_Lights.html

we got them from above. We also have a good solar light from there, in the shed

http://www.thesolarcentre.co.uk/products/Solar_Shed_Parasol_Light-544-53.html

The lights work very well and start coming on when we come out of the car and light our way up the side of the house, then the others come on in sequence as we move around the back to the door

D&DD

Eddie thanks for the bookpeople tip,my mum wanted those! I forgot to order these last time so have got them too http://www.thebookpeople.co.uk/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/qs_product_tbp?storeId=10001&catalogId=10051&langId=100&productId=272476&searchTerm=self

Has anyone got a decent large flask recommendation..I have one of those huge pump ones and its going home now after years of steady use ta

Kittie being a townie I really notice the difference when I go somewhere without streetlights I sleep better when its pitch black outside funnily enough

mardatha

Nuatha, sending love & light & strength to your wife xx
D3, I'm interested in things that run off a 12V battery - when I said before I wasnt interested in anything that runs off a battery I didn't mean that kind of battery (arggh lol confusing!) I meant totty wee piddly batteries that last 25 minutes and then fall out! Tell me about gadgets that run off 12V batteries please.
When the power goes off here, so does the repeater that runs mobile phones... not sure if that affects the internet too?
Kittie, this village has 3 streetlights and one is outside my bedroom window nernerner

[Deleted User]

D & DD - i found a large wide neck flask in T K M*X it is 1.2 litres capacity and the make is Oudon. As I recall it was £7.99 or thereabouts, I've had it about 6 months. It is a stainless steel double wall jobbie. It has a large screw on stopper that has a smaller unscrewable stopper set into it so you can use it as either a liquid or a food flask. It comes with a plastic bowl that fits on top of these and a big soup sized outer cup that fits on top. It holds the heat overnight really well. It also comes with a fold down handle and a carry strap. I got it to cook cereals like pearl barley in boiling water and there are soup/stew recipes available if you look on line. All in all jolly useful thing to have, Hope that helps, Cheers Lyn xxx.

GreyQueen

DD&D, I've had a 1 litre stainless steel Thermos for about 15 years. the kind with the plastic handle which snaps flat along the side. It's had a tough life and has a couple of wee dints but keeps going strong.

Nuatha, I'm so sorry to hear that your OH is in the hospital and please accept my best wishes for her full and speedy recovery.

You post about go-bags in this set of circumstances was very thought-provoking. I have personally been admitted (twice) for a stay of several days straight from A & E and it causes major logistical problems for my relatives, as well as the stress and anxiety.

A few years before he retired, my Dad developed the signs of a retinal detachment whilst at work. 40 years previously the other eye had gone so he knew what he was looking at. He called Mum (already a pensioner and 5 mins away) and she fetched him by car and drove him 15 miles to their local hospital. They confirmed detachment and referred them another 20-odd miles to the big teaching hospital where they admitted Dad.

At this point Mum and Dad have covered a big loop across 3 counties and are still 30 miles from home. With no jammies nor even a washkit. Major nuisance.

I have been spending some time prepping my allotment for winter; getting the detritus of 2012 cleared, fetching some of the stored potato crop down to the flat and generally being a good egg. Polishes halo

For those of us who grow our own, or perhaps anyone who has just taken on a lottie this autumn, or is about to make a veggie patch where there was none before, autumn is really the time to peck away at ground clearance. A little at a time and steady as she goes, with the days cooling and shortening, the regrowth of weeds and grass will slow and what you clear will stay cleared.

Mustn't leave all the prep til Spring or before you know it you'll be trying to sow your veggies in a meadow.

Plus, there are live slugs and snails to kill plus their eggs to uncover for the birdies so that hopefully I shall be able to get to eat more of my own crop in 2013.

Quick Q; the Americans have these things called root cellars which I have always understood to be underground earthen cupboards for the storage of potatoes and root veggies. Has anyone had any personal experience of these? They don't seem to be a part of our culture although I do know how to build clamps for storing certain things outdoors overwinter.

Well, going to get the h.m. bread rolls from the oven in a minute, such a welcoming smell...................

Byatt

kittie wrote: »

we are in pitch black here, not a street light for miles so, being in an eco house, we set some solar lighting up when we moved in. We have 4 security lights as they are bright and they come on with movement. 2 years so far and still going strong
http://www.thesolarcentre.co.uk/pages/Solar_Security_Lights.html

we got them from above. We also have a good solar light from there, in the shed

http://www.thesolarcentre.co.uk/products/Solar_Shed_Parasol_Light-544-53.html

The lights work very well and start coming on when we come out of the car and light our way up the side of the house, then the others come on in sequence as we move around the back to the door

Thanks for those links Kittie, I'm right out in the wilds and I have been looking for something like those.